Progressive Era Essay

380 Words2 Pages
* Choose one question to answer. * Write an intro paragraph and three body paragraphs. * UNDERLINE your thesis statement. * ANSWER THE QUESTION! 1. Compare and contrast the progressive policies of Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and Woodrow Wilson. Presidents Roosevelt, Taft and Howard were considered to be progressive men due to the various things they did to better themselves and the U.S during the progressive era. Their policies, while different, shared similarities that gave them the progressive name. Roosevelt’s republican party split, Taft’s separation from the ideas of Roosevelt, and Wilson’s democratic perspective bring light to the idea that although these men shared the progressive opinion, their ideas differed in many ways. Theodore Roosevelt was the brain behind the progressive party that would eventually lead to the split of the Republican party. Roosevelt called for the “Square Deal” between business, consumers, and labor and supported the “Strenuous Life”. Unlike the others, Roosevelt wished to destroy bad trusts and regulate the good ones rather than break them all up. Roosevelt was the first president to introduce progressive ways of thinking and although each president’s ideas were similar in ways such as trust busting and conservation measures, his ideas were the framework for the U.S. William Howard Taft was the presidential candidate hand picked by Roosevelt. Although his ideas were similar enough for Roosevelt to believe he would carry on his progressive ideas, Taft had his own policies during the time of his presidency. Taft was big into raising tariffs and fired Gifford Pinchot as the Head of U.S. Forests Service as appointed by Roosevelt. While Taft, like the others, claimed to be progressive and shared the same trust busting agenda, he strayed farthest from the progressive ideas. Woodrow Wilson was a
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