Theodore Roosevelt's Duty To Progress

Theodore Roosevelt, former governor of New York, became president due to an odd set of circumstances. Former governor of New York, he was put on the ballot as incumbent President McKinley’s running mate. This was so he could stay in politics, an important member of the Republican party, but giving him as little power as possible, so he could be unable to exercise his unorthodox methods. However, President McKinley was shot, and Roosevelt was sworn in. As shown in Appendix 1, President Roosevelt’s foreign policy was based upon regulating two entirely different groups of people; the developed, rich countries, and the undeveloped, poorer countries. This caused him to be seen as the policemen of the world, hence the title “The World’s Constable.”

During the 1902 Coal Strike, when Americans feared that they would freeze to death over the winter, Roosevelt brought both the miners and the mine owners together. Most strikes, unsurprisingly, failed to get the workers what they wanted, no matter how stubborn they were. However, when Roosevelt met with both parties, he did something shocking: he made both the miners and the owners agree to a compromise. This was unprecedented, because even though the mine owners got the better end of the deal, the laborers got something, a 10% wage increase and a 9 hour work day, which was more than precedent. Roosevelt’s main motive for this decision, though, was to keep the other Americans from freezing to death. Many of his other decisions were also about protecting the consumer, such as the Meat Inspection Act and the Pure Food and Drug

Most who are with the former cite that a president is the highest position of power in the country, and is allowed to do what he finds proper and just. Many of his macroeconomic effects were done within his own power as president. The Pure Food and Drug-- and the Meat Inspection Acts were led by him through congress, both of which helped increase the aggregate demand for meat, setting standards higher and encouraging people to buy them more. He also helped regulate the railroads, which were very corrupt and controlled by a handful of rich robber barons, including J.P. Morgan and the Northern Securities Company, by using the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, allowing him to sue their trust for giving rebates to favored customers, and not charging reasonable prices. This allowed aggregate supply to increase, as producers were now able to transport their goods for less money. He used the government’s power in order to enforce fairness in capitalism, keeping the country from drifting towards an unfair monopoly. These changes in the AD/AS graphs were key to the increase in GDP shown in Appendix 2, and many effects can still be felt today, with our diversity of companies and not being controlled by