UNIT 18 ___ . ___ Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft led America as it became more involved in other parts of the world. Work began on a National Cathedral and a National Mall. The Wright Brothers National Memorial Wright brothers taught people how to fly. Brave workers carved a road through Glacier National Park. Many Alaska Native people of the Arctic America Enters a and Subarctic continued to live their traditional lifestyles in 1912 when Alaska became an official U.S. territory. New Century AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL 647 647 President-elect Taft and President Roosevelt ride to inauguration, 1909 Lesson 86 Roosevelt and Taft, Our American Story Presidents and Friends wo friends served as presidents in the first decade of the 1900s. They were leaders not only in America but also in the larger world. T The new century was only eight months old on September 6, 1901. Vice President Theodore Roosevelt was on a speaking tour in Vermont that day. When he learned that President McKinley had been shot, he rushed to Buffalo and stayed at the home of his friend Ansley Wilcox. When McKinley began to improve, his doctors encouraged Roosevelt to go ahead with plans for a family vacation in the Adirondack Mountains. They believed that his doing so would reassure the nation. Roosevelt gave his itinerary to Wilcox and left for his vacation. On September 14, Roosevelt climbed the highest peak in the Adirondacks. When he returned, he received news that President McKinley was in grave danger. Three hired relay drivers hurriedly drove Roosevelt overnight by wagon over rough roads to the train station at North Creek. At dawn, Roosevelt boarded a train that was waiting for him. When Roosevelt arrived in Buffalo, President McKinley had been dead for 12 hours and the country had been without a president. The vice president went first to pay his respects to Mrs. McKinley. He then went to the Wilcox home and took the oath of office before Judge John Hazel. Roosevelt was only 42 years old. He is the youngest man who has ever served as president of the United States. Railroad station in North Creek, New York; Library of Wilcox home where Roosevelt took the oath 648 A month after Roosevelt became president, he invited Booker T. Washington to join him for lunch at the White House. This was the first time a president had invited an African American to dine Booker T. Washington speaks at Mound Bayou, Mississippi; Roosevelt speaks with him there. Later in his at the National Negro Business League in 1910. Washington is at his left. presidency, Roosevelt visited Tuskegee Institute which Washington had founded in Tuskegee, Alabama, in 1881. Labor Unions In the late 1800s, workers in various industries joined labor unions so that they could work together for higher pay and better working conditions. Many business leaders opposed labor unions. President Roosevelt felt sympathy Labor Day parade in New York City, 1909 for the workers. When the United Mine Workers went on strike in 1902, Americans wondered if they would have enough coal for the winter. Roosevelt called owners of coal mines and leaders of the union to the White House. He helped the two sides work out a compromise so the miners would go back to work. The miners received a small pay increase and a shorter work day. Some business leaders were hurting other businesses with unfair practices. They made legal arrangements called trusts which helped them do this. President Roosevelt worked to end unfair trusts. In addition to his nicknames “Teddy” and “TR,” some people referred to Roosevelt as the “Trust Buster.” The Birth of the Teddy Bear Theodore Roosevelt enjoyed hunting. In November 1902, he went on a bear hunt in Mississippi with Governor Andrew H. Longino. Most of the hunting party successfully shot a bear, but Roosevelt did not. When a hunting guide tied a bear to a tree for the president, he refused to shoot it, believing this was unsportsmanlike. The Teddy bears Washington Post newspaper put a cartoon of the incident on its made in New front page. A New York store owner created a stuffed York, 1915 bear and called it “Teddy’s bear.” The toy became so popular that the owner and his wife founded the Ideal Novelty and Toy Company. The company later became the Ideal Toy Company. 649 Protecting God’s Wonders In April 1903, President Roosevelt left on a grand tour of 25 western states. For over nine weeks, he gave speeches in large cities and small towns. He thanked Americans for their hard work and spoke to them about the values they shared. Roosevelt stopped for 16 days in Yellowstone. Before beginning the trip, Roosevelt had written to John Muir, asking Muir if he would take him on a tour of Yosemite. While the two men went camping alone for three nights, Muir encouraged the president to protect the beauties of America. Roosevelt also visited the Grand Canyon. Roosevelt had loved the outdoors since childhood. While he was president, he helped Roosevelt at Yellowstone, 1903 to set aside 150 national forests, 51 federal bird reserves, four national game preserves, five national parks, and 18 national monuments. These protected over 230 million acres of land. The Panama Canal In 1823 President James Monroe had warned European nations to stay out of the affairs of North, Central, and South America. This policy was the Monroe Doctrine. In 1904 President Roosevelt announced if something happened in Central or South America that caused a European country to want to get involved, the United States would take care of it. Europe should stay out. The Spanish-American War had reminded Americans of the need for a safe way to cross the Isthmus of Panama. At the time, the only way for ships to get from the East Coast of the United States to the West Coast was to go around the southern tip of South America. In 1903 President Roosevelt signed a treaty with the nation of Panama. Panama agreed to allow the United States to build a canal across the isthmus. The United States agreed to pay Panama for permission to build the canal. Panama Canal, 1912; Circle highlights the 8-mile-long Culebra Cut through the Continental Divide. 650 A Second Term New State President Roosevelt 1907 talked directly to the Oklahoma – November 16 American people about what the government needed to do. He called this role of the president his “bully pulpit.” Roosevelt easily won election to a second term in 1904. He defeated Democratic candidate Judge Alton B. Parker from New York. As soon as Roosevelt won the election of 1904, he Roosevelt runs an American steam shovel announced that he would not run for another term. at the Culebra Cut of the Panama Canal. In 1904 Russia and Japan fought against each other in the Russo-Japanese War. In 1905 President Roosevelt got the two sides to meet together. He helped them to negotiate an end to the war. In November 1906, President Roosevelt traveled to Panama to visit the canal work site. He was the first president of the United States to leave the country while he was in office. In December Roosevelt received the 1906 Nobel Peace Prize because of the work he had done to end the Russo-Japanese War. Also in 1906, San Francisco suffered a devastating earthquake. Oklahoma became the 46th state in November 1907. In December Roosevelt sent 14,000 sailors on 16 battleships, plus other smaller ships, on a 14-month tour around the world. Sailors on the “Great White Fleet” helped the island of Sicily recover after an earthquake. President Theodore Roosevelt, 1903 Around America 1906, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Roosevelt attends dedication 1904, St. Louis 1905, Duluth, Minnesota of the Pennsylvania State Capitol Portion of silk calendar from the Aerial lift bridge opens. and declares it the handsomest Louisiana Purchase Exposition building he had ever seen. 651651 President William Howard Taft William Howard Taft was serving as territorial governor of the Philippines when Roosevelt became president. Taft did an excellent job. He negotiated with the Roman Catholic Church for the United States to purchase church property there. He helped tens of thousands of Filipinos purchase this land with low-cost mortgages. Roosevelt offered Taft a position on the Supreme Court twice. Taft wanted to serve on the Supreme Court, but he refused to leave the Philippines. He wanted to finish his work there. When Roosevelt offered Taft the position of secretary of war, Taft agreed because he believed it would help him continue Taft speaks with President Roosevelt to help the Philippines. Taft supervised the construction of the who tells him that the Republican Panama Canal and served briefly as governor of Cuba. Party has nominated him as their presidential candidate for 1908. President Roosevelt helped Taft to win the Republican nomination for president in 1908. Roosevelt believed that Taft would continue doing what he had begun. The Democratic Party again nominated William Jennings Bryan. Roosevelt campaigned enthusiastically for Taft, who won easily over Bryan. On Inauguration Day, Mrs. Taft became the first wife of a president to ride with her husband in the inaugural parade. When they moved into the White House, their children Robert and Helen were in college. Their son Charles was 11. Taft was more conservative than Roosevelt. Taft had great respect for the U.S. Constitution and wanted to make sure that all of his actions were true to the Constitution and to the laws of the United States. He supported some of the changes Roosevelt wanted, but he did not want to make changes as quickly.