Roosevelt versus Taft versus Wilson presidencies

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Roosevelt versus Taft versus Wilson presidencies

Presidents Roosevelt, Taft and Wilson are considered progressive leaders because of several reasons. Roosevelt is considered the most progressive leader because of his fight against corruption in the political offices and impeding railroad trust. He also conserved 290 million acres of land and built a strong navy. As the industrial revolution grew, the laws protecting workers were few. Roosevelt ensured to provide the common man with protection from the big corporations (Unger 45). Taft was considered a progressive president for continuing with what Roosevelt had started. He was able to prosecute some of the biggest corporations that Roosevelt had not been able to pursue. He pursued more trusts than Roosevelt did. Wilson was considered progressive for carrying out some of the work started by Roosevelt although in different ways. He also reduced tariffs to open the American market that was able to remove power of holding money from the big corporations (Brinkley 87).

Each of these presidents made a few legislations during their time that played a crucial role. One of the most important pieces of legislation passed by Roosevelt was the Meat Inspection Act in 1906. This ensured that food was packaged and labeled well. It requires agricultural department to set standards for better packaging plants. I believe that the most important piece of legislation passed by Taft was the Mann-Elkins Act of 1910 that allowed interstate commerce commission to reduce railroad tariffs to make them affordable to all people. The most important legislation for Wilson was the Federal Reserve Act, which established a central bank for America. This is significant because it took control of money from trusts and big corporations to allow all people to hold it (Brinkley 44).

The three presidents played a crucial role in expanding the meaning of freedom to Americans. Roosevelt did this through listening to common people, indicating that they had a power to resist exploitation from big corporations. Taft, conversely, extended this meaning by offering competitive markets where all people were free to engage in economic activities. Finally, Wilson did this with his act that allowed control of market to fall to all Americans as opposed to few corporations (Morrisey 178).

Works Cited

Brinkley, Alan. The Unfinished Nation: A Concise History of the American People Combined Hardcover, Volume 2. New York, N.Y: McGraw-Hill Education, 2009. Print.

Morrisey, Will. The Dilemma of Progressivism: How Roosevelt, Taft, and Wilson Reshaped the American Regime of Self-Government. New York, N.Y: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2009. Print.

Unger Irwin. These United States: The Question of our Past. New York, N.Y: Prentice Hall, 2003. Print.