67 lines
3.7 KiB
Plaintext
67 lines
3.7 KiB
Plaintext
\Theodore Roosdevelt\
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\26th President of the United States (1901-1909)\
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Theodore Roosevelt was an energetic and dynamic leader who gave the nation a
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square deal. During his presidency to a position of internatio nal leadership.
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Roosevelt belonged to an aristocratic New York family. He attended Harvard
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Univerity. Theodore Roosevelt fought in the Spanish-American war with the
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Rough Riders at the battle of San Juan Hill. He had served as police
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commissiores of New York, assistant secretary of the navy, governor of New
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York, and vice president of the United States. When president McKinley was
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assassinated on September 14, 1901, Theodore Roosevelt became, at the time, the
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youngest (43 years) president in hist ory.
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The president saw himself as a man of the middle who would meditate the
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struggle between capital and labor. He said that business must be protected
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against itself and he tended to favor regulatory commissions that provided
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nonpartisan supervisi on by experts of business practices. As president he
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succeeded in getting additional authority over the railroads for the interstate
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commerce commission. He was also instrumental in the passage of the meat
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inspection act and the pure food and drug act. Ro attitude toward the poor and
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towards the labor movement was that of an enlightened conservative. He
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supported many labor demands such as shorter hours for women and children,
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employers' liability laws and limitations on the use of injunctions against
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workers in labor disputes.
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In reform, Roosevelt wanted gradual change. He moved in the direction of the
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reformers and ended up as the candidate of the progressive party in the Bull
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Moose presidential campaingn in 1912. He had broken with the Repub lican
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party.
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In 1907 immigration reached its all-time high 1,285,000 in one year.
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Theodore Roosevelt said, "There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who
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says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We
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have ro om but for on language here and that is the English language, for we
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intend to see that the crucible turns our people out as Americans, of American
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nationality; we have room for but one soul loyalty, and that is loyalty to the
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American people."
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Ro l ed the United States into continous armed interventions in the
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caribbean. In 1906 an insurrection in Cuba caused the United States to
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intervene in its affairs. The American government withdrew its power when ordr
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was restored.
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In the Philippines c ivil government was put into operation, and a
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communications cable was laid across the Pacific.
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Roosevelt intervened in the war betwwen Russia and Japan. He invited the
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Russian and Japanese governments to send peace commissioners to America where a
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peace treaty was sighned in 1905. The following year the president was awarded
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the nobel peace prize.
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People had wanted a canal connectiong the Atlantic and Pacific for hundreds
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of years. A French company, which went bankrupt, had started the pro ject.
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The company sold the panamanian rights to build the canal to the United States
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government. Colombia, whose territory included Panama, didn't agree to the
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terms offered by the Uninted States. Ro did not think much of he of Latin
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Americans to begin with. He called he colombians "foolish and homicidal
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corruptionits." The Roosevelt administration supported a revolt by the
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Panamanians against Colombia. The new country of Panama signed a canal treaty
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favorable to the United States in 1903. The Pana ma canal was completed August
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15, 1914.
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President Theodore Roosevelt died at Sagamore hill, his home at oyster bay,
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New York, on January 6, 1919.
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