The Progressive Presidents
Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909)
Also nicknamed "Teddy", he was the 26th president of the U.S. and considered the first "Progressive Era" President to serve. He lived a similar childhood to others as he lived an educated childhood, but he stood out when it came to the public eye. He is considered to be one of the first "modern celebrity" presidents. He loved to catch the public eye and always had something to say when the center of attention was on him14. One important thing that came out of his presidencyy was the attention that the presidential family recieved; it would continue for all presidents after T.R. In the time that T.R. was there he worked a lot on domestic policy and ensuring that the American people were taken care of. He stopped a huge coal strike in Pennsylvania and showed off his negotiation skills and helped them all get raises15. He also worked just as hard on foreign affairs and wanted to end the isolationism that America seemed to be stuck in. He started to reverse the process by helping Panama secede from Colombia and start the construction of the Panama Canal to help with international trade. Another huge achievement that he made was setting aside a lot of wildlife and grounds for reserves. he was a huge believer in wildlife reserves and trying to conserve as much land as possible before everyone moves into it and builds16. Teddy Roosevelt would end his presidency as a very famous man with a lot of grit that would forever change the political realm of America with his foreign affairs.
William Howard Taft (1909-1913)
Taft lived a very eventful life with an extensive education. Taft attended Yale where he graduated second in his class. He then went on to study at the Cincinnati Law School and passed the bar where he became an attorney16. He was very successful and offered many court positions but declined to join the Republican Party and later serve as Secretary of War underneath Theodore Roosevelt. While Taft started his presidency strong with the goal of trust-busting, he eventually started a little war within his own Republican party. He wanted to break the trusts and decrease tariffs. Eventually Theodore Roosevelt stated that Taft got carried away with the trust-busting and that he stopped knowing a "good" trust from a "bad" trust17. He then threw himself into the tariff field and wanted to lower them, and in the end made the tariffs worse on some industries shaking up the Republican Party as many of the ones who where affected negatively were Republicans. When it came to foreign affairs he failed even greater. he wanted to get the U.S. to trade under him more than they did under Roosevelt, but due to tariffs he actually hurt trade with their main trade partner, China.
Woodrow Wilson (1913-1921)
Like Theodore Roosevelt, Wilson was also considered a Progressive President in modern times and looked to change America in a different light than the Republican and Democrat Party. He was another president whose family garnished fame like T.R. and was always in the celebrity spotlight14. He had a very interesting childhood as he gre up with little grade school education before enrolling in college. he eventually enrolled in Princeton for law where he would then drop out only to admit into Johns Hopkins School in the future to finish his schooling. But he wouldn't leave Princeton for good as after graduation in the future he would become the President of Princeton University in 190218. When Wilson became president he wanted to put regulations in place for things like tarrifs, banking, and anti-trusts. but that wasn't even close to the main issue in his presidency. Woodrow Wilson sadly got tangled into WW1 and was given a hard task of deciding whether to join or stay out; he decided to finally join which recieved more praise than backlash19. For his foreign affairs he mainly focused on WW1 and had to make the difficult decision of sending U.S. soldiers overseas to fight. He luckily saw the end of WW1 and started talks on things that needed to change; one of those things being secret treaties. Secret treaties were what brought war upon the world and he advocated for the U.S. to be more involved in World Affairs and wanted the U.S. to be a more central power in deciding World Affairs.
14. Lewis L. Gould, "Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, and the Emergence of the Modern Presidency: An Introductory Essay," Presidential Studies Quarterly Vol. 19, Issue 1 (Winter 1989): pp. 41-50, https://www.jstor.org/stable/40574563
15. Willard B. Gatewood and Lewis L. Gould, "Theodore Roosevelt and the Shaping of the Modern Presidency," Reviews in American History Vol. 20, Issue 4 (1992), pp. 512-517,https://www.jstor.org/stable/2702868
16. “William Howard Taft (Sept. 15, 1857 - March 8, 1930).” William Howard Taft (Sept. 15, 1857 - March 8, 1930) " Supreme Court of Ohio, https://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/courts/judicial-system/supreme-court-of-ohio/mjc/interest/grand-concourse/william-howard-taft/.
17. Peri E. Arnold “William Taft: Domestic Affairs.” Miller Center, 25 July 2017, 16 April 2023. https://millercenter.org/president/taft/domestic-affairs.
18. Saladin Ambar. “Woodrow Wilson: Life before the Presidency.” Miller Center, 29 Aug. 2017, April 16 2023. https://millercenter.org/president/wilson/life-before-the-presidency.
19. Saladin Ambar. “Woodrow Wilson: Domestic Affairs.” Miller Center, 29 Aug. 2017, April 16 2023.https://millercenter.org/president/wilson/domestic-affairs.