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Theodore Roosevelt (10/27/1858-1/6/1919) Political Party- Republican Date of Administration- (9/14/1901-3/3/1909) Vice President- Charles Fairbanks Theodore Roosevelt was a very popular and rowdy president with a focused and controlled presidency. T.R.’s presidency deserves a B, because of the Square Deal and financial reforms. The only thing that hurt Roosevelt’s grade was his foreign policy concerning the Panama Canal, which lowered his grade from an A to a B. President Roosevelt’s main goal was to listen to the people and give them what they wanted and needed. Overall, I think he was very successful with his goal, he saw that the people were calling for reform, which he gave them in the form of the Square Deal (to be discussed later). The square deal dealt with control the corporations, protecting the consumers, and conserving the natural resources In 1907, a panic occurred because of “runs” on banks and Roosevelt responded with the needed fiscal reforms, passing the Aldrich-Vreeland Act, which allowed national banks to distribute emergency money in a crisis. Anytime that Roosevelt saw or heard a problem he came to the rescue with laws and regulations to deal with the problem in an effective manner President Roosevelt had a good relationship with congress, one because of the fact that he had a republican majority all through out his administration and two because of his personal popularity. Roosevelt got much legislation passed that favored his policies and goals. Congress was very agreeable with Roosevelt on many issues because Roosevelt kept the public interest in mind. Congress passed the Elkins Act and Hepburn Act, which attacked the monopolizing railroads and other industries. Roosevelt got the Meat Inspection Act and the Pure Food and Drug Act passed to protect consumers. Congress also passed the Aldrich-Vreeland Act at the request of Roosevelt. Together Congress and President Roosevelt got a lot accomplished dealing with a wide variety of topics. Roosevelt’s best action was his domestic policy, which was where he listened to the people, and the people called for reform. Roosevelt came up with the Square Deal, which had three parts; controlling the corporations, consumer protection, and conservation of natural resources. The Square Deal was first challenged in 1902 when a Pennsylvania mine went on strike, demanding a 20% pay increase and 9-hour days. The owners were unwilling to budge and for the first time, Roosevelt threatened to use federal forces to operate the mine thus causing the owners to give in to arbitration. Roosevelt then got Congress to create a Department of Commerce and Labor and to pass the Elkins Act and Hepburn Act to keep the corporations under control. Roosevelt was also looking out for the consumer when he convinced Congress to pass the Meat Inspection Act and the Pure Food and Drug Act, both acts allowed the government to inspect and regulate the quality of the food being sold to the America public. Roosevelt also kept an eye on the shrinking natural resources of America and like wise protected them. He set aside 125 million acres of forest for federal reserves through the power vest in him by the Federal Forest Reserves Act. He also protected million of acres of coal deposits and water sources. The worst action during Teddy Roosevelt’s presidency was his foreign policy concerning the Panama Canal. Roosevelt was convinced that a quicker way other then around South America to the west was needed. The U.S. signed the Hay-Pauncefote Treaty with Great Britain thus allowing such a canal. The U.S. had two options on where to dig, continuing the French Canal in Nicaragua or the area held by the New Panama Canal Company. The New Panama Canal Company was chosen because they dropped their price to 40 million from 109 million. Before digging could begin a treaty with Colombia was need, a treaty was rejected by the Colombian Senate. The people of Panama not wanting to lose 40 million dollars revolted against Colombia. As Colombian forces began to assemble to control the revolution, the U.S. forces would not let them cross citing a treaty with Colombia to keep perfect neutrality of the isthmus. Three days later, Roosevelt recognized the country of Panama and signed the Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty granting the U.S. the rights to the land for the canal. The effects of the Panama Canal incident were anti-American sentiments from Latin American countries. In their eyes, the Colombian Senate defied the U.S. and suffered because of it. This ushered in an era of ill feelings about the North from Latin American countries. The longest lasting achievement of Theodore Roosevelt was his conservation of the nature resources of America. Roosevelt realized that Americans were not respecting the natural resources available and were wasting them. Roosevelt already saw 75% of the forests were gone and decided to do something about it. He marked 125,000,000 acres of land for federal reserves and numerous acres of coal deposits and water resources. In addition to just sectioning off forest he also got the Newlands Act passed which allowed the government to sell desert lands and use the money to pay for irrigation in the lands. Then the farmers would pay back the cost of reclamation from their now productive soil. This money was then put in to more of the same enterprises. If Roosevelt had not worked so hard to save the natural beauty of America, it may not be around today, most certainly not in the same amount of federal lands. By saving the forests and other natural resources Roosevelt as save the soul of America, ever since the colonial times their has always been the wilderness. If we had lost this fundamental part of American history, it would have been a major mistake to steal the wonders and beauty of the wilderness from future generations. Luckily, President Roosevelt saw the importance of the natural resources and took the step to protect them. Overall, the country was better off after Roosevelt’s presidency in instituting reform with his Square Deal, by controlling big business, protecting the consumer, and persevering the natural resources for many future generations to come. Although, the U.S. suffered a popularity blow from Roosevelt’s foreign affairs the domestic side bloomed under his leadership. Theodore Roosevelt’s presidency as a whole deserves a B.  Works Cited DeGregorio, William A. //The Complete Book of U.S. Presidents//. Fort Lee, NJ: Barricade, 2005. Print. Kennedy, David M., Lizabeth Cohen, Thomas Andrew Bailey, and Thomas Andrew Bailey. //The American Pageant: a History of the Republic//. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2002. Print. "Theodore Roosevelt." //The White House//. Web. 21 Apr. 2010. .