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Progressive Era Theodore Roosevelt was the first vice president to fill an unexpired term (in his case, it was nearly a full term, three and one-half years) and then to be elected in his own right. When he won a resounding victory in 1904, he promised not to run in 1908. He held to his promise, even though he loved being president, and even though it was apparent that he could have won easily. When he attempted a comeback in 1912, the increasingly progressive Theodore Roosevelt won the bulk of the presidential primaries, but could not unseat the incumbent, William Howard Taft, who had the support of the conservative political machinery that controlled most state Republican parties.
Although his actions had antagonized many Republicans, Theodore Roosevelt remained the idol of the Bull Moose Progressives. The Progressive Party nominated him again in 1916, but he declined to run that year; the Republicans nominate Charles Evans Hughes who eventually received Roosevelt's support. In 1918, he declined to be nominated as the Republican candidate for governor of New York. His life continued to boost his colorful reputation, but it had taken its toll. His health had declined.
Among other things, he suffered recurring bouts of fever from his near-death experiences exploring the Brazilian jungle in 1914. No doubt he also was the victim of lead poisoning from the bullet that had remained lodged near his heart since an attempt on his life in 1912. Perceiving the critical need for social change and, in some cases, fearing the threat of outright revolution, a proliferation of reform groups organized in reaction to the deepening crisis. By 1894 more than 180 local citizens; reform associations had been established, prompting the formation of the National Municipal League to serve as a coordinating apparatus. The progressive era had thus begun as a nationwide movement merged with a coherent agenda and a planned continuity to carry reform into the twentieth century. Although the progressive movement was a composite of diverse groups and interests, two major themes emerged as primary approaches to reform.
These two elements of progressive thought and activism were identified at the 1894 National Conference for Good City Government in Philadelphia by none other than Theodore Roosevelt. In a speech before the convention, Roosevelt, then serving as U. S. Civil Service Commissioner, urged his listeners to follow both the gospel of efficiency and the gospel of morality. The diagnosis of society's ills that Roosevelt shared with his fellow reformers was the assumption that both bad systems and bad men corrupted civic virtue. This notion would serve as the philosophical basis for much of the progressive program that led to the Progressive Era.
A confluence of factors at the turn of the twentieth century made Roosevelt's presidency, and those of his immediate successors, a time that tested old boundaries and established new ones in civil-military affairs. The period itself, the Progressive Era, brought transition and adjustment in American life. Reformers attacked the myriad problems associated with urbanization and industrialization; a new, post-Civil War generation assumed the mantle of political leadership; and the United States solidified its newly asserted status as a great power and protector of a modest overseas empire. During this period of rapid change, stress was inevitable, and military affairs were not immune.
Theodore Roosevelt represented the principal axis around which civil-military relations turned in the first decade of the twentieth century. He assumed several roles, some official and others unofficial, that frequently made him the focus of civil-military debates. Officially, Roosevelt served, of course, as commander in chief and functioned, as well, as chief diplomat, but he also behaved as what could best be termed chief dilettante, for he frequently dabbled in detailed aspects of military technology, training, planning, and operations. (Morris, 568) His expansive view of executive authority and his talent at generating publicity also contributed to his active role in remolding the civil-military architecture. All in all, across the range of military affairs, Roosevelt helped define debates, fuel controversies, solve problems, and focus expectations, although his ideas sometimes created more difficulties and disappointment than resolution and satisfaction. Theodore Roosevelt was an ardent supporter of an internationalist foreign policy for the United States.
He sought to establish a new regime in foreign policy which was based on an expanded role for the emerging superpower. The challenge for Roosevelt was not just to develop new policies, but to ensure the continuation of internationalism through regime change. In order to accomplish this, Roosevelt had to gain acceptance of his new international vision of the United States by both existing political elites, including the leadership in Congress, then by the public at large. Roosevelt had to actually implement the polices that corresponded with his central goal of a greater global presence for the United States. Roosevelt's accomplishments and innovations in foreign policy had a long-lasting impact on the office of the presidency. First, Roosevelt successfully established the United States as major actor on the global stage.
Building upon the military success of the United States in the Spanish American War, the new President projected American power in a highly visible fashion through actions such as the construction of the Panama Canal and the circumnavigation of the Great White Fleet. Second, Roosevelt used the bully-pulpit to garner public support for his assertive diplomacy and lead the effort to introduce the norms, rules and principles of a new foreign policy regime. In doing so, he adroitly managed the transition to a new regime and ensured its acceptance by the nations contemporary political elites. Roosevelt became the first president to successfully combine the trends of exceptionalism and universalism as the long-term basis for his foreign policy.
Roosevelt's new regime provided the foundation for the internationalist foreign policies of Roosevelt's successors, Taft and Wilson. Third, and finally, Roosevelt's personal involvement in foreign affairs foreshadowed the later summit diplomacy whereby presidents ranging from Franklin D. Roosevelt to Ronald Reagan personally negotiated international agreements or met with their counterparts to address global issues. (Morris, 572) Mainly, thanks to Theodore Roosevelt our country is the global player number one. Bibliography: Edmund Morris, The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt (New York: Coward, McCann & Geoghegan, 1979), 568 - 572.
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Research essay sample on Theodore Roosevelt Progressive Era
