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Theodore ( Teddy ) Roosevelt Jr. Born: October 27, 1858 Death: January 6, 1919 Party: Republican Terms: September 11, 1901- March 3, 1909 Vice President: Charles Warren Fairbanks

Thesis As a youngster, Theodore Roosevelt had been small and frail, but with vigorous excercise and determination, He built himself into a very strong man. As President, He tried to do the same thing to America.Theodore Roosevelt was a good president and helped the United States in many ways. With the Anti-Trust Policy, the Meat Inspection Act of 1906 and His efforts toward conservation, President Roosevelt deserves an A-.

Goals President Roosevelt had many goals throughout his presidency. One of His main goals was conservation. Teddy did a great job furthering conservation, and the idea of conservation throughout the nation. An avid hunter and outdoorsman, Teddy loved nature and wanted the nation to use it to its highest possibilities. With the help of Gifford Pinchot, Teddy conserved many pieces of nature; some of these include, Crater Lake National Park, Wind Cave National Park, Sullys National Park, Platt National Park, and Mesa Verde National Park. These were just some of the many beautiful pieces of nature that President Roosevelt helped to conserve. As shown, President Roosevelt did a great job in completing his goal to further national conservation.

Relationship With Congress Throughout Theodore’s terms in office, he always had a Republican Majority in both the House and the Senate. A piece of important legislation that was passed was the Meat Inspection Act of 1906. This was a very important piece of legislation because before this, meat processing was extremely unsanitary. Also, in the slaughter houses, the workers were working in terrible conditions. With the passing of this Act, Inspectors had to be present to check the meat and working conditions. Also, laws were made to make sure the meat itself was more sanitary, and also, correctly labeled. During his presidency, Theodore vetoed 82 pieces of legislation. This may have partially been because of his ongoing war with Trusts.

Most Positive/Negative Decisions Theodore Roosevelt’s best decision in the Presidency was to go against the trusts. The trusts were hurting the Nation’s economy because the big business owners were setting their prices high, and paying their workers very little. President Roosevelt did much to stop these happenings. He was against having board members of different companies on each others’ boards, and He took down many trusts. A negative that occurred during President Roosevelt’s reign, was the Panic of 1907. Many people felt that this was caused by Roosevelt taking away money from the big businesses. This was bad because people felt that they should be able to have free industry and when the Panic happened, several banks closed, and stock value dropped temporarily. The President blamed the big Corporations for the Panic. He did however, support the U.S. Steel company’s takeover of the Tennessee Coal and Iron Company.

Most Influential Decision Theodore Roosevelt’s most influential decision was definitely to support conservation. This preserved millions of acres of Nature for generations to come, including over five national parks. This was a very responsible thing to do, because even though many people were pushing to just use the nation’s resources until they were gone, Roosevelt knew that it would be a lot smarter to conserve them and be able to use them for generations to come. This means that today, and way into the foreseeable future, many beautiful parts of the United States will be around to see and use to help the country.

Conclusion In conclusion, Theodore Roosevelt did many things to help the United States. His job in helping to conserve the Nation, provided many beautiful pieces of nature for years to come. He wasn't however, as good as some of the best presidents such as Abe Lincoln. However, He did a great job with his anti -trust movement, and was a way-above-average president and for that, Theodore Roosevelt deserves the grade of an A-.

Bibliography DeGregorio, William. __The Complete Book of U.S. Presidents__. Fort Lee: Barricade. 2005. “Presidents, The Theodore Roosevelt Administration”. __Theodore Roosevelt and Conservation.__ 2010.http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h937.html “Theodore Roosevelt”. __Personnel Management.__ http://www.opm.gov/About_opm/tr/