Theodore Roosevelt And A Strengthened Presidency Essay, Research Paper

Theodore Roosevelt has been recalled as one of our most forceful Presidents. The reason for his reputation of strength rested on his ability to get things done, both domestically and abroad. His policies resulted in a strengthened executive branch.

Roosevelt inherited the Presidency after the unfortunate death of President McKinley in 1901. One of his earliest displays of Federal power came in 1902 with the Pennsylvania coal strike. His efforts at negotiation marked the first time that the Federal government stepped in to resolve a labor dispute with the intention to protect all concerned, as opposed to favoring industry over workers and the public good. Although the coal miners failed to receive acceptance of their union, they did receive better pay, and Roosevelt’s role as mediator established that workers were just as important as industry. Roosevelt also had a reputation as a “trustbuster” by taking steps to regulate business practices in favor of public welfare. Previously, the Federal government had rarely been involved in business affairs. Roosevelt had the most success with railroad regulation, passing the Hepburn Act of 1906, which increased the powers of the Interstate Commerce Commission to include Federal approval of fixed rates that were “just and reasonable” and requiring railroads to adopt a uniform method of accounting. Before Roosevelt left office, however, he had decided that trusts could be either “good” or “bad”, depending not just on size, but also on the effect of the trust on the well-being of the public. In 1911, the Supreme Court validated his point of view by ruling that only unreasonable combinations in restraint of trade should be broken up.

Roosevelt also gave strength to the theory that the Federal government had a responsibility to protect the public welfare. Towards this end, he passed the Meat Inspection Act and the Pure Food and Drug Act in 1906. Both of these measures marked the beginnings of reform in consumer rights, which before Roosevelt, had been virtually ignored. Part of his policy of protecting the public welfare included conservation, an idea that was previously not given much attention. Americans had always used their natural resources without regard for the future, yet President Roosevelt managed to awaken public interest in conservation, spur Congress to action and convince Federal and state governments to adopt new policies. He withdrew from public sale 150 acres of forest lands, coal and phosphate lands, and potential water-power sites. At his urging, Congress created wildlife sanctuaries and national parks. The Newlands Reclamation Act provided money from the sale of public lands in 16 Western states and territories to build irrigation projects to make wastelands suitable for farming. Two of these are the Shoshone Dam in Wyoming and Arizona’s Roosevelt Dam. Additionally, he created the Inland Waterways Commission, and held the White House Conference of 1908, which succeeded in establishing state conservation agencies in 41 states and established the National Conservation Commission to study the nation’s mineral, water, forest and soil resources. Roosevelt’s conservation policy established a strong foundation for a solid conservation program for the future.

Roosevelt accomplished just as much with his foreign policies as he did with his domestic policies. He believed in the value and importance of actively using American power abroad, giving him the slogan “Big Stick Diplomacy”. He felt that America, as a civilized society, had the right and duty to intervene in the affairs of an uncivilized nation to preserve order and stability for both nations. Roosevelt considered the “Open Door” vital for maintaining trade in the Pacific and for preventing any single nation from achieving dominance there. The “Open Door” policy was created as a response to the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-95. In September 1899, John Hay, Secretary of State to both Presidents McKinley and Roosevelt, addressed identical messages known as the “Open Door Notes” to England, Germany, Italy, France, Russia and Japan. The notes stated that each nation with a sphere of influence in China must respect the rights and privileges of other nations in it’s spheres, must allow Chinese officials to continue collection of tariff duties in all spheres, and must not discriminate against nations with port dues and railroad rates within their own spheres. Although Europe and Japan failed to commit to these principles, Hay declared all powers in agreement with the “Open Door”. At the height of the Boxer Rebellion, the United States joined the imperial nations in quelling the rebellion to secure a voice in settling the uprising and to prevent colonial dismemberment of China by European powers, thus ensuring United States access to lucrative Chinese trade. Roosevelt built on the “Open Door” precedent in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904, which centered on control of the Chinese province of Manchuria. At a peace conference in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Roosevelt, at Japan’s request, fostered an agreement whereby Russia would acknowledge Japan’s territorial gains, and Japan would cease the fighting and advance no further, leading him to win the 1906 Nobel Peace Prize.

Roosevelt also took a special interest in Latin America. When the Venezuelan government began to renege on it’s debts to European bankers in 1902, British, Italian and German naval forces blockaded the Venezuelan coast. When Germany began to bombard a Venezuelan port amid rumors of the establishment of a permanent base in the region, Roosevelt threatened the use of American naval power to force Germany’s withdrawal. This incident helped persuade Roosevelt that European intrusions into Latin America could result not only from aggression, but also from instability and irresponsibility within the Latin American nations themselves. This prompted Roosevelt to add a new “Roosevelt Corollary” to the Monroe Doctrine in 1904. The “Roosevelt Corollary” claimed the American right not only to oppose European intervention in the Western Hemisphere, but also to intervene in it’s neighbor’s domestic affairs if they proved unable to maintain order on their own. The “Roosevelt Corollary” was used to intervene in the Dominican Republic’s bankruptcy in 1904, and in the Cuban revolts of 1906. However, the construction of the Panama Canal remains the most enduring of Roosevelt’s accomplishments. Although he was not in office to witness its completion, it was his determination and strength that enabled its construction. The signing of the Hay-Pauncefote treaty in 1901 nullified an 1850 pact between Britain and America to construct the canal together, leaving the United States free to act alone. At first, Nicaragua was the preferred site for the canal, but soon the isthmus of Panama emerged as the superior choice. When Colombia failed to ratify a proposed treaty specifying the terms of construction, Roosevelt became outraged, and supported the Panamanian revolution by sending the U.S.S. Nashville, preventing the Colombians from suppressing the rebellion. Roosevelt then recognized Panama as an independent state, and negotiated the treaty for constructing the Panama Canal with the newly independent Panama. The canal opened in 1914.

Theodore Roosevelt expanded the strength of the executive branch by bringing to his office a broad sense of its domestic and foreign power, and by investing the Presidency with something of its modern status as the center of national political life.