Theodore Roosevelt

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Theodore Roosevelt
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Theodore Roosevelt, the twenty-sixth President of United States, the
youngest person ever to serve as the President, Champion of the strenuous
life, was immensely popular, who stamped the Presidency with his own
colorful personality (PBS, 2002). He enjoyed the responsibilities of world
power and all his efforts were directed to protect the public interest. His social
and economic reforms were the first federal attempts to deal with the
problems of the modern industrial society (Encarta, 2006).
Roosevelt explored several careers before entering politics. Although
people in his social position believed politics to be beneath them, Roosevelt
declared that he intended to be one of the governing class. He won his first
election in 1881 as a member of the Republican Party to the state assembly of
Albany, New York. As a state legislator he won respect for exposing a judge
but also earned the ill will of his party members. Mistrusted by both liberals
and party leaders, Roosevelt remained unsure of his career in politics.
Although he socialized with America’s upper crust, he looked after the
interests of the working class Americans. After family mishaps he returned to
politics as a Republican reformist in 1889 where he served on the US Civil
Service Commission (DesertUSA, 1998). In 1895, he became New York City
Police Commissioner, and two years later, he was appointed Assistant
Secretary of the Navy.
Returning home from the war as a hero in 1898, Roosevelt was
elected governor of New York. He then ran as the Republican Party’s vice
presidential candidate in 1900
and less than a year later following the assassination of President William
McKinley, Roosevelt became the youngest ever President in history.
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President Roosevelt inherited an empire-in-the-making when he
assumed office in 1901. He influenced foreign policy even before he came to
power. After the Spanish-American war the empire that America had,
comprised of Philippines, Puerto Rico, Guam, Cuba and Hawaii. Roosevelt
wanted to make America a world power. He wanted to spread the American
values and ideals all over the world. His diplomatic maxim was to ‘speak
softly and carry a big stick’ (Millercenter, 2006). He maintained that a chief
executive must have the quality both to use force and the art of persuasion to
be used as the situation demands. He was very active in foreign affairs and
attempted to end the relative isolationism, following the footsteps of his
predecessor.
When Roosevelt entered the White House as the President in 1901, he
took control of a federal government that often aligned itself with big business.
In 1902 he convinced Congress to create a Bureau of Corporations to regulate
big business, and then shocked the nation by bringing out an anti-trust suit
against J. P. Morgan’s Northern Securities Corporation (PBS). Roosevelt’s
actions were consistent with the moral teachings he had received in his early
life. He learned to value working class people and never forgot them. He
passed laws to ensure the safety of food and drugs sold in the American
marketplace. He preserved America's natural resources and regulated interstate
commerce. To him Progressivism meant a fair deal for the American people
and the American business where businesses profited by fair competition. He
failed in making the capitalists realize that their greed might lead to a bloody
industrial revolution.
He was a progressive leader and a fiery individualist who embodies
American culture in the early 1900s. He is considered one of the best 
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presidents as his progressive policies set the stage for important reforms
during the 20th century. He was determined to build a canal across Panama
(Kelly, 2007). America aided Panama in gaining independence from
Columbia. The President then created a Treaty with the newly independent
Panama to gain the canal zone. In exchange, America would pay $10 million
as annual payments. The Monroe Doctrine, one of the keystones of American
Foreign Policy, says that western hemisphere is off limits to foreign
encroachment. Roosevelt added a corollary to the doctrine which stated that it
was the responsibility of America to enforce the Monroe Doctrine in Latin
America. This was a part of the ‘Big Stick Diplomacy’.
Even after his presidential tenure, he continued to push for domestic
reform. He fought for women’s suffrage, he attempted to end child labor, and
he tried to introduce pensions for the elderly, unemployment insurance and
increased regulation of the trusts. President Roosevelt was a diplomat and a
peace maker. He was not interested in disarmament but he developed an early
interest in reduction of armaments and conducted several negotiations in this
respect. When Japan went to war with Russia over control of Manchuria and
Korea in 1905,