The 1912 Election and the Power of Progressivism: A Brief History with Documents by Brett Flehinger is about the four Presidential candidates during the election of 1912, their political parties and campaigns. The book shows how opposed each candidate 's platform was and which problems the candidates agreed on. The book has documents from this time to further aid in understanding what exactly was happening. None of the candidates, however, were as different as Theodore Roosevelt and his predecessor, William Howard Taft. Their platforms and ideas regarding trusts, direct democracy and courts and the constitution differed greatly, whilst they agreed on the important issue of women 's suffrage. In the early 1900s, corporations and monopolies were major concerns, especially the larger corporations and monopolies that dominated the market and were controlled by trusts. …show more content…
(142)
Theodore Roosevelt and Howard Taft 's platforms on trusts and direct democracy, judicial recall and constitution usage in courts may have contrasted, but they did share similar opinions about women 's voting rights. Roosevelt, throughout the entirety of the election made his opinion on Taft very clear. Roosevelt said "But I do not care for Taft, indeed I think less of him as time goes on, in spite of the fact that I believe he is improving his position before the people. He is a flubdub with a streak of the second-rate and the common in him, and he has not the slightest idea of what is necessary if this country is to make social and industrial progress" (72). Taft, similarly, based much of his campaign on bad mouthing Roosevelt, while simultaneously advocating strong constitutional governing of the people. The predecessor of Roosevelt stated, “He criticizes me because I prosecuted the Standard Oil Company and the Tobacco Company through to the Supreme Court and got decrees there.” Both Roosevelt and Taft had well thought out campaigns that eventually morphed into attempts to turn the people
I do not believe that Theodore Roosevelt was anti-business; rather he opposed their unethical practices. During this time big corporations set rates that were too high, underpaid their employees, and made employees work long hours. The Interstate Commerce Commission was established in 1887 by Grover Cleveland to investigate railroad rates and rebates. President Roosevelt introduced the Hepburn act to give the ICC the right to set rates for railroad shipping. By doing this railroads and big business were unable to set their rates too high because it no longer offered rebates.
This is what set this election apart from others. Theodore Roosevelt was determined to be a candidate, despite William Taft winning the Republican nominee, and so he created his own Republican based party, known as the “Bull Moose Party.” Another name for this party is the Progressive Party. Since Taft had his Republican Party also, the Republican votes were split between the two.
The 1912 election candidates were William Taft, Woodrow Wilson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Eugene Debs. If I were a voter during the 1912 election, I would have casted a ballot for Theodore Roosevelt. The 1912 candidate and ex-president Theodore Roosevelt, had created what was called the progressive party, or as Theodore Roosevelt called it the “Bull Moose” campaign. Theodore Roosevelt’s “Bull Moose” campaign was especially important in setting the tone of the 1912 election, in ensuring that the presidential contest registered and inspired fundamental changes in American politics. Many saw Theodore Roosevelt’s campaign as their best hope to advance national transformation.
Mayson Crawford Essay 2 The candidates for the election of 1912 included, William Taft, Eugene Debs, Woodrow Wilson and Theodore Roosevelt. Roosevelt was the former president, Taft represented the Republican Party, Eugene Debs represented the Socialist party and Wilson represented the Democratic Party. Debs in his speech back in 1912 started by critiquing all of the other political parties involved. Debs basically compared all the candidates by their similar beliefs when he stated, “Do they not all alike stand for the private ownership of industry and the wage slavery of the working class?” (Debs, 1) Debs continues by asking the people in attendance what can any other candidate beside himself provide for the working class.
Last by not least, chapter five describes the political parties from 1912 to the present. The election of 1912 brought major adjustments to the two major political parties as both the Democrats and Republicans switched as now Democrats favor a strong federal government as they chose Woodrow Wilson to lead their party and the Republican desired small governments. Since the transition of the beliefs from both parties, the last “liberal” Republican president was Theodore Roosevelt as he sought to represent the Republican party during the election of 1912 as a liberal and the first “liberal” Democrat was Woodrow Wilson as his viewpoint of the federal government after WWI was on a much larger scale than the Whigs, Federalists, or liberal Republicans
William Taft was more Progressive and Theodore Roosevelt was more conservative. Roosevelt was all about the environment. He was also known as the conservationist. Roosevelt wanted to protect land and the wildlife. He protected about 230 million acres of public land (Theodore Roosevelt and conservation).Roosevelt then formed the Bull Moose Party, another name for the Progressive Party, to challenge Taft.
In the end, Roosevelt won 27.4 percent of the popular vote while Taft won 23.2 percent. This allowed Woodrow Wilson to win the general election overwhelmingly with 41.9 percent of the popular vote (Flash Focus). Roosevelt's actions changed the outcome of the election as well as created a dramatically different future than would have been seen under
In the period between 1900 and 1920, the federal government and reformers were very successful in bringing social, economic, and political reform to the federal government. While not every aspect of it was successful, the rights of women, fighting against child labor and limiting the control of trusts and monopolies were three distinct successes of that time. Even before the progressive era, women challenged their place and articulated new visions of social, political and economic equality. The progressive era was a turning point for women as organizations evolved fighting for equal rights. Woman began to become very involved in a variety of reform movements.
Thesis : After the Civil War, America was in a post-war boom. During the 1870-1890, big business moguls, such as Rockefeller and Carnegie, create huge corporations which not only affected the economy, but also affected the political realm of America. While many may assume that during the rise of these big business helped to change the economy and politics, the real focus was on the responses formed by society, such as labor unions, increase public outcry, and political opposition groups that helped to change society. A: Economically, big business flourished during the late 1800s.
Justin Clement APUS DBQ Big businesses controlled the economy and politics throughout 1870-1900. They were in control of the prices for certain items because they destroyed their smaller competitors until there was no competition left. They had much sway over politics and took away the people’s say. As we can see from Document A, between 1870-1899, the price for food, fuel, lighting and living decreased with the emergence of big businesses.
Which overall, was Roosevelt 's
Roosevelt 's followers just didn’t think that William could fulfill what Roosevelt wanted to. They also thought that he wasn’t doing much as president, which was sort of true. He didn’t pass to many laws or bills, but what he did do did help the U.S. In 1912, Taft decided to try to run for another term. On november 5, 1912 the votes came in.
New Nationalism vs. New Freedom In the 1912 election for president there were four candidates, two were Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson. Both had reforms that they placed as the center of their campaigns. Roosevelt’s reform was New Nationalism and Wilson’s was New Freedom.
In his speech, it showed hatred and anger towards the corporations, and showed empathy for anyone who didn't get as much money as they should've (New Nationalism speech 1910). However, he was hopeful for the future. So basically, he just wanted to persuade the audience. On the other hand, Woodrow Wilson program a campaign for his presidency in 1912 that emphasized small government and competition (New Freedom speech 1913). It sought to reign in federal authority, restore competition by releasing personal energy.
Shivam Patel APUSH Mr. Mathison 1/10/14 Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) is a highly debated American figure. Many critics question his success in his presidency, while others glorify this battle torn American hero. His presidency was spontaneous. He did not know he was going to become the president, but fate worked its grasp around Roosevelt’s future, turning him from a new Vice President into the youngest appointed President in history. His energy inspired some, and turned away others.