He brought new excitement and power to the Presidency, as he vigorously led Congress and the American public toward progressive reforms and a strong foreign policy.
He was born in New York City in into a wealthy family, but he too struggled—against ill health—and in his triumph became an advocate of the strenuous life. In his first wife, Alice Lee Roosevelt, and his mother died on the same day. Roosevelt spent much of the next two years on his ranch in the Badlands of Dakota Territory.
There he mastered his sorrow as he lived in the saddle, driving cattle, hunting big game—he even captured an outlaw. On a visit to London, he married Edith Carow in December He was one of the most conspicuous heroes of the war. Boss Tom Platt, needing a hero to draw attention away from scandals in New York State, accepted Roosevelt as the Republican candidate for Governor in Roosevelt won and served with distinction. As President, Roosevelt held the ideal that the Government should be the great arbiter of the conflicting economic forces in the Nation, especially between capital and labor, guaranteeing justice to each and dispensing favors to none.
Other antitrust suits under the Sherman Act followed. Roosevelt steered the United States more actively into world politics. Aware of the strategic need for a shortcut between the Atlantic and Pacific, Roosevelt ensured the construction of the Panama Canal.
His corollary to the Monroe Doctrine prevented the establishment of foreign bases in the Caribbean and arrogated the sole right of intervention in Latin America to the United States. He was also a dedicated conservationist, setting aside some million acres for national forests, reserves and wildlife refuges during his presidency.
In the foreign policy arena, Roosevelt won a Nobel Peace Prize for his negotiations to end the Russo-Japanese War and spearheaded the beginning of construction on the Panama Canal. After leaving the White House and going on safari in Africa, he returned to politics in , mounting a failed run for president at the head of a new Progressive Party. But his complex legacy includes not just his achievements as a progressive reformer and conservationist who regulated big business and established the national park system.
Like many of his time, he also believed firmly in the existence of a racial hierarchy topped by those of white Anglo-Saxon descent, a belief that shaped his attitudes—and policies—on race relations, land rights and American imperialism. Upon graduating from Harvard College in , Roosevelt married Alice Hathaway Lee and entered Columbia University Law School, though he dropped out after only one year to enter public service.
He was elected to the New York State Assembly at the age of 23 and served two terms Both his wife and mother died on the same day in , and the grieving Roosevelt spent the next two years on a ranch he owned in the Badlands of the Dakota Territory, where he hunted big game, drove cattle and worked as a frontier sheriff. In , Roosevelt ran unsuccessfully for mayor of New York City. Upon the outbreak of the Spanish-American War in , Roosevelt left his post as naval secretary to become colonel of the First U.
The Republican political machine in New York threw their considerable support behind the returning war hero, helping Roosevelt defeat a popular Democratic candidate to win the governorship.
Once elected, Roosevelt displayed his characteristic independence and unwillingness to buckle to the pressure of party bosses. Roosevelt campaigned vigorously for McKinley, traveling by train for more than 21, miles to speak in 24 states, and McKinley and Roosevelt won in a landslide over Democrats William Jennings Bryan and Adlai E.
McKinley died eight days later, and Roosevelt was sworn in as the 26th president. From the time of his First Annual Message to Congress in December , Roosevelt expressed the progressive belief that government should mediate between conflicting forces including capital and labor, isolationism and expansionism and conservation and development in order to stabilize American society.
In , his government brought a successful suit under the previously ineffective Sherman Antitrust Act against the Northern Securities Company, a railroad combination formed by James J. Hill, E. Harriman and J. That same year, he intervened in a prolonged coal strike in Pennsylvania , using a combination of negotiation tactics to halt the strike and gain a modest pay increase for the miners. Roosevelt also used his executive power to further his passion for conservationism.
In June , the National Reclamation Act dedicated to large-scale irrigation projects in the American West became the first major legislative achievement of his presidency. In addition, Roosevelt set aside almost million acres—almost five times as much land as all his predecessors combined—for national forests, reserves and wildlife refuges. As part of that process, he favored the removal of many Native Americans from their ancestral territories, including approximately 86 million acres of tribal land transferred to the national forest system.
He was the first president to win reelection after gaining the White House due to the death of his predecessor. The National Constitution Center notes that his decision to run for a third term resulted in key Democratic supporters and advisors leaving his campaign. They argued he was taking America down the road of socialism. He wanted to see us through the two greatest catastrophes of the 20th century and he succeeded.
In , according to the National Constitution Center, term-limit talk again came into focus. Republicans were at the forefront of the movement, though many Democrats agreed with the eight-year precedent set by Washington to guard against tyrannical rule. Roosevelt won his fourth term when he defeated Dewey with 54 percent of the popular vote, taking the Electoral College to He died April 12, , 11 weeks into his term, and the call for a constitutional term-limit amendment was answered two years later, with a two-thirds majority voting in favor of the 22nd Amendment.
But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Twice a week we compile our most fascinating features and deliver them straight to you. Live TV.
0コメント