Theodore Roosevelt's Personality

Theodore Roosevelt overall was an astounding president through both his terms of presidency. In 1901, when Roosevelt was McKinley’s Vice President, he did not expect nor did he wish to become president. Unfortunately, when Mckinley was assassinated, Roosevelt was thrusted into the presidency and became the youngest progressive president at the age of 42. Through his presidency, Roosevelt gained the trust and the love of the American citizens. He represented the new progressive movement by improving foreign policy, trusting busting as well as improving foods/drugs that were being sold to the American consumers and so much more.
Roosevelt believed that being president came with the responsibility of communicating with the American public, which

is why he created the ‘bully pulpit’. Through the bully pulpit, Theodore Roosevelt was able to gain the trust of his people because he continuously promoted his thoughts, ideas, and presidential agendas in hopes of feedback. Using the bully pulpit throughout his presidency, Roosevelt discussed issues such as trust busting, the Square Deal and so many more. Trust busting was the process of ending companies/monopolies that stifled competitive businesses. Roosevelt busted many trusts such as the American Tobacco Co., DuPont Corp., Standard Oil, and the biggest one was the Northern Securities Company. This company was in charge of controlling the railroad lines, holding shares/stocks and was considered a growing monopoly. Roosevelt used the Sherman Antitrust Act to bust The Northern Securities Company; this case eventually made it all the way to the supreme court and they demanded that the trust was dissolved.Another way he helped the American people from major corporations was recognized as the Square Deal. During the fall and winter of 1902 anthracite coal miners unionized a protest The United Mine Workers and demanded three things. The miners demanded a higher paying salary, shortening 10 hour work days to 8 hours, and union recognition, but unfortunately the coal companies denied each request. Theodore Roosevelt came to the realization that if the protest continued than millions of Americans would freeze to death under his presidency. Because both this fear and the fact that neither the coal company and miners could come to a resolution, Roosevelt demanded newspapers to publish nationwide that he was going to send in army troops to mine for coal. When the coal companies heard about the news they did not want to risk it, and they eventually only agreed to shorten work hours and increase pay for the miners.
Not only did Theodore Roosevelt improve both the government and life within the boundaries of the United States during his presidency, but he also fought hard to improve America’s foreign policy.

During his presidency, Roosevelt was able to gain the Panama Canal. Originally when Roosevelt was interested in building the Panama Canal, Panama was under Colombian rule. Roosevelt proceeded to give a proposition to buy the 10 mile long canal from Columbia, but unfortunately they declined the offer in hopes of being offered more money. What Columbia could not have known was that the Panamanian people were planning a revolution to free themselves of Colombian rule and that Roosevelt was going to secretly aid them with the thought of getting the Panama Canal in mind. The Panama revolution last a short three days with the secret aid of America, and what soon followed was that other countries such as Japan, Britain, and of course the United States of America recognized the independence of Panama. When Panama signed the treaty to claim their independence, Roosevelt quickly stepped in and offered them a whooping $10 million for the 10 mile long canal and the Panamanian people agreed in a

heartbeat.
Soon after gaining the Panama Canal, the Roosevelt’s presidency was coming to an end, but he did not have much to worry about because little did he know that he was going to win the election by a landslide. When he won the election once more, he advocated for an even stronger foreign policy and stated that America should be able to become involved in foreign situations and police the western hemisphere. Roosevelt created an extension of the Monroe Doctrine acknowledge as the Roosevelt Corollary; the Roosevelt Corollary basically stated that the United States had the right to intervene in Latin American government at all times to maintain stability by using military force. At the time it seemed like Roosevelt was eager to showcase America’s power as a dominant nation, and one way he did this was manifested as the Big Stick diplomacy. The Big Stick Diplomacy was a concept created by Roosevelt that represented his power and ability to use military forces when needed without physically causing harm to anyone. One way that Roosevelt practiced Big Stick diplomacy was through what was known as the Great White Fleet; the Great White fleet was a large group of naval battleships that went on a world tour to basically showcase America’s strong naval force and intimidate other countries.
Although Roosevelt strongly represented imperialism as well as increasing foreign policy he was still very focused on improving American life.

One way he improved life throughout his presidency in America was through domestic legislation such as the Hepburn Act, Meat Inspection Act and the Pure Food and Drug Act. The Hepburn Act passed in 1906 which imposed strict control over railroads and gave the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) the power to set the maximum railroad rates making ICC more powerful. In addition to the Hepburn Act that was passed in 1906, was the Meat Inspection Act was passed because Roosevelt was deeply disgusted by what he read in Upton Sinclair’s book published as “The Jungle.” When Roosevelt came to a realization with the horrendously disgusting conditions and the recklessly processed meat within the food industry, he intervened by passing the law which allowed the federal government to inspect the quality of meat products to ensure that it was safe for the American consumers. Another act that was similar to the Meat Inspection Act was noted as the Pure Food and Drug Inspection act. This act was passed in hopes of regulating the products that were being sold to American consumers to prevent false advertising and to inform the consumers about the ingredients/products that they were going to be intaking, banning poisonous foods, drugs, and medicine.
Furthermore, President Roosevelt was not only an imperialist, but he was a great conservationist. He believed

in the preservation of things such as forests and the animals in them. Being a conservationist Theodore Roosevelt created the conservation program and passed the Reclamation Act which used funds from sales of land throughout the west to provide for irrigation in the southwest. Soon added over 125 million acres of national forest, doubling the number of national parks as well as 51 wildlife refuges.
In conclusion, it was prevalent that Roosevelt was a hardworking man throughout his presidency. He was a progressive imperialistic conservationist that both improved the life of the American people as well raise the bar for presidential standards. Roosevelt worked hard to bust trusts and protect the working man through the square deal. He improved the consumer life of the American people through his Meat Inspection Act as well as the Pure Food and Drug Act. It was prevalent that through his presidency, Roosevelt was an unapologetic imperialist that believe America was a strong nation that should and would be feared. As his presidency came to an end and the 1908 elections were soon coming, he did his last job as a president and endorsed his best friend, William H. Taft, to run for presidential office.