Although the Progressive movement was highly influenced American politics, it was only effective during the terms of certain presidents and over certain people. Presidents such as Theodore Roosevelt, William Taft, Woodrow Wilson, and Franklin Roosevelt were all presidents that used the Progressive movement to influence American politics. They all believed that moral reform, an expansion of democracy, and regulation of the economy was the goal for America. Throughout all of their terms, each president changed and added to American society and politics based off of the Progressive view. Theodore Roosevelt was the first Progressive president who made huge adjustments to the American political system while in office. He was incredibly forward thinking and invented the modern style of presidency. His political agenda, called the Square Deal, focused on rethinking the government’s …show more content…
Presidents Harding, Coolidge, and Hoover all served as presidents during 1901 and 1939, none of which were Progressives and therefore did not influence anything with those views. In addition, the Progressive movement did not benefit everyone in America, nor was it completely successful. The Progressive movement was successful in many ways such as granting women the right to vote in 1920 by passing the 19th amendment as well as banning child labor, increasing civilian participation in politics, and breaking up trusts, but it failed to reform large parts of the population like African Americans and Native Americans. In addition to the lack of Civil Rights Reform, Progressive movements like prohibition were major failures. Not only was the 18th amendment repealed, but it started the rise of organized crime. Despite the major positive influences the Progressive movement had on American politics, it most definitely came with other negative and non existent influences as