I originally posted this on my old website November 26, 2004.
I wrote this paper in early 2004 for an American Government class during my Senior year of college.
Theodore Roosevelt: A Great American President
By Robert West
The twenty-sixth president of the United States and the youngest to ever hold office, Theodore Roosevelt is among the best-remembered presidents. He is remembered not just for his youth, but also for the way he led the country at the dawn of the last century. Rarely allowing himself to be swayed by his party or the politics of the time, Roosevelt followed his own moral judgment in relations with business and diplomacy, and proved himself one of the country’s best presidents.
Less than a year after becoming Vice-President of the United States, the unexpected death of President William McKinley from an assassin’s bullet put the young Roosevelt at the reins of the country. Roosevelt stated his plans “to continue absolutely unbroken the policy of President McKinley,” (Burton, pg. 91) but it would not be long before the new President would be making his own policy known.
Roosevelt’s first major trial as president was his action against J. P. Morgan’s Northern Securities Company. The Northern Securities Company was a holding company created to combine the interests of western railroad tycoons Morgan and James J. Hill with those of Edward H. Harriman. The end result would have been a monopoly on railroad transportation through the American northwest, a violation of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, and so Roosevelt’s Attorney-General, Philander Knox, filed a suit against the holding company to force its dissolution on March 10, 1902. (Busch, pg. 165-167)
Roosevelt was not hostile toward big businesses, so long as they were abiding by the law. In an address to Congress in December 1901, Roosevelt said “…we are not attacking the corporations but endeavoring to do away with the evil in them…We draw the line against misconduct and not against wealth.” (Burton, pg. 98) When Morgan, at a meeting with Roosevelt about the upcoming suit against the Northern Securities Company, asked if Roosevelt planned to go after his other interests, Roosevelt replied “Certainly not, unless we find that they have done something we regard as wrong.” (Busch, pg. 197)
The Northern Securities case was resolved by the Supreme Court in 1904, with the holding company being broken up, (Burton, pg. 99) but this was just the beginning of Roosevelt’s action on regulating corporations. Roosevelt filed an antitrust suit against the meat packing company Swift in April 1902. (Chessman, pg. 85-86) On the recommendations of Roosevelt’s administration, in 1903 Congress passed the Elkins Act (Chessman, pg. 86), which prevented railroads from giving rebates to large shippers giving them lower rates that smaller shippers (Blum, pg. 74), and created the Department of Commerce and Labor, with a Bureau of Corporations to oversee interstate corporations.
Another area in which Roosevelt involved himself was in the area of labor relations. On May 12, 1902, the United Mine Workers went on strike, putting a stop to the mining of anthracite coal, which was as a fuel for heating and cooking. The union president, John Mitchell, requested a small pay increase, shorter hours and assurance that scales were accurate (pay was based on how mush coal a miner could dig up). The mining companies refused. (Busch, pg. 163-164) The strike stretched on through the summer and by September the price of coal had increased from $5 a ton to $20 a ton. Republican politicians as well as the general public were becoming concerned that coal would not be available at all by winter, and Roosevelt felt he had to take some action on behalf of the national government to end the strike. (Burton, pg. 102) Roosevelt didn’t simply send in troops to protect the mine owner’s property and force the strike to end, nor did he have troops take over the mines and run them for the government (Busch, pg. 164-165), though he did keep nationalizing the mines as a last resort. (Burton, pg. 103) Instead, he took an approach to maintain his neutrality, and still bring an end to the strike which he viewed as an impending national crisis. Roosevelt invited Mitchell and the presidents of the major coal companies to meet with him on October 3 in Washington. (Burton, pg. 103) The owners were stubborn, demanding an injunction and suit against the strikers and use of the military to maintain order, and refusing to even consider Roosevelt’s suggestion of an arbitration council, an approach Mitchell approved of. (Chessman, pg. 90) Only after Roosevelt threatened to have the military take over the mines and run them did the mine owners consent to arbitration, and the miners agreed to go back to work. (Burton, pg. 104) Roosevelt’s willingness to stand up to the mine owners for the union workers is significant because Roosevelt was not a supporter of unions. While Roosevelt supported the rights of workers to join unions, he also believed in the worker’s right to not join a union. (Chessman, pg. 93) He also insisted on a non-union “open-shop” for government employees. (Blum, pg. 59) In other instances, Roosevelt followed a policy of non-interference between the unions and owners (Chessman, pg. 92-93), but when the good of the nation required him to act, Roosevelt, despite his dislike for unions, did not send in troops to force the production of coal. Instead, he found a way to appease both sides and get the miners back to work quickly.
Roosevelt had many successes in the area of diplomacy. When Germany and Britain blockaded Venezuelan ports in an attempt to collect on debts owed to German and British citizens, Roosevelt sent the Navy to the Caribbean with plans to break up the blockade unless Germany and Britain agreed to negotiate a peaceful settlement with Venezuela, which Roosevelt’s show of force led them to do. (Chessman, pg. 98, Busch, pg. 168) Roosevelt agreed to arbitrate a conflict with Canada over the Alaskan border, an issue that he saw had an obvious answer that needed no negotiating, to maintain good relations with Canada and England. Britain’s Lord Chief Justice ended up making the final decision, and gave the United States all it was rightfully claiming, the result Roosevelt anticipated. (Busch, pg. 169) Roosevelt also negotiated in a conflict between France and Germany over the control of the ports of Morocco. (Burton, pg. 134) Roosevelt’s greatest accomplishments in diplomacy, however, were the building of the Panama Canal and his role in ending the Russo-Japanese War.
The Panama Canal was a dream of Roosevelt’s, and by 1903 a treaty had been formed with Colombia to enable the construction to be started. The US Senate had ratified the treaty, but the Colombian government ended up rejecting the treaty. (Chessman, pg. 97-98) A more expensive route through Nicaragua was a possibility, but not preferred. The United States had a previous treaty with Colombia that gave the US the power to maintain transit on the isthmus of Panama. Based on this treaty, Roosevelt sent the US Navy to Panama, where a revolution was in the making. When the revolution took place in November 1903, US Marines prevented Colombian troops from reaching Panama. Within days, a treaty had been signed with the new Republic of Panama for construction of the canal. (Chessman, pg. 99) The Panamanian revolution, which had only one casualty (two if one counts a donkey), attracted a great deal of attention. Roosevelt maintained that while he did not have an active role in the revolution, he did allow it to occur. He said in 1914, “People say I fomented insurrection in Panama prior to the time I became President. While I was President I kept my foot down on these revolutions so that when the revolution referred to did occur, I did not have to foment it; I simply lifted my foot.” (Busch, pg. 162-163) Roosevelt firmly believed that, despite his methods, he did what was necessary to get the canal built. In 1911, Roosevelt said, “If I had followed conventional, conservative methods, I should have submitted a dignified state paper of approximately two hundred pages to the Congress and the debate would have been going on yet, but I took the canal zone and let Congress debate, and while the debate goes on the Canal does also.” (Busch, pg. 163)
A different approach came about in Roosevelt’s handling of the Russo-Japanese War. Russia and Japan were involved in a war over parts of Korea and Manchuria. Japan had generally been victorious, and had won everything it wanted to win. Russia, having been losing, also desired an end to the war, but the country’s pride stood in the way. The two countries came to Roosevelt to come to an agreement. (Busch, pg. 191) Roosevelt invited the delegates to his Presidential yacht to draw up a treaty. Though officially Roosevelt was only a host, Roosevelt was essential to the proceedings. (Chessman, pg. 114) Both sides were fairly stubborn when it came to making concessions over lands won during the war, particularly Sakhalin Island, which both sides occupied, and it was Roosevelt who maintained communication between the countries during the negotiations. In the end, it was Roosevelt’s direct plea to the Japanese Emperor for a compromise that brought about a treaty that the both sides could agree on. For his role in the Russo-Japanese negotiations, Roosevelt was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1906, as without his diplomatic touch, the war between the two eastern powers could have continued on, dramatically altering the balance of power in much of the world. (Burton, pg. 131)
Theodore Roosevelt was a great negotiator and peacemaker. In one of his final acts as President, he sent the US Navy, which he had greatly expanded (Chessman, pg. 106), on a trip around the world, as a show of America’s naval power and goodwill toward other countries. (Busch, pg. 214-216) This action defines a President who is not remembered for involving the United States directly in any major conflict. In his dealings with business and with other countries, Theodore Roosevelt showed strength and an ability to be firm but fair to all sides. Among all his contributions he made to the United States and the rest of the world, it is his impeccable sense of morality and his unwillingness to concede to other interests that made him the President that is remembered today.
References
Blum, John Morton. 1980. The Republican Roosevelt
Burton, David H. 1972. Theodore Roosevelt. New York, NY: Twayne Publishers, Inc.
Busch, Noel F. 1963. T. R. The Story of Theodore Roosevelt and His Influence on Our Times
Chessman, G. Wallace. Theodore Roosevelt and the Politics of Power
© Robert D. West, 2004.
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