For its April program meeting the Bridgeville Area Historical Society was treated to an excellent presentation by Glenn Flickinger, focusing on the impact that President Theodore Roosevelt had on our country. He specifically emphasized TR’s role in two distinct areas – the evolution of our nation into a global power and the redefinition of the power of the President and the Executive Office.
The speaker began by reviewing Roosevelt’s early life – childhood illnesses eventually overcome by a heavy regime of exercise, education at Harvard, success as a naval historian, a career in New York Republican politics, a “sabbatical” as a cattle rancher in Dakota, and a triumphant return to public life with the Civil Service Commission during Benjamin Harrison’s administration.
With the Civil Service Commission assignment Roosevelt gained the reputation of being “a bull in the china shop” as a result of his efforts to reform the patronage system in the US Postal Service. Throughout the remainder of his career, progressive reform was the keynote of all of his actions.
In 1894 the reform mayor of New York City invited Roosevelt to become Police Commissioner; there he reorganized the police department and converted it into a professional organization. In 1897 he returned to the federal government as Assistant Secretary of the Navy. In this post he was a passionate advocate of building up the Navy and of promoting our national security in the Pacific and in the Caribbean. He especially was in favor of ejecting Spain from Cuba and in supporting the rebellion there.
The explosion of the US battleship Maine on February 15, 1898, was the spark that ignited the Spanish-American War. Previously Roosevelt had assigned Commodore George Dewey as commander of the Asiatic Squadron with orders to be prepared to engage the Spanish fleet in the Philippines if war broke out. The resulting Battle of Manila Bay was a major victory for the Navy and the establishment of the United States as a power in the Pacific.
In the meantime Roosevelt had resigned as Assistant Secretary of the Navy to help form the First Volunteer Cavalry Regiment, which immediately was a magnet for an exotic collection of Ivy Leaguers, athletes, cowboys, Native Americans, and former soldiers. The First was commanded by Army Colonel Leonard Wood and was part of a division led by former Confederate General Joseph Wheeler. It soon gained the nickname “Rough Riders”.
In Cuba, Roosevelt and the Rough Riders gained fame with their charge up Kettle Hill (part of San Juan Heights), thanks largely to the publicity provided by war correspondents. Their victory was legitimate and did indeed contribute significantly to the eventual winning of the war. Roosevelt’s valor and leadership also appear to have been legitimate.
Following the War his fame had grown so much that it was a foregone conclusion that he would be elected Governor of New York, where his progressive policies dramatically changed the operation of the state, and provided a prototype for his future behavior in the White House.
In 1900 Roosevelt was nominated for Vice President as William McKinley’s running mate; he campaigned vigorously against William Jennings Bryan and contributed greatly to McKinley’s victory. He then settled into the ignominy and boredom of the vice presidency. Six months later McKinley was assassinated, and suddenly forty-three-year-old Theodore Roosevelt was the twenty-sixth President of the United States.
Mr. Flickinger emphasized the fact that Roosevelt’s impressive list of achievements in the next seven and a half years was evidence of the way he reinvented the presidency. In many ways he used his “bully pulpit” to establish policy in areas that previously were reserved for the legislative branch or considered outside of the realm of the government.
Labor relations is a good example. The 1902 Anthracite Coal Strike was a serious threat to the nation’s economy. For the first time in history the President of the United States decided to get involved. He persuaded both sides to agree to arbitration by an independent commission and successfully reached a conclusion satisfactory to all concerned, declaring he wanted “a square deal for every man”.
Roosevelt’s reputation as a trust buster was based on forty-four successful anti-trust law suits and on the dissolution of the Northern Securities Company, a holding company that controlled a group of major competing railroads. He promoted legislation to regulate railroads, to require the inspection of meat, and to establish the Food and Drug Administration.
In 1905 he persuaded Russia and Japan to settle the Russo-Japanese War in a mediation conference in Portsmouth, New Hampshire; this earned him the Nobel Peace Prize. He supported Panama’s rebellion from Colombia and the construction of the Panama Canal. His sending the Great White Fleet, which included sixteen battleships, around the world illustrated our newly found Global Power.
When Roosevelt was criticized for involving the Executive Branch in so many areas that were not specifically mandated by the Constitution, his response was that it was the President’s responsibility to be concerned about all important issues “unless specifically prohibited by the Constitution”. He has served as role model for every activist President who has followed him.
The speaker highlighted the fact that Roosevelt came onto the scene at the end of a thirty-year period that had seen incredible changes in our country – expansion of railroads, industrialization, telephone and telegraph communication, and imperialism. His impact on this rapidly changing society was indeed significant.
Thanks to Rosemary Kasper for an excellent program and to Glenn Flickinger for his unique ability to present significant concepts in an entertaining fashion.
The next Historical Society program is scheduled for 7:30 pm Tuesday, May 23, 2022, in the Chartiers Room of the Bridgeville Volunteer Fire Department. Chris Rodell will discuss “Arnold Palmer”.