FREE ESSAY ON SOCIAL IMPACT OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT

SOCIAL IMPACT OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT

Ryan Walsh
Hon. U.S. History 2
The Social Impact of Theodore Roosevelt
In the post-Gilded Age, America needed a strong President to carry out and embellish upon
the social reform and dismantle the corruption left by trusts. Taking over for the late
President McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt was the upper-class proponent of the people
willing to wage the crusade against big business with a boyish vigor to be admired by the
entire world. His campaign for the layperson to "avoid the extremes of swollen fortunes
and grinding poverty" is one of Herculean proportions to be remembered for all history.
To understand the political beliefs of Teddy Roosevelt, one must understand the man
behind the people's champion. Although wealthy in his youth, young Theodore quickly
learned the value of hard work due to his frail body and failing eyesight; this value
echoed in his every word and bled into every bill he signed. TR worked tremendously to
maintain a healthy body and became quite skilled in many areas of sport, and built a
titanic zest for life, which he carried through his presidency. Without adversity,
Roosevelt's romance with the raw wilderness and his sense of debt to the common person
could never have been constructed.
Beginning with his role in the Rough Riders, Theodore was a romantic and dynamic American
hero for the new era. As President, TR was clever in bringing about his reform and
fearless of his antagonists; for Roosevelt felt a president should lead and fight the
good fight for the greater good. In May1902, he showed his political clout by arbitrating
the coal dispute. TR backed the miners insisting that nobody owned them and by using the
pressure of lose, TR composed a "square deal" for the miners and shook the age of Big
Business by proving federal intervention was possible for the common man.
When written, The Sherman Anti-trust Act was fruitless but in the inventive forges of
Roosevelt's mind it evolved into a modern Excalibur. Roosevelt used his new blade to
dismember "bad" trusts; such were the circumstances of the Northern Securities case.
Roosevelt used the case to prove his skill in public relations, show the nation the power
of his "sword", and prove to the nation and big business the power of the federal
government. In 1904, the Supreme Court ordered the trust to dissolve. The re-energized
Roosevelt campaigned against other "bad" trusts- the beef trust, the oil trust, and the
tobacco trust. 
Roosevelt went on to complete more general reform and "prove that a free society was not
powerless against large corporations". In a time stirred by muckrakers, Roosevelt made
strides to improve the social standards of his nation, especially in 1906. On the coat
tails of Sinclair's "The Jungle", TR pushed the Meat Inspection Act that granted federal
officials the right to inspect all meat and its' source. A Pure Food and Drug Act,
forbidding the sale of impure food, drug or alcohol almost immediately followed the Meat
Inspection Act. Roosevelt's 1906 hat trick was capped by The Employers' Liability Act,
which provided accident insurance for workers and catapulted TR to almost mythic
proportions as the people's advocate.
Roosevelt's years in the Oval Office mirrored the man himself, outspoken and a triumph
for the American soul and people. He brought creeds and values back to the American
experience and helped set the destiny of a great nation back on the tracks laid by its
for fathers. In a period of history preceded by extreme rape of capitalism, TR was the
fierce republican with the grit and utter courage to pull the sword from the mighty stone
of corruption and bring it down upon the big businesses defiling the American principles.