Compare the success of Roosevelt, Taft, and Wilson in enacting reform legislation.

There were several things that Presidents Roosevelt, Taft, and Wilson did that led to reforms being made in the United States. President Roosevelt went after businesses who were acting in a selfish manner that hurt consumers. He broke up the Northern Securities Company and threatened to involve the government in the coal strike of 1902. The Hepburn Act gave the Interstate Commerce Commission the power to set railroad rates. The Meat Inspection Act required the federal government to inspect meat before it could be sold. The Pure Food and Drug Act made it illegal to falsely label food and medicine. President Roosevelt also supported efforts to conserve the environment.

President Taft also had progressive reforms. He broke up many big businesses. He also created the Children’s Bureau to deal with issues related to child labor. The Mann-Elkins Act gave the Interstate Commerce Commission more power to regulate businesses. The Bureau of Mines monitored the actions of the mining companies.

President Wilson was a president who had progressive reforms. The Underwood Tariff reduced federal tariffs. The Federal Reserve Act created twelve Federal Reserve districts. It also allowed the Federal Reserve Board to make decisions affecting the money policy in the United States. The Federal Trade Commission could order businesses to stop unfair business practices. The Clayton Antitrust Act allowed unions to exist and prevented businesses from charging different prices to different people. The Keating-Owen Child Labor Act made it illegal to hire kids under the age of 14 in certain industries. The Adamson Act created an eight-hour day for railroad workers. The Federal Farm Loan Act gave farmers loans at low-interest rates.

Each president did many things to bring about reforms in the United States.

Theodore Roosevelt was well known as a progressive president who used science, technology and the power of government to solve perceived social inequalities and ills. Under his leadership, the railroad, oil and banking were all regulated more effectively. Roosevelt also spearheaded several important public health laws such as the Pure Food and Drug Act and the Meat Inspection Act. He was also one of the biggest supporters of public land preservation to ever grace the oval office. Roosevelt also appointed over 19 judges, along with three Supreme Court justices, most of which were liberal, reform minded individuals such as Oliver Wendell Holmes.

Taft on the other hand would have liked to consider himself a progressive, but his lack of flexibility and creativity, along with his devotion to the law which often made him a slave to the status quo put him in another league. He did try to continue the Republican party line of trust busting, but his adherence to law limited his effectiveness.. He did file 90 suits against large companies, including one against U.S. Steel and one against a hike in railroad fees, but he fell short of Roosevelt’s sweeping reforms. He took an active roll in African American education as well as vetoing anti-union laws from congress.

Wilson was a Democrat but a very reform minded leader as well. He persuaded a Democratic congress to pass a flurry of laws all aimed at closing the social gap and address the needs of the public. Child labor, farm loans, anti-trust laws, an 8-hour work day and even eventually coming around to the idea of women’s suffrage after a protracted argument with the movements leaders. These reforms were sweeping in scope, and had long-lasting consequences. The one area of reform he faltered in was civil rights. Being a Democrat, he brought many pro-Jim Crow southerners into his administration, did nothing to combat segregation and headed one of the most segregated administrations in the 19th century. For some reason African Americans still supported him in large numbers, even campaign for him, but he is widely regarded as a racist.

Compare the progressive policies of Roosevelt, Taft, and Wilson.

Of the three, Roosevelt was perhaps the most progressive in policy. While President, he began a program of "trust busting" to break up the business trusts which had abused American workers and consumers. He could not rely on Congress to do the job, so he instructed his Attorney General to bring suit against the big trusts under the Sherman Anti-Trust Act.  His administration brought twenty five lawsuits, including the famous Swift and Company case. After reading Upton Sinclair's The Jungle, his administration pushed through Congress the Meat Inspection Act of 1906 and the Pure Food and Drug Act which prohibited the sale of adulterated, misbranded or harmful foods, drugs or liquors. His administration also pushed through the Hepburn Act which gave the Interstate Commerce Commission the power to set maximum freight rates for the railroads.

William Howard Taft was Roosevelt's handpicked successor; but severely disappointed his mentor. His only true progressive accomplishment was to support the passage of a lower tariff. One critic said that Taft was carrying out Roosevelt's policies--on a stretcher.  Roosevelt was so disappointed in Taft's performance as President that he tried to wrest the nomination away from him in 1912. When he couldn't do so, Roosevelt bolted the party and formed his own Progressive or "Bull Moose" party. He took just enough votes away from Taft to give the election to the Democrat, Woodrow Wilson.

Wilson originally was not progressive; in fact he opposed a number of progressive programs. He said that child labor was a state concern so the federal government should not deal with it; he did nothing for women's suffrage, so much so that Suffragettes sometimes referred to him as "Kaiser Wilson." He had no interest in helping racial minorities; in fact he and most of his cabinet were quite racist. He moved in the direction of Progressive Reform in the 1916 election; however he won not because of his Progressive ideas, but because of the truth of his re-election campaign slogan: "He kept us out of the war." Among the few progressive reforms he supported were the Federal Farm Loan Act which created the Federal Land Bank system, and Smith Lever Act which provided for farm agents to work under the supervision of land grant colleges.