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Theodore Roosevelt October 27, 1858 in New York City, New York – January 6, 1919 in Oyster Bay, New York Political Party: Republican Terms: September 14, 1901 – March 3, 1909 (One full term and rest of McKinley’s term) Vice President: Charles Fairbanks (1905 – 1909) Roosevelt has been given many names, and one of those names is the Great Conservationist. The environment was something that Roosevelt let influence his decisions; he was one of the first presidents to realize that if we kept abusing the environment like we were, the future generations would not have the plentiful amount of resources that were available at that time. He exemplified this care by appointing the National Conservation Commission on June 8, 1908. This was done in order to do the first inventory of the nation’s natural resources, and to recommend a resource management system to the rest of the government. This impacted the presidency because once the realization set in that the resources were being used more than ever, something would need to be changed. Luckily, Roosevelt realized this before anyone else, so he was able to make sure that nature was preserved as well as optimized. This changed the mindset in people’s minds because at that time, the industrial revolution was alive and kicking, and that is why it was so imperative that things be changed at that point. Many Americans realized that when they thought about the railroads and steel industry, and that is why many of the preservation attempts were made. Another event that occurred within this theme was the passing of the Newlands Reclamation Act in 1902. This directed a lot of funds towards the irrigation of the arid west. This made sure that there was always water there by making use of dams and reservoirs to irrigate the dry lands. This not only helped out nature in that area, but it also helped farmers who had trouble watering their crops. This relieved some of the pressures on the presidency by farmers, but only from the western farmers, not all of them. This shaped the minds of the people because it showed them that helping the environment could actually also help the people at the same time. The environment was greatly helped during Roosevelt’s presidency and was conclusively a major theme.
 * Thematic Context**

Theodore Roosevelt came into the presidency at a time where a man of action was necessary, and luckily, there are no other better terms to describe Roosevelt than that. He was the perfect man for the job at hand, and although it was known mistakes were bound to be made, the American people accepted those mistakes as necessary and continued to love Roosevelt. Few presidents are able to do that during such a critical time as the turn of the twentieth century when the United States was just beginning to stamp its dominance on the world, and for those reasons I believe that Roosevelt and his headstrong attitude deserve an A for his efforts in office.
 * Thesis**

One of Roosevelt’s main goals was to reduce the amount of trusts that were growing in America. Although he killed 40 monopolistic corporations, he did not dislike the principles of capitalism and trusts; he just did not like the illegal practices that were done by them. This goal was obviously completed very well as he was given the name, the “trust buster.” He greatly increased the amount of regulation by the government in order to accomplish this, especially in the areas of the railroads and food/drugs. Along with this idea, he did not want many strikes to come about, and to prove this, he negotiated a settlement for the workers in the large Anthracite Coal Strike of 1902. Roosevelt was also an impressive conservationist as he greatly loved nature. This was a personal goal of his because he realized that at the rate Americans were using the natural resources, there would be none left for the future generations. He was really the first president to accomplish anything in the area of nature conservation. He helped to pass the Newlands Reclamation Act of 1902, which allotted for the federal funding of dams in order to irrigate small farmers in the southwest primarily. He also set aside about 230 million acres of land under federal protection, which was an unheard of amount of land in that time. Roosevelt is known for getting things done, and that is shown by the degree of success Roosevelt had in achieving his goals.
 * Goals**

Roosevelt was smart enough to realize that none of the things that he wanted to accomplish would happen if he did not cooperate with Congress. For this reason, Roosevelt had a very good relationship with Congress. Also, the fact that Roosevelt was Republican, and the Republicans were clearly the dominant party also helped. However, he and Congress did not agree on everything, but he was very determined to not let Congress get in the way of his goals, so he compromised with Congress instead of arguing. Roosevelt would not take no for an answer and that dictated the whole relationship; he did whatever it took in order to get things done. This was a very good quality that he possessed and used quite frequently. For example, in his bout to curb the power of the trusts, he delivered a speech to Congress asking to do that very thing. This was not popular with many of the wealthy businessmen in the country, but he believed it to be true and he pushed that fact onto Congress with his lengthy speech. This was just one of the cases where he persuaded Congress into agreeing with the things that he thought important. Roosevelt was one of the most active presidents and had the great quality of not stopping until what he wanted was accomplished.
 * Relationship with Congress**

The event that had the most positive repercussions during Roosevelt’s administration was the Panama Canal. Although starting the project was not as smoothly as Roosevelt hoped, the product was one that had revolutionary affects on commerce and world travel. The Panama Canal was not very easy to obtain, as Columbia was not willing to allow the United States to build the Canal for the amount of money offered, and America was not willing to pay anymore than the offered amount. The Panama area of Columbia was impatient and wanted the Canal built, so they rebelled against Columbia and the United States interfered on the grounds of a treaty made with Columbia. This allowed the rebellion to succeed and for Panama to become its own country. It then quickly accepted the United States terms, and the Canal was started. Even though the beginning of this Canal was not very positive, the results it had were. It promoted a lot of travel throughout the area and really benefited everybody. It was a large stimulus for commerce and tourism in the area, and helped the United States trade immensely.
 * Positive Event**

The one negative event that took place during Roosevelt’s presidency was the Panic of 1907. This was not an overwhelmingly long panic, but it was a financial setback as the stocks dropped and many banks shut down. There was then a scramble to lay the blame on someone. Many people blamed Roosevelt because of his strong actions against the industries and large corporations, which were said to have unsettled the trusts and caused the downfall. Roosevelt then retaliated by saying it was actually the trusts who had caused this in order to cause a less ferocious demeanor towards them and so that the attacks on them by the government would lessen. This blame game was never won by either side, but the fact of the matter is that it happened during Roosevelt’s administration, so he must be partly blamed. However, this paved the way for the Federal Reserve Act, so it was not all terrible.
 * Negative Event**

The decisions that most affected the future generations of America were the ones of conservation. Roosevelt was the first president to really emphasize conservation as an important issue in the country, and without that first push, the country might be in a worse position environmentally than it even is now. That would be disastrous, and Roosevelt is the main component of why America is not there. The efforts he made in regards to the creation of the National Conservation Commission and the Newlands Reclamation Act were monumental and greatly helped not only the southwest, but the entire country in preserving the wildlife and natural resources. His efforts in that area started a large amount of interest in preserving nature, and that has been a large area of interest for many presidents, and citizens, ever since. This shows that the conservation aspect of his presidency were very influential on the future generations.
 * Influential Decision**

Overall, the country was in a much better position when Roosevelt left office than when he entered it. When he came into office, America was on the verge of being a world power and needed that extra push to get there, and Roosevelt provided that. Even though his big stick policy did get a little imperialistic at times, that was what was required in order to become a prominent power in the world. That proved correct because our status as a country was heightened during his presidency and America was regarded with more respect when thrown into the conversation. He was a president that got a lot done no matter what the circumstances were, and that was exactly what the country needed at the time. By the time Roosevelt was done with the presidency, America was on the rise and was becoming larger every year. For these reasons, Roosevelt deserves an A for his efforts in office.
 * Conclusion**

DeGregorio, William A.. //The complete book of U.S. presidents//. 4th ed. New York: Barricade Books, 2005. Print.
 * Bibliography**

"National Conservation Commission - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." //Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia//. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Nov. 2012. .

"Newlands Act: Early Reclamations Legislation." //United States American History//. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Nov. 2012. .

"Panama Canal - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." //Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia//. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Nov. 2012. .

"Presidency of Theodore Roosevelt - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." //Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia//. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Nov. 2012. .

Roosevelt, Theodore. "Theodore Roosevelt: Inaugural Address. U.S. Inaugural Addresses. 1989." //Bartleby.com: Great Books Online -- Quotes, Poems, Novels, Classics and hundreds more//. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Nov. 2012. .