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Chapter 23 |
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Presidents Roosevelt, Taft, and Wilson all espoused the progressive spirit of reform in the legislation that they championed and in their view of the federal government’s role in the life of the nation. Despite trying to continue with Roosevelt’s basic policies and directions, Taft’s presidency was far from smooth, and a bitter rift developed between the two men and within their party opening the door for Democrat Woodrow Wilson.
The Spirit of Progressivism
Despite philosophical differences and divergent concerns, progressives held to several basic tenets. They were optimistic about human nature as they sought to humanize and regulate big business and politics. They believed in the necessity of direct intervention in people’s lives. They wanted the government at all levels to take an active role in manifesting reform. They were driven by their Protestant morals to reform the nation using the techniques of science. And finally, Progressivism touched the entire nation in one way or another.
The Rise of the Professions
Between 1890 and 1920, national societies and associations emerged among accountants, architects, teachers, ministers, doctors, lawyers, social workers, and others. These professionals were part of a new middle class that was educated, active, and assertive, dedicated not only to improving their respective professions, but also to bettering living conditions on all levels of society. They provided the leadership for much of the progressive reform that occurred during the period.
The Social-Justice Movement
Groups of concerned professionals put pressure on cities and businesses to dramatically improve housing, recreational, and health conditions in urban areas. These social-justice reformers were interested in social cures, not individual charity. They collected data on urban conditions, wrote books and pamphlets, and sought recognition of social work as a distinct field within the social sciences.
The Purity Crusade
Many reform-conscious women dedicated themselves to the crusade to abolish alcohol and its evils from American life. Promoted by superb organizational efforts under the Women’s Christian Temperance Union and the Anti-Saloon League, these reformers succeeded in winning passage of the Prohibition Amendment to the U.S. Constitution which they thought was a major step in eliminating social instability, poverty, and moral wrong. Many prohibitionists also worked to eliminate prostitution in society.
Woman Suffrage, Woman Rights
With more women now college-educated and becoming reform-conscious, numerous organizations and groups were started to promote the rights and welfare of American women. Women progressives also worked to regulate child and female labor. African-American women, who were often excluded from mainstream groups, formed their own associations to address their concerns. Driven by the need to influence public officials, many women in the social-justice movement dedicated themselves to winning the vote. After long delays, the suffragists succeeded in gaining passage of the Nineteenth Amendment.
A Ferment of Ideas: Challenging the Status Quo
Stressing the role of the environment in shaping human behavior and a more pragmatic approach to knowledge, a new generation of thinkers demanded reform. John Dewey pioneered a pragmatic revolution in education, decrying rote learning and simple memorization. Louis Brandeis pioneered a movement of “sociological jurisprudence” which recognized the motivations behind crime and the role of the environment in shaping those motivations. Socialists, led by Eugene Debs, attacked the abuses of capitalism and formed the Socialist party of America, which doubled in membership between 1904 and 1908 and elected many local officials.
Reform in the Cities and States
Progressive reformers wanted to utilize the government at every level to effect change. To do so, they tried to limit the influence of “special interest” groups by supporting political reforms like the direct primary and direct elections of senators to make government more accountable to the people. They also believed that reform should be in the hands of experts rather than politicians who could be easily influenced. Through their efforts, a multitude of special commissions and agencies staffed by experts emerged to regulate everything from railroad rates to public health.
Interest Groups and the Decline of Popular Politics
Due to various factors, voter turnout dropped sharply in the quarter century after 1900. Many people turned to interest groups and professional and trade associations to promote their respective concerns.
Reform in the Cities
Stressing efficiency and results, substantial reform movements within city governments spread across the nation. Using new corps of experts, city officials constructed model governments, relatively independent from the state legislature’s control, that pushed through scientifically based policies that reformed everything from the tax code to municipal ownership of public utilities to the regulation of corrupt electoral practices.
Action in the States
Finding that many problems were “bigger” than the cities, progressive reformers looked to state governments for action. States across the nation formed commissions to regulate businesses, especially the utilities, insurance, and transportation. Through these commissions, progressives hoped to eradicate corrupt alliances between politicians and business leaders. They also pushed for political reforms like the initiative, recall, and referendum to make politicians more accountable to the people and less allied with business leaders. Progressives also pushed state legislatures to pass laws to improve and regulate labor conditions, especially for women and children, and to dedicate more state money to the improvement of mental and penal institutions and universities. The most famous reform governor of the Progressive Era was Robert LaFollette of Wisconsin. Under the “Wisconsin Idea,” LaFollette improved education and workers’ compensation, lowered railroad rates, and brought forth the first state income tax.
The Republican Roosevelt
As McKinley’s successor, Roosevelt brought a new spirit of enthusiasm and aggressiveness to the presidency. He believed that the presidency was a “bully pulpit” for reform. Early in his administration, Roosevelt appeared to support racial progress but later retreated in the face of growing criticism and his own belief in African-American inferiority.
Busting the Trusts
Distinguishing between “good” and “bad” trusts, Roosevelt sought to protect the former and regulate the latter. To regulate corporations, Congress created the Department of Commerce and Labor with a Bureau of Corporations. The president also pursued regulation through antitrust suits, most notably against J. P. Morgan’s Northern Securities Company and the American Tobacco Company. Roosevelt was not a trustbuster, however. For the most part, he used antitrust threats to control and regulate business.
“Square Deal” in the Coalfields
Viewing the federal government as an impartial “broker” between labor and management, Roosevelt pressured the coal companies to settle their differences with the United Mine Workers, even bringing both sides to the White House for a conference. When the coal companies failed to compromise, Roosevelt threatened to use the army to seize control of the mines, forcing them to settle. Roosevelt was neither pro-labor or pro-business; he pursued a middle-of-the-road approach to curb abuse and enlarge individual opportunity.
Roosevelt Progressivism at Its Height
Easily winning in his bid for reelection in 1904 with 57 percent of the vote, Roosevelt readied himself for more reform.
Regulating the Railroads
Roosevelt moved into other areas of reform in his second term including railroad regulation, employers’ liability for federal employees, greater federal control over corporations, and laws regulating child labor and factory inspections. Winning a major victory in the regulation of railroads, the powers of the Interstate Commerce Commission were strengthened by passage of the Hepburn Act.
Cleaning up Food and Drugs
The Meat Inspection Act and the Pure Food and Drug Act answered the public demand for regulation of the food and drug industry inspired by Sinclair’s The Jungle. These laws significantly increased the safety of the nation’s food and drug supply.
Conserving the Land
The president significantly broadened the concept and policy of conservation of natural resources. He increased the amount of land in preserves from 45 million acres to almost 195 million acres and pushed for national parks and forests.
The Ordeal of William Howard Taft
William Howard Taft, who unlike his predecessor disdained the limelight, succeeded Roosevelt as president in 1908. Though initially supported by Roosevelt, he lacked Roosevelt’s zest for politics and his faith in the power of the federal government to intercede in the public arena. Facing tension within his own party and a number of troublesome problems, Taft’s years in the White House were not happy, and he suffered by comparison to both his predecessor, Roosevelt, and his successor, Woodrow Wilson.
Party Insurgency
Republicans were divided over many issues, the tariff being one of the most important. An attempt to lower the tariff that was stalled in the house by protectionists put Taft in the middle between progressives and protectionists. Taft tried to compromise, eventually supporting the Payne-Aldrich Act, which angered progressives. Discredited in their eyes, he leaned more on party conservatives. Among progressive Republicans there was a growing desire for a Roosevelt revival.
The Ballinger-Pinchot Affair
The conservation issue caused more problems for Taft when he supported the attempt by Secretary of Interior Ballinger to sell a million acres of public land that Gifford Pinchot, the chief forester, had withdrawn from sale. When Pinchot protested and leaked information to the press, he was fired from the Forest Service, and conservationists were furious.
Taft Alienates the Progressives
Though progressives were interested in increased railroad regulation, they found some elements of Taft’s Mann-Elkins Act, intended to further strengthen the Interstate Commerce Commission, problematic. When Taft made support of the bill a test of party loyalty, the progressives resisted, leading Taft to openly oppose them in the midterm elections of 1910. With progressive and democratic gains in those elections, Taft lost ground. Despite his difficulties, he successfully supported several important pieces of legislation, including the Sixteenth Amendment authorizing income taxes, the creation of a Children’s Bureau in the federal government, and laws mandating employer liability and an eight-hour work day. Taft was also active in initiating antitrust suits, supporting the court’s use of the “rule of reason” against unfair trade practices by corporations. As his presidency continued, Taft further alienated himself from his former mentor Roosevelt, and the former president decided to seek the presidency in 1912.
Differing Philosophies in the Election of 1912
Taft controlled the party machinery and captured the Republican nomination. Roosevelt, promoting his program of New Nationalism organized progressive Republicans into the Progressive Party. The Democrats, in nominating the scholarly Woodrow Wilson and his program of New Freedom, took advantage of the wounded Republican party and won the presidency. Wilson’s New Freedom emphasized business competition and small government while still supporting the social-justice movement. Though both Roosevelt and Wilson saw the nation’s economic growth and its effects on individuals and society as the main problem for the nation, they disagreed as to the solution. Where Roosevelt welcomed the centralization of federal power, Wilson distrusted it.
Woodrow Wilson’s New Freedom
Wilson announced his New Freedom program and called for a return to business competition and an end to special privilege. Often a moralist, Wilson was able to inspire Americans with his ideas, his graceful oratory, and his passionate belief in his causes.
The New Freedom in Action
Despite his lack of political experience, Wilson seized the progressive initiative and pushed landmark legislation through Congress. Days after his inauguration, Wilson called Congress into special session and successfully pushed through the Underwood Tariff substantially reducing rates and levying a modest income tax to make up for the lower tariff. Taking advantage of a new unity in the Democratic party, Wilson also successfully supported the Federal Reserve Act, which centralized banking and created the Federal Reserve Board to regulate interest rates and the money supply, and the Clayton Antitrust Act, which brought about much needed improvements in regulating trusts, outlawed interlocking directorates, and created the Federal Trade Commission. Wilson saw these laws as the completion of his New Freedom program, which angered some progressives.
Wilson Moves Toward the New Nationalism
Despite measured successes during 1914 and 1915 in labor, child labor, banking, business, and farming reforms, Wilson’s New Freedom was a disappointment to women and African Americans. Partially motivated by the upcoming election, in 1916 Wilson began pushing for a multitude of reforms. Included were the Federal Farm Loan Act, the Adamson Act, the Keating-Owen child labor law, and support for women’s suffrage. After 1916, Wilson accepted much of Roosevelt’s New Nationalism, supporting greater federal power and regulation. But as America neared military intervention in the war in Europe, the reform experiment came to an end.
Conclusion: The Fruits of Progressivism
Though the progressives were extremely successful in some respects—regulatory commissions, child labor laws, direct primaries, and city improvements—there were many social problems they did not solve. Some problems like race, they failed even to address. Despite this, the actions of Roosevelt and Wilson significantly expanded the powers of the presidency, and government at all levels began to accept the responsibility for the welfare of society. The onset of World War I, however, cut short the progressive spirit of reform.
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