(music playing)
In our last segment, I talked a bit about
the policies of the Roosevelt administration
and sort of the progressivism of the Roosevelt administration,
and argued that Roosevelt had maintained what you'd expect from a progressive - a
sort of middle way that avoided
extremes. He's not a radical.
As much as he's about reform as much as Roosevelt -
Teddy Roosevelt or Theodore Roosevelt - is about change, it's not a sort of radical
change.
He relies on experts, he relies on commissions,
and seeks often arbitration,
or limited change, that protects the interests
of the sort of the middle class of American Society.
If we go back to the the great coal strike, for instance,
in many ways, I think, Roosevelt's interest was neither the owners of the mines, the
very wealthy, or
the workers in the mines, but it was finding a solution to their problem
that would then allow him to ensure coal would be available for
the middle class and the bulk of the people the United States.
It's a very politically advantageous position, I...
I... I would guess.
In this next segment,
I really want to talk more... continue talking about the politics of
progressivism, but I want to push it beyond the Roosevelt administrations.
Remember that Roosevelt comes to the presidency
upon William McKinley's assassination,
and it won't be until 1904
that Roosevelt will run on his own.
He runs against Alton Parker, who's from New York
and a relatively lifeless candidate, and Roosevelt does reasonably well.
He... he seems to have the backing of the American people, at least enough to get
the presidency.
But, there are few things that happen with this second term that are worth
noting.
Early on, Roosevelt had tended to be very much about that middle way. There are
elements
in his second administration that allowed some of his own party even
to begin wondering if if Roosevelt - Theodore Roosevelt - wasn't becoming a bit
more radical and radicalized. In
In other words, whether in his second term,
Roosevelt hadn't pushed beyond sort of this progressive middle way.
That
dubiousness, that questioning, of whether Roosevelt was a
getting a bit more radical came in part from
a promise that Roosevelt had made. When he ran in 1904,
Theodore Roosevelt had basically said that he would not be a candidate
in 1908. Anytime a candidate makes that pledge, they began their
administration, or their tenure, in office at a certain disadvantage.
On the other hand, it's liberating. It's a disadvantage because
your opponents, other political people, understand
that you're only... you only have a certain amount of time, and they only have to listen to
you so much for for so long
or care about what you think. But, it's liberating in the sense that you don't
have to worry about what other people think.
You know you know you're going to do one term and you're in the office
so do whatever you can, then. I think, to some extent, that's how Roosevelt
approaches this
and, perhaps, this freedom allowed him, then, to be more expansive in his goals
as progressive president of the United States.
But, it also means that Roosevelt will have to be thinking about who
should succeed him following his
second administration. Ultimately,
Roosevelt sort of hand-picks a fellow by the name
of William Howard Taft of Ohio, and, over the years,
historians and the public have, in some ways, given Taft perhaps a bad rap. At
least, that's the way
I'm going to look at Taft, here. It's not,
perhaps, the most a accepted argument and
as always you're more than welcome to disagree with what I'm arguing here.
But, I've been... when I was going through graduate school in
reading up on on William Howard Taft, among other presidents,
one the arguments that really caught my attention was
that Taft was sort of a forgotten progressive.
That, in many ways, Taft qualifies among this sort of group of progressive
presidents of which roosevelt was one.
It makes sense, then, that roosevelt would look to Taft,
basically, to carry... carry on Roosevelt's
own policies. Taft had served in the cabinet
with Roosevelt. He had served as
an executive - as a governor - in the Philippines.
He's is a fascinating man.
He would go on then to become a justice on the US Supreme Court.
By fascinating man, it's hard not to acknowledge
William Howard Taft's girth. He was
a large man by just about any
standard - well into the three hundred pounds.
It was a sign ,I suppose, of his affluence and,
in some ways, you could argue his seeming affability.
But, that aside, it's going to be William Howard Taft who now,
in 1908, will carry the progressive banner,
and his opposition is an old friend of ours -
it just kind of keeps coming back in our story of
American history here - and that's William Jennings Bryan.
Remember, Bryan had run for president in 1896. He'd run again against McKinley.
Here he is again, in 1908, with Theodore Roosevelt out of the way
now seeking the presidency against William Howard Taft.
Well, Taft wins
and,
almost immediately, there are questions about whether or not
Taft is a progressive, indeed.
Roosevelt, having left the presidency, will
travel and, among other things, he will go off
on safari. Taft
becomes involved
in policies that get him labelled
a bit of a conservative, not even a progressive reformer
but a conservative.
One of the key things he deals with is the tariff. Now, I don't know if,
in lectures that I've done, we've talked about the tariff, but
the simplest definition of the tariff - T-A-R-I-F-F -
is a duty or tax
on imported goods - goods that are being brought
into the United States for resale.
Taft pledges to cut the tariff, which is basically what
progressives and progressive republicans want,
but more conservative republicans -
more sort of McKinley ask republicans -
do not wish to see tariff cuts.
In the end, Taft caves -
Caves in to these more protectionist-minded
republicans, and ends up passing
the so-called Payne Aldrich Tariff in
1909,
which will raise tariffs on some really important resources like iron,
and coal, and other industrial
items.
Then, when progressive Republicans sort of challenge this old guard
for control of the House of Representatives,
Taft supports the progressive campaign
and, then, he seems to abandon
the progressives so the conservatives move
to gain control. Conservative Republicans move
and gain control of the House of Representatives
and, then, there is the so-called Pinchot-Ballinger
affair.
This involves our old friend Gifford Pinchot,
who is chief of the United States Forest Service.
Basically, what happens is that one of Taft cabinet appointees,
Richard A. Ballinger, who was Secretary of the Interior,
kind of gets into a disagreement with Pinchot...
Ballinger was a corporate lawyer,
over the removal of land from federal protection.
This is forest land and land that's preserved for mining.
Taft removes a million acres.
Gifford Pinchot protests the removal
and, for his efforts, he is fired in
1910.
Roosevelt, you may recall, has been away.
He's been in Africa. You know, hunting animals, big game, because he's gotta prove himself to
be a man, I suppose...
masculine... and he
begins to hear inklings that Taft is not
pursuing the policies of a progressive as
Theodore Roosevelt understands progressivism as he understands the role
the president.
And, he is very much taken aback at his hand chosen successor
and his actions. That's where, I think, Taft really gets into trouble in terms
of being considered
a progressive. There are things that Taft does,
arguably, because he was sort of weak- willed even.
I don't think that's the case but, arguably so, he's weak-willed. He gives in.
But it other fundamental ways, I think you can argue that Taft is very much
progressive-minded, and let me just give you some evidence to come to back up my
argument here and you decide what you want.
Taft had, during his administration, prosecuted more trusts than Roosevelt,
and even went after important trusts, like US Steel,
that Roosevelt - Theodore Roosevelt - had assumed were
okay, that were to the good. In other words, remember Roosevelt...
Roosevelt... he made a delineation between
good trusts and bad trusts. My point is that
Taft and his administration look to more trusts as
bad, as combinations unreasonably restraining trade.
Taft expands the national forests.
He bolsters the power the Interstate Commerce Commission
through Mann-Elkins in 1910.
Taft supports legislation or legislative initiatives to institute the eight-hour
day and mine safety.
Roosevelt wouldn't go that far,
but Taft goes even further, maybe beyond progressivism.
Maybe going so far that he would meet the charges that were made against
Theodore Roosevelt for radicalism because Taft supports
the introduction of an amendment to legalize - an amendment to the
Constitution
to legalize to federal income tax for
the direct election of senators.
That's been a big deal since we talked about the Knights of Labor,
since we talked about the Farmers Alliance,
and here's Taft coming on board saying, "Yeah, I would...
I would favor that. I would help with that." Now, whether he would or not, we may not know,
but
he says he would. And yet, to most progressives,
Taft seemed vacillating. He seemed a tool for conservatives.
He seemed like a poor progressive.
Theodore Roosevelt is incensed,
and he determines that he is going to come back in 1912
and this Theodore Roosevelt Republican and progressive
will run against William Howard Taft,
who's apparently let Roosevelt down but he's also a fellow Republican.
In the next segment, we'll pick up again with the
election of 1912 and how this spat
between Roosevelt and Taft is ultimately settled.