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Woodrow Wilson's Administration and Achievements
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At the age of 56, Woodrow Wilson was sworn into office in March 1913. He was the last American president to travel to his inauguration ceremony in a horse-drawn carriage. Wilson achieve significant progressive reform when he first got into the white house. “Congress passed the Underwood-Simmons Act, which reduced the tariff on imports and impose a new federal income tax” (History.com). The congress also passed legislation establishing the Federal Reserve which provides a system for regulating the nation’s banks, credit and money supply and the Federal Trade Commission which investigates and prohibits unfair business practices. Wilsons’s other accomplishments includes child labor laws, an eight-hour day for railroad workers and government
Roosevelt and Wilson were both strong believers in Progressivism. The Progressive movement was time of eliminating corruption and reform. Roosevelt wanted a stronger central government to help the people. He used his position as president as a “bully pulpit”, in that he would influence public opinion through his popularity. Roosevelt often took a more aggressive approach to domestic policy in that he would go against the Old Guard Republicans, whereas Wilson was one to speak directly in front of congress in order to gain their support. Roosevelt became president towards the beginning of the progressive movement, and so he had a harder time trying make reforms than Wilson did. Also, by telling the public that he was only going to run one term, his chances of running for a second term was greatly diminished, which is one of the reasons why Wilson came ahead in the election of 1912. Roosevelt promoted New Nationalism, while Wilson promoted New Freedom. They were very popular presidents in the eyes of the American people. Especially Roosevelt, who liked to vocalize his opinions and open up his private life to them. Throughout the early 1900s, Roosevelt and Wilson both were leaders in the progressive movement, with their own spin on how it should be done. The two presidents altered labor and large businesses, civil rights, and ultimately the role of the federal government.
In 1901 Vice President Theodore Roosevelt took over as President after William McKinley was assassinated. The country had many opportunities ahead but was in need of some changes that the American people were all too ready for. Roosevelt was brought up in a well to do family and had was Harvard educated. But he was known to be a down to earth man that understood the needs of the people. His first priority as president was to give the people a “square deal” which encompassed his plan for the era. He wanted to reduce control the big businesses had over the U.S. economy and the workers, create more protection for the consumer, and create a plan to conserve our natural resources.
The Progressive Movement that occurred during the early 20th century was a time of major reform in the United States of America. During this time, there was a group of activists that referred to themselves as the Progressives, and they sought to change society for the people. The way that they intended to do this was change through their ideals of democracy, efficiency, regulation, and social justice. With this movement came the election that changed the course of America’s history “…demonstrating a victory for progressive reforms as both Progressive candidates accounted for 75 percent of all the votes” (Bowles). The candidates in this election were Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson. While both of these men considered themselves to be part of the progressives and shared some similar opinions, they also differed from each other greatly and were apparent in their views during this time.
When President Franklin Delano Roosevelt assumed the Presidency on March 4, 1933, he gained leadership of a deeply isolationist country struggling to survive a depression and yearning for change. When Roosevelt died twelve years and one month later, he had lifted the United States to world power status, provided recovery from economic depression, incorporated rhetoric as a means to reach the masses, and expanded the powers of the Presidency. In short, FDR had created the Modern Presidency. Through his New Deal Programs, his ability to increase the United States’ worldwide influence, his Fireside Chats, and his expansion of Presidential powers, Roosevelt became the first Modern President and established the precedent all future presidents were to follow.
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live in the early 1900s? The turn of the century left Americans feeling more optimistic about life (Woog 4). People were honest and kind (Woog 5). The 1900s can be remembered as a happy time, but also a time of hardship for some Americans (Woog 5). Theodore Roosevelt, President 1901-1910, guided America in a way in which he created laws to help the social and economic problems of the time as well as improving politics by being a strong leader and recognizing the true needs of the country.
The Progressive Era was a period in which the federal government increased its legislation and its grasp of the nation. There were three distinct pieces of federal legislation that seem to stick out, The Meat Inspection Act The Federal Reserve Act,, and The Hepburn Act. All of this legislation gave the government an extremely large amount of power to regulate business and industry as well as the people of the United States of America.
The Progressive Era was a time of great reforms in government and in factories. There were a few different forms of Progressivism: the muckrakers (from a character in John Bunyan's book Pilgrim's Progress) were the type of Progressives who exposed corruption. For example, Collier's and McClure's journalists, some of them secretly went as far as moving into the slums to get the full sense of what life was like for the downtrodden, and shed light on what the slumlords were allowing to happen in their buildings. Women's Suffragists were progressive, as well, they picketed, wrote letters, to officials at all levels of government, staged women's suffrage parades, sent out pamphlets, and made speeches to anyone who would listen, and eventually, in halls of government, in from of Congress. One other type of progressive was those who were for the temperance movement (their goal was to ban alcohol, they saw it as corrupting society). Settlement house workers were progressives, too, their cause fought to improve immigrant relations in the United States. Progressives sought to change society, for the better, through their activism. Progressives hoped for stronger local governments at the level of the American people. Theodore Roosevelt's “Who is a Progressive” speech he stated that “A well-meaning man may vaguely think of himself as a Progressive without having even the faintest conception of what a Progressive is" (Bowels, 2011). Additionally, Roosevelt would consider a person progressive if he or she had sympathy for the common man and was a forward-thinker.
Presidents create the leadership position that has a say in all of the decisions for a country. In this era, many judgments of situations needed to be decided, and it made it blatantly obvious as to who made the wrong or right decisions. In the political cartoon published by Washington Post in 1907, Roosevelt wanted to convey that it was necessary to determine what trusts were good or bad. Trusts were made to shut down businesses and he felt he had the power to run these options and opinions. After some violated the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, Teddy really took a step forward in proving his trust-busting techniques. In a speech that Roosevelt made in February of 1912, he expressed his belief on the importance of the people participating in direct election of Senators through his speech. This importance that he felt was necessary eventually led on to the 17th Amendment, which was passed the year after. In Herbert Croly’s New Republic, Wilson received quite a bit of loathing from Croly as he expressed his opinions. The supporters of Wilson definitely disagreed with an article like this, and it was unacceptable to some. Whether liked or disliked, the presidents during this period made an impact on our nation, and the people wanted to be heard for the rights they wanted.
Roosevelt tended to become more involved with foreign events. On the other hand, Wilson favored remaining impartial in foreign affairs. Wilson didn’t want to become entangled in World War 1 until the United States was directly stricken. During the progressive era, both Roosevelt and Wilson put in great effort to defend smaller businesses. Theodore Roosevelt’s policy of prosecuting monopolies, or “trusts,” that violated federal antitrust laws was known as “Trust-Busting.”
The Progressive Era ( 1890’s- 1920’s) was a period of political reforms and social activism within politicians, and radical groups. Some politicians were also known as “Political Progressives”, this group made great changes in the effort to sooth the anger of many industrial workers, and to make their jobs a little less rigorous, however the changes put into effort by political progressives would do little to aid the concerns such as those of the radicals groups (women, blacks, Mexican-Americans).
Where did some of modern America's issues originate from? The answer to that is the Progressive Era. The Legislation of that era laid all of the groundwork for today, and much of it is still in public debate today. Roosevelt, Taft, and Wilson, three of the presidents from that era, all played roles in the groundwork. These presidents passed acts, tariffs, and amendments that are still with us, and debated today.
Roosevelt’s time as president was spent expanding the nation, expanding America’s Armed Forces, building the Panama Canal, and gaining small victories for the common man. Wilson’s presidency was spent battling for economic fairness, killing monopolies, turning the tides in World War I, and finally helping women achieve their conquest of the right to vote. Works Cited Bowles, M.D. - A.M. (2011) American History Since 1865 to Present: End of Isolation. Bridgepoint Education, Inc. Kraig, R.A. (2000).
The United States (US) President Woodrow Wilson “Fourteen Points” speech was initially thought to be an acceptable proposal for peace following the First World War; however, they sparked many controversial issues and were not readily accepted by all the nations involved. His idealistic views were in favor of American Foreign Policies, Allied bias and additional powers in Western Europe. The Fourteen Points were less beneficial to the problem that Europe was encountering and more favorable to the Allied Powers, as the United States main focus was to become a more dominant nation, while the Great Britain wanted more rule over the seas and France on the other hand was seeking vengeance.
The Progressive Reform was a movement in the late 19th and early 20th centuries that aimed to address various social, economic, and political issues in the United States. Its goal was to promote social justice, reduce corruption, and improve the living and working conditions of Americans. The Progressive Reform was characterized by a focus on efficiency, expertise, and scientific principles in government and public life. Some of the key reforms that emerged from this movement included the regulation of monopolies, the establishment of worker protections, the expansion of voting rights, and the implementation of public health and safety standards. The Progressive Reform was primarily a response to the social issues that emerged during the industrialization of the United States.
Woodrow Wilson’s purpose in writing “The Study of Administration” is to bring awareness that the government systems in place need to be re-evaluated and improved. Wilson encourages we need to examine the history of administration set forth by others in determining certain needs to be accomplished in effective ways and methods. Wilson’s desirable outcomes for research within the public administration field are for government systems to become more productive and organized.