Theodore Roosevelt: His Presidency, Economic Decisions, and Influence

Theodore Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States, and certainly one of the most masculine and well known (Gould 2). A staunch Republican who believed strongly in traditional values, Roosevelt was a fighter, both figuratively and literally. He organized what came to be known as the "Rough Riders," which he personally led through charges up two different hills, San Juan Hill and Kettle Hill, which earned him a nomination for the Medal of Honor (Gould 7). To be sure, he was a strong and outgoing leader, but more importantly, he had an extremely eventful and influential career as president, as he enacted a number of new measures and economic incentives that helped the United States to overcome one of the most difficult times in its history. Lewis Gould, the author of Theodore Roosevelt, as well as works on other presidents such as Howard Taft, provides insight into the career of this somewhat bizarre president in a concise and relatively bias-free manner.

Perhaps Theodore Roosevelt's most famous contribution to America, in general, was his famous "Square Deal." The Square Deal was a series of programs that were formed upon three basic ideas: limiting the power of big business, protection of consumers, and conservation of natural resources (Morris 259). Roosevelt wanted to help both the working class and big business by attacking plutocracy and bad trusts, while, at the same time, protecting big businesses from organized labor (although only against unreasonable demands, organized labor was still very much allowed) (Morris 260). 

On the conservation side of things, the Square Deal had a number of measures taken. For starters, it began a preservation program for buffalo herds, which were being killed on a massive scale at the time due to settler expansion (Morris 339). The conservation part of the Square deal also provisioned 16 million more acres of Western forests into the protection of the government, while, at the same time, enacting an act that protected wildlife in Alaska from hunting and harvesting (Gould 15). The conservation part of the Square Deal was also responsible for the formation of two extremely influential acts. The first was the Transfer Act of 1905, which transferred the forest reserves of the United States to the Department of Agriculture, which was a much more specialized role than the former owner, the General Land Office section of the Department of the Interior (Morris 341). The second act enacted as a result of the conservation arm of the Square Deal was the much more important Antiquities Act. Essentially, this act allowed Roosevelt (or whoever is president) to partition certain public natural areas as parks and conservation land (Morris 345). This act is one of Roosevelt's most longstanding changes made during his term as president, as the Antiquities Act was utilized just last year by Barack Obama, who reclaimed Fort Ord National Monument in California, Chimney Rock National Monument, and the Cesar Chavez National Monument (Morris 346). Were this act not put into place, there would be considerably less wilderness in the United States today.

The labor portion of the Square Deal had the largest initial benefits within the United States, and many of these changes Roosevelt made, like the Antiquities Act, continue to persist today. For example, one of the measures made for the Square Deal provided eight hours as a full day's work for irrigation purposes, although it is likely that this concept was expanded to apply to almost all types of work (Gould 37). These labor provisions also contained a surprising number of human-rights allowances, such as the outlawing of involuntary servitude in the Philippine Islands, the safeguarding of lives of employees in mines in territories, application of numerous safety measures for railroad trains, and investigation of numerous reports of women and child labor within the United States, which eventually led to the foundation of the National Child Labor Committee (Gould 45). The labor provisions of the Square Deal also included allowances for businesses, such as the formation of the first Federal employment service (Gould 37). These labor measures also outlawed peonage, so that workers would not be forced into labor due to debts, and also approved the Foundation for the Promotion of Industrial Peace (Morris 360). 

Finally, the health and welfare section of the Square Deal merely created three Acts, but both of these were extremely influential. The two were the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906, and the Meat Inspection Act of 1906, both due to accounts of horrible food production conditions found in Upton Sinclair's The Jungle (Morris 435). Essentially, these two acts required the inspection of all food to a certain standard before it can be approved for consumption by the masses, especially foods involving meat. The Pure Food and Drug Act continues to persist today, in some form, thanks to the formation of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, while the Meat Inspection Act lives on in the form of the Food Safety and Inspection Service (Morris 448). The third Act enacted was the Federal Employers Liability Act in 1908, which compensated railroaders who were injured while on the job (Gould 19). This measure was enacted primarily because of a worrying rise of railroad deaths in the early 20th century and required railroad companies to be a little more careful when designing railroad working conditions since the damage to both finances and reputation that an injured employee brings would be detrimental for the company (Gould 19). 

While this Square Deal was certainly Roosevelt's claim to fame, it was far from the only achievement in his presidency. Perhaps most impressively, he turned the White House from a place of simply presidential businesses to a veritable newsroom, providing updates and full transparency of his policies and practices each day (Watts 26). This provided Theodore Roosevelt with the trust of both the people and the press, who provided for him ample coverage. It also set the standard for the White House as a media center for national events, so that, in an emergency, the press could always count on the White House for up-to-date information. Roosevelt also enacted what was known as the "Gentlemen's Agreement," which banned all school segregation of the Japanese, which was a problem during that time as many viewed Eastern foreigners as serious threats to jobs, especially low or unskilled labor (Morris 510). Lastly, Roosevelt established Oklahoma as the 46th state of the Union. 

Roosevelt might have been put into the driver's seat of the presidency rather abruptly (after the previous president, McKinley, suddenly became gravely ill), but his performance as president, and subsequent re-election, proved that the decision to make him the president was a sound one. Roosevelt was a firm believer in the power of the people, and many of his policies that he enacted reflected that. Under the Roosevelt administration, common workers, especially railroad workers and the like, experienced a level of respect that was previously unheard of to them. Roosevelt was also instrumental in the preservation of a large number of forests and other wilderness within the United States, which, in times of economic hardship, many are all too willing to destroy for short-term gain. Roosevelt was able to see past this and keep these forests alive for the long-term benefit of the nation. Finally, Roosevelt simply served as a strong figurehead for the United States, which was going through a rapid transformation and industrialization at the time, which is what prompted many of Roosevelt's "trust-buster" practices. Roosevelt was a down-to-earth president that truly believed in putting the common worker before all others, and the country prospered because of it.

Works Cited

Gould, Lewis L. The Presidency of Theodore Roosevelt. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1991.

Morris, Edmund. The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt. Random House Digital, Inc., 2010. 259,

Watts, Sarah. Rough rider in the White House: Theodore Roosevelt and the politics of desire. University of Chicago Press, 2003.