-I, Teddy Roosevelt entered presidency in 1901 by accident. I intially tried to build a working relationship with McKinley supporters as well as Republicans in Congress but, my belief in a strong presidency desired to induce social change. I now moved foward and decided to attack the power of the buisness trusts through the courts. My first action was against the Northern Securities Company, a company created by some of Americas most influential and powerful bankers to combine the holdings of the wealthiest railroad buisnessmen. In 1904, the Supreme Court ordered that the company be broken up, at this point I had earned a reputation as a "trust buster." I continued to use the power of the Court against unfair buisness combinations. My philosophy
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My popularity among the nation progressed due to large measured efforts designed to regulate corporate America. In particular the railroads became a primary concern. The Interstate Commerse Commission created in 1887 was unable to restrain the behavior of the railroads- adverse commission decisions were routinely appealed by railroad owners in the federal courts for periods as long as ten years. In order to gain more control over an integral part of the nations economic infastructure, I led the fight for the passage of the 1903 Elkins Act. The act empowered the federal government to impose huge fines on both the railroads offering rebates and on the shippers accepting them. This undermined the older "pool" combinations in which railroad owners secretly agreed to divide buisness in a specific area and share the profits accordingly. The Elkins Act thus embodied a central feature of my trust-busting- the reintroduction of competition to key sectors of American …show more content…
I never believed that America should return to a pre-big buisness period, but I did feel that the regulation of business was necessary for the common good of Americans. I saw that the office of the presidency was a public office that could not only influence programs through Congress, but could also direclty attack problems in society. I also believed in helping American consumers. Growing numbers of Americans were demanding safer canned goods by the opening of the 20th century. Upon Sinclair's The Jungle, published in 1906, helped to do something about unhealthy food products. I was distraught by the realities about the food processing plants, I temporarily refrained from eating meat. Armed with public concern and investigative evidence from his committee, I was able to drive through Congress the Meat Inspection Act of 1906. The act stipulated that the preparation of meat transported across state lines be subjected to federal inspection. A companion to this legistlation was the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906, designed to prevent the mislabeling and adulteration of drugs and
My popularity among the nation progressed due to large measured efforts designed to regulate corporate America. In particular the railroads became a primary concern. The Interstate Commerse Commission created in 1887 was unable to restrain the behavior of the railroads- adverse commission decisions were routinely appealed by railroad owners in the federal courts for periods as long as ten years. In order to gain more control over an integral part of the nations economic infastructure, I led the fight for the passage of the 1903 Elkins Act. The act empowered the federal government to impose huge fines on both the railroads offering rebates and on the shippers accepting them. This undermined the older "pool" combinations in which railroad owners secretly agreed to divide buisness in a specific area and share the profits accordingly. The Elkins Act thus embodied a central feature of my trust-busting- the reintroduction of competition to key sectors of American …show more content…
I never believed that America should return to a pre-big buisness period, but I did feel that the regulation of business was necessary for the common good of Americans. I saw that the office of the presidency was a public office that could not only influence programs through Congress, but could also direclty attack problems in society. I also believed in helping American consumers. Growing numbers of Americans were demanding safer canned goods by the opening of the 20th century. Upon Sinclair's The Jungle, published in 1906, helped to do something about unhealthy food products. I was distraught by the realities about the food processing plants, I temporarily refrained from eating meat. Armed with public concern and investigative evidence from his committee, I was able to drive through Congress the Meat Inspection Act of 1906. The act stipulated that the preparation of meat transported across state lines be subjected to federal inspection. A companion to this legistlation was the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906, designed to prevent the mislabeling and adulteration of drugs and