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/* Teddy Roosevelt */ improved
Roosevelt approved many new regulations and assistance programs. He signed the Newlands Reclamation Act of 1902, which gave federal assistance to irrigate Western land for farmers and ranchers. He signed into law the Hepburn Act of 1906, which strengthened federal regulation of railroads by increasing the power of the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC). Later, in 1910, the Mann-Elkins Act empowered the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) to suspend any increases in rates by railroads in shipping goods. The Act also extended the ICC's authority to include communications. The political support for this increased regulation was so broad that it passed by the huge margin of 50-12 in the U.S. Senate.
In 1906 an influential book entitled "[[The Jungle]]" was published. Author Upton Sinclair exposed the filthy conditions of Chicago slaughterhouses. This resulted in swift passage in 1906 of both the Meat Inspection Act, which established federal regulation and inspection of slaughterhouses, and the Pure Food and Drug Act, which established federal regulation and inspection of food and medications (drugs).
In foreign policy, Roosevelt's famous approach was to "speak softly and carry a big stick" (to use against anyone who causes problems). In 1902 there was a boundary dispute concerning Venezuela resulting in a blockade by both Britain and Germany, but Roosevelt persuaded both to withdraw. He was a peacemaker, and won the Nobel Peace Prize for mediating an end to the Russo-Japanese War.
The Russo-Japanese War was an astounding victory by the small Japan against the large Russia on Chinese soil in 1904-05. In June 1905, the Treaty of Portsmouth (New Hampshire) was signed ending that war because Roosevelt invited Japan and Russia to a conference there in New Hampshire to make peace. As a result of this treaty Japan expanded its influence in Far East, but Roosevelt rejected Japan's demand for reparations from Russia.
The Taft-Katsura Agreement in 1905 recognized (allowed) Japan's dominance in Korea, which Secretary of War (and future president) William Howard Taft approved. In return, Japan promised not to invade the Philippines, which was American territory at that time.
:There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn’t an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag. ... We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language ... and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people.
In further negotiations with Japan, in 1908 the Root-Takahira Agreement , yet another deal was signed reached with Japan by Secretary of State Elihu Root. This kept the status quo with Japan but established an "Open Door" policy for trade. Japan was allowed to annex Korea, which resulted in an animosity between Koreans and Japan that exists to this day.
Roosevelt's greatest accomplishment was the Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty of 1903, a treaty with Panama which granted to the United States a five-mile wide tract of land to build the Panama Canal , for a fee of $10 million plus $250,000 per year.
The reason Roosevelt is one of four faces on Mount Rushmore (the other three are Washington, Jefferson and Lincoln) is because he established the national park system to conserve the treasures of the nation's natural resources (Roosevelt was a "conservationist"). He was a big hiker and lover of the outdoors himself, even taking ambassadors from other countries on hikes in D.C. when they visited. After his second term ended in 1909, Roosevelt went on a safari in Africa. He declared that he felt as fit as a bull moose, and then named a new party that he started in 1912 the "Bull Moose Party." That political party was Teddy Roosevelt and little more, and disappeared quickly after he lost that election.
Roosevelt enjoyed support in newspapers, particularly among "muckrakers". Muckrakers were journalists who sensationalized the bad parts of big business and machine politics. Whenever Roosevelt "took on" big business, he was glorified in the papers and he probably enjoyed that.
