On The Edge, 70-75, 79-86

On The Edge, 70-75, 79-86

Taft & The Progressives
1. William Howard Taft assumes the Presidency after Roosevelt leaves
a. Taft had served as governor general in the Philippines
b. William Jennings Bryan ran as a Democrat for a third time, slogan: “Will the people rule?”
c. Bryan embraced a direct primary, popular election of US Senators, a graduated income tax, federal licensing of corporations, federal guarantees of bank deposits, campaign finance reform, & women’s suffrage
d. Taft, won 52% to 43%
e. Taft, 300lbs, played golf, 
f. the Department of Justice continued antitrust activity
g. the Children’s Bureau in the Department of Commerce & Labor was created
h. offered confused & unproductive leadership
i. 1909, Taft wanted a moderate reduction of the high Dingley Tariff of 1897
j. accepted the Payne-Aldrich Tariff, raised rates on manufactured goods, threatened crop exports
k. James Garfield, Roosevelt’s conservation minded sec. of the interior was replaced with Western corporate attorney Richard Ballinger
l. Pinchot organized the National Conservation Association to protest such policies, Taft fired him, Ballinger resigned the next year
m. House Speaker Joe Cannon, staunch conservative with dictatorial powers
n. Roosevelt had insisted moral issues were involved with US interventions
o. Taft & Sec. of State Philander C. Knox hoped to minimize European influence in Latin America by encouraging US investment in the region
p. Taft advocated “dollar diplomacy,” a foreign policy that put the Dept. of State, War, and the Navy at the disposal of business interests
q. troops were sent in Nicaragua, Guatemala, Honduras, and Haiti
r. progressives wanted a federal income tax, income taxes had been repealed in the early 1870s
s. enough states ratified the income tax provision to enable it to become the Sixteenth Amendment in 1913
t. 1910, Democrats gained 10 Senate seats 
u. 1912, investigation of the nation’s financial & banking resources
v. the Pujo Committee exposed the interlocking interests of Morgan & Rockefeller
w. 1913, U.S. senators were selected by popular vote instead of by state legislatures 
x. “The Promise of American Life,”(1909), Herbert Croly: corporations were necessary, overseas markets were necessary, a federal safety net for working people administered by trained professionals should be implemented
y. “New Nationalism,” the executive branch of the government should be a steward of the public welfare, corporations should be regulated as a matter of national interest, real democracy should triumph

The Election Of 1912
a.Roosevelt began to distance himself from Taft
b. Taft made Roosevelt appear to be a tool of Wall Street
c. Roosevelt decided to seek the Republican nomination for the presidency
d. 1912, Roosevelt “threw his hat in the ring.”
e. President Taft represented industrialists, bankers, and party loyalists who favored high tariffs and a minimum of government interference in the economy
f. Robert La Follette, founded the National Progressive League, an anti-corporate progressive, a) appealed to small businesspeople and independent farmers, b) promoted legislation to curb trusts, 3) wanted the initiative, referendum, and direct primary
g. Roosevelt, embraced corporate progressivism: corporations needed to be offset by government agencies working to ensure social justice
h. most of Republican leadership supported Taft
i. Roosevelt got backing from newspaper publisher Frank A. Munsey and Morgan partner George W. Perkins, created the Progressive Party
j. popular California governor Hiram W. Johnson was the Progressive Party vice presidential candidate

Progressive Platform
1. federal regulatory agencies
2. prohibition of child labor
3. 8 hour day
4. democratic reforms: women’s suffrage, popular election of Senators
a. social worker Jane Addams and journalists Walter Lippman and Herbert Croly supported Roosevelt
b. Democrats united behind New Jersey reform governor Woodrow Wilson, made his career in the North, had a PhD in government from John Hopkins, became president of Princeton. 
c. Wilson, strong record of progressive reform
d. Wilson: a) agrarian/small business reformers, lower tariffs, banking reform, dismantling of unfair, inefficient trusts, urban progressives, labor activists 
e. the Socialist Party also competed
f. Eugene Debs endorsed 1) unemployment insurance & 2) old-age pensions, 3) government ownership of railroads, grain elevators, mines and banks, 5) single term presidency, 6) elimination of the Senate, 7) removal of judicial review
g. Debs won 6% of the popular vote
h. Taft: 23% of the ballot, Roosevelt 27%, Wilson: 42%
i. Wilson, 2nd Democrat to win the White House since the 1850s
j. voters were concerned that concentration of wealth threatened personal autonomy and needed by monitored by an activist government 

79-86
Wilsonian Reform & Global Order, 1912-1920
1. Wilson was a legislative activist
a. developed detailed programs & provided executive leadership in Congress
b. accepted the importance of big corporations 
c. sought to regulate corporations
d. fulfilled many progressive promises in his domestic program
e. continued the Open Door policy of the 1890s
f. won with the reformist slogan, “New Freedom,” Wilson wanted to promote the “public interest.”
g. admired the British parliamentary system, believed a president should take a vigorous role in leading his party and securing legislation
h. addressed Congress in person (like John Adams)
i. installed a private telephone linking the White House with the Capital, dispatched lobbyists to gain support for his administration initiatives
j. Wilson used patronage to reward backers & punish opponents
k. held news conferences 
l. called for a downward revision of the tariff
m. passed the Underwood-Simmons Act of 1913, the 1st significant tariff reform since before the Civil War
n. income tax, wealthy people had to pay a larger income tax
o. only 2% of the workforce had to file returns
p. 1916, 9% of the government budget came from income tax
q. Wilson kept Congress in session to consider banking reform
r. Louis Brandeis wrote “Other People’s Money & How Bankers Use It,” which criticized the concentration of financial resources
s. Robert La Follette, an anti-corporate progressive wanted the government to control the new banking system
t. Virginia’s Senator Cater Glass wanted to decentralize & rationalize the financial apparatus & leave authority with private lenders
u. Congress passed the Federal Reserve Act of 1913
v. 12 Federal Reserve banks were created to represent the nation’s geographic regions
w. the Federal Reserve provided reserves to cover local financial crises and created coordinated check clearance procedures
y. Wilson pushed for the Clayton Antitrust Act
z. a trust is an arrangement to get rid of competition
1. the Federal Trade Commission, conducted investigations and issued restraining orders to prevent “unfair trade practices.”
2. most of Wilson’s FTC appointments were corporate attorneys

Wilson & The Liberal State
a. Wilson was a leader of a minority party 
b. Wilson viewed the White House as a neutral broker among the economy’s organized interests
c. the Clayton Act exempted labor unions & agricultural organizations from antitrust prosecution & restricted the use of court injunctions against union activities
d. 1916: 1) laws to improve the conditions of merchant seaman, 2) to regulate child labor, 3) to provide worker’s compensation for federal employees
e. the Adamson Act was approved, reduced the workday to 8 hours for railroad employees
f. created a federal highway bill
g. signed the Rural Credits Act of 1916, subsidized credit banks
h. an agricultural extension service was created
i. Wilson nominated Louis Brandeis to the Supreme Court, 
j. ordered segregation of federal employees
k. praised D.W. Griffith’s racist film, “Birth Of A Nation,”
l. didn’t sympathize with the suffragist movement, believed in state legislation for it
m. Charles Evans Hughes was nominated by Republicans
n. Wilson adopted the slogan, “peace, prosperity, and progressivism,”
o. close contest, Wilson only won 49.4% of the popular vote 

 
Louis Dembitz Brandeis, 
a. studied economics, sociology
b. defended working people against corporate power
c. became a millionaire at fifty
d. upset about the bloody Homestead steel strike of 1892
e. representatives from the state of Oregon challenged the 10 hour workday limit for women, used sociological data to support his ideas. 
f. a political independent
g. supported La Follette and Wilson
h. believed the banking system should be under the control of the federal government, not banking interests
i. helped draft the Federal Trade Commission Act of 1914
j. had a reputation as a radical
k. served on the bench for 23 years
l. believed in government regulations & social justice legislation

Intervention In Latin America, p. 86-87
a. foreign markets were needed for domestic prosperity, supposedly...
b. a low-tariff policy increased foreign trade
c. amendments to the Federal Reserve Act stimulated investment overseas
d. 1900-1914: exports doubled to $3 mil, foreign investment: 3x to $3 billion
e. military force-might be used to sustain moral values in Latin America
f. intervention could promote “democracy, stability, order, & constitutional government,”
g. Wilson & Sec. of State William Jennings Bryan were against “dollar diplomacy,”
h. troops were sent to Cuba, Santo Domingo, Nicaragua
i. Wilson sent troops to Haiti, US gained control of the country’s finances, public works, army & foreign relations
j. 1916, Wilson told Denmark to sell the Virgin Islands to the US or have them seized by US forces
k. 1911, democratic forces began a revolution in Mexico
l. 1913, General Victoriano Huerta led a successful counterrevolution 
m. US support was placed behind General Venustiano Carranza, 
n. Wilson ordered the US navy to seize the Mexican port of Vera Cruz to prevent Huerta from receiving arms
o. Carranza couldn’t stop the chaotic fighting
p. Wilson turned to Gen. Francisco Villa: charismatic bandit & revolutionary reformer
q. Wilson placed Gen. John Pershing in command of a punitive expedition
r. Pershing led 7,000 US soldiers into Mexico
s. President Carranza demanded that Washington respect Mexican sovereignty
t. Wilson called off the futile mission in 1917
u. the US became increasingly concerned with Europe’s actions