Notes

Roosevelt was the most effective in using the bully pulpit to bring about needed reforms. He agressively used the Sherman Antitrust Act to protect the public from the power of monopolies. He regulated the coal mining industry and the railroads. He also brought about many improvements in public health through the Meat Inspection Act and the Pure Food and Drug Act. He aggressively sought to conserve the nation’s natural resources through legislation such as the National Reclamation Act. Roosevelt even represented the new Progressive Party in the election of 1912. Many of the items on the platform of the Progressive Party that year eventually became the law of the land. Taft was not as effective in championing progressive causes. He signed the Payne-Aldrich Tariff, which progressives considered a weak compromise. He fired the conservationist Gifford Pinchot, head of the U.S Forest Service. Taft failed to win the support of Progressives and lost the election of 1912 decisively. Wilson pleased progressives with the Clayton Antitrust Act and the establishment of the Federal Trade Commission. The FTC continues to have a prominent role in government supervision of business. Wilson also established the Federal Reserve System, which is vital to the success and safety of our current banking system. None of the three presidents did much to futher the cause fo civil rights for African Americans.
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