Roosevelt's Second Term 1905 - 1909

The Square Deal and Progressive Legislation Under TR

Feb 10, 2009
Michael Streich

Great White Fleet - Public Domain. No copyright

Beginning a new term in office, Teddy Roosevelt pushed for programs to protect the food supply, address worker problems, and promote environmental conservation.

Theodore Roosevelt’s second term, although continuing the goals of his first, resulted in further wide-reaching progressive legislation and stricter regulation of business practices. Roosevelt, the “moral policeman,” was at his best, advocating for the 1906 Meat Inspection Act, the Pure Food and Drug Act, and mediating an end to the 1905 Russo-Japanese War, for which he received a Nobel Peace Prize. Roosevelt became the first man to assume the presidency upon the death of the president and win a new term on his own merits.

Teddy Roosevelt, the Square Deal, and the Election of 1904

Roosevelt’s only potential challenge to the party nomination had been Ohio Senator Mark Hanna but Hanna had died early in 1904. Facing the Democrat Alton Parker, Roosevelt won a decisive victory capturing 366 electoral votes to Parker’s 140. Roosevelt's “Square Deal” called for shorter labor hours, railroad legislation, primary elections, and the regulation of insurance and financial markets.

Reform Legislation

In a period of investigative journalism, writers exposed the evils in American society, detailing corruption and unethical business practices. Roosevelt dubbed these men and women “muckrakers,” a term taken from Pilgrim’s Progress. It was one of these writers, Upton Sinclair, whose book The Jungle graphically illustrated conditions in Chicago’s meat packing industry. Roosevelt, who had read the book, pushed for passage of the Meat Inspection Act and the Pure Food and Drug Act, both in 1906. The nation’s food supply had to be safeguarded.

The Hepburn Act of 1905 increased the power of the Interstate Commerce Commission to regulate railroad rates. The act also imposed penalties on railroads if they sought to fight the regulation in the courts. Pro railroad senators questioned this, charging that the Hepburn Act indirectly gave the federal government the power to set freight rates.

In June 1906, Congress passed the Employer Liability Act to address workplace related injuries in the railroad industry. Job related injuries were rampant in all industries and Roosevelt’s Square Deal had called for a system of workmen’s compensation. According to Page Smith, in 1904 27,000 workers died in job related accidents and in one year 50,000 job-related accidents were reported in New York factories alone. The Employer Liability Act was declared unconstitutional on the basis that the original act failed to limit the injury liability to interstate commerce in terms of railroads crossing state lines. Congress corrected the errors and a revised bill was passed in 1908.

The passage of reform legislation was much indebted to new faces in the Congress that included progressives anxious to fix the nation’s ills. Men like Wisconsin’s “Fighting Bob” La Follette entered the Senate in 1906, supporting the initiatives of the Roosevelt administration.

Conservation and the Great White Fleet

Theodore Roosevelt was keenly interested in conservation and established the first national wildlife refuge in Florida. 125 million acres were set aside throughout the nation, paving the way for the National Parks Service.

Toward the end of his presidency, Roosevelt sent the “Great White Fleet” on a world tour in demonstration of American power. Opposed by Senator Nelson Aldrich whose stalwart colleagues refused to fund the endeavor, Roosevelt sent the fleet anyway, advising Aldrich that when the fleet became stranded in Japan, it would be the fault of the Senate. The naval demonstration was grudgingly approved.

Roosevelt left office anxious to pursue his plans for an African safari followed by a visit to the capitals of Europe. His chosen successor, William Howard Taft, would prove to be a monumental disappointment. Americans missed Roosevelt, yet some, like J.P. Morgan, were anxious to see his departure.