In 1912, he came out of retirement to run as a third party candidate but lost to Democrat Woodrow Wilson. He was overwhelmingly reelected in 1904 and served until 1909. Roosevelt promised a government that would serve as an impartial referee between corporations and citizens, providing a “square deal.” He supported the rights of workers and taxes on the wealthiest citizens. In 1906, he received the Nobel Peace Prize for negotiating an end to the Russo-Japanese War. After manipulating Panama’s separation from Columbia, he took over construction of the Panama Canal. Roosevelt’s approach to foreign policy was to “speak softly and carry a big stick,” so he modernized and expanded the armed forces. Forest Service and preserving seven million acres of public land from development. An ardent outdoorsman, he also advanced the conservation of natural resources, establishing the U.S.

He supported federal regulation of railroad rates, pure food and drug legislation, and anti-trust lawsuits against harmful corporate monopolies. Roosevelt, a patrician activist leading a conservative Republican party, espoused a moderate but progressive agenda to preserve capitalism by reforming it. Underpaid workers toiled in hazardous conditions while living in crowded cities. Corporations wielded vast economic and political power, and the gap between rich and poor widened. He expanded presidential power through assertive action and his influence on public opinion, using his office as “a bully pulpit.”Īt the dawn of the twentieth century, Americans struggled with the effects of industrialization. history, Roosevelt possessed remarkable physical vigor and a keen instinct for publicity. Vice President Theodore Roosevelt assumed the presidency in 1901, when an anarchist assassinated William McKinley.

President teddy roosevelt