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=Teddy Roosevelt=


 * Name** – Theodore Roosevelt (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919)
 * Party** - Republican Party
 * In Office** – 2 terms (1901 – 1909)
 * V.P.** - Charles W. Fairbanks (1905-1909)

Following the assassination of President William McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt, be the then vice president, was sworn into office as the President of the United Sates. During his two terms as president he accomplished a lot of stuff including many that are still around today. The one major lasting installment is the National Parks. For all of the great things that Roosevelt did during his presidency, he deserves the letter grade of an “A”.

Roosevelt had three main goals going into his presidency. One of his main goals was to limit the power of big businesses called trusts. This gave him the nickname of “Trust-Buster”. Roosevelt was very successful in destroying these trusts. He pounced on big railroad trusts as well as other trusts under the Sherman act. Another area in which he hoped to improve on was giving more power to the executive branch of the government. He was a very outspoken and energetic person and didn’t listen to congress all that well. Although that doesn’t seem like a good thing, it helped him accomplish his goal and is considered to be the first truly modern president for it. The third goal that he wanted to accomplish was to preserve our nation’s land. Roosevelt grew up studying nature and was an avid hunter. He thought that we needed to preserve our nations land for future generations. This goal was one of his greatest accomplishments with nearly 200,000,000 acres preserved during his presidency.

Although the majority party during Roosevelt’s presidency was republican, there was still much tension between him and congress. He did not obey the checks and balances system very well and often went off and did stuff without the consent of congress. The main reason why he disliked congress and vice-versa was that he felt congress was too indecisive for the needs of the country. He was a more get right to it president while congress wanted to go through all of the mandatory procedures. Although he may have done some rash things against congresses will, he made sure to only perform actions that did not offend any laws or the Constitution.

There were many positive aspects of Roosevelt’s presidency and they all did great things for the country. One of these actions was the building of the Panama Canal. He did use force to accomplish this task but in the end, it removed thousands of miles from the trip going from New York to San Francisco. A second great accomplishment was the creation of the national parks system. He set aside millions of acres during his presidency to be untouched by any human ever. No one could destroy these lands and it preserved the beauty of the country. The act also continued to add lands throughout the years and it is still adding today. Although these accomplishments were great, his greatest was the mediation of the Russo-Japanese War. He intervened and helped to negotiate a deal between Russia and Japan to stop the fighting. For this, he won the Nobel Peace Prize and it proved that he didn’t always have to be so rash but could be very diplomatic as well.

The only negative aspect of Roosevelt’s presidency was his creation of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act. One of his goals was to limit the powers of big Trusts in the country. He used the act to do this but went too far with it. He started enforcing it on every big business around the country and it hurt the economy. He sent the country into an economic panic in 1907. It was not a long depression but when it was all said and done, there were many questions as to who was at fault. Was the American banking system flawed or did Roosevelt just extend his power a little too far?

One aspect of Roosevelt’s presidency that impacted the lives of future generations was his preservation of national lands. He started the program off in the early 1900’s and it skyrocketed from there. Now there are 58 separate national parks around the country and they are popular vacation spots for Americans and tourists alike. This effected future generations because it ensures that there will always be untouched land to visit and explore in America.

In conclusion, Roosevelt had an immediate and long lasting impact on the country and it was almost all good. He was the kind of person that everyone could get along with which in the end made him a president worthy of an “A”. He created National parks, the Panama Canal and solved conflicts around the world with his go-get-em attitude as well as his charm. It is very clear why he is one of the best presidents to ever rule over the United States of America.


 * Bibliography**


 * 1) "American President: Theodore Roosevelt: A Life in Brief." //Miller Center of Public Affairs//. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2010. .
 * 2) Shorter, C.M.. "Theodore Roosevelt - Legacy of a Conservation Leader ." //Tigerhomes.org Live Animal Webcams, White Tiger Cams, Lemur and Lion Webcams//. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2010. .
 * 3) "Theodore Roosevelt | The White House." //The White House//. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2010. .
 * 4) "U.S. Senate: Art & History Home > Origins & Development > Party Division." //U.S. Senate//. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2010. .