Changes

A slightly more conservative president succeeded Teddy Roosevelt in office in 1909:  William Howard Taft.  He lowered tariffs and used executive restraint, more than Roosevelt had.  Taft later became the Chief Justice on the Supreme Court, the only person to lead one branch of government and then lead another.

A slightly more conservative president succeeded Teddy Roosevelt in office in 1909:  William Howard Taft.  He lowered tariffs and used executive restraint, more than Roosevelt had.  Taft later became the Chief Justice on the Supreme Court, the only person to lead one branch of government and then lead another.

Taft would have won reelection in 1912, but Teddy Roosevelt insisted on running for president himself as part of the new Progressive (Bull Moose) Party that he founded.  This split the Republican vote in half, and allowed the Democratic candidate, the former president of Princeton University, to win.  An intellectual, Woodrow Wilson was a progressive who served as President from 1913 to 1921.  His goal was to make the world safe for democracy, and to expand democracy to foreign countries.  He also known for starting the Federal Reserve banking system that exists to this day.  The Federal Reserve Act of 1913, which was passed soon after Wilson became president, gave the nation a central banking system for the first time since President Jackson destroyed the Bank of the United States and refused to allow it to be reinstated.

Taft would have won reelection in 1912, but Teddy Roosevelt insisted on running for president himself as part of the new Progressive (Bull Moose) Party that he founded.  This split the Republican vote in half, and allowed the Democratic candidate, the former president of Princeton University, to win.  An intellectual, Woodrow Wilson was a progressive who served as President from 1913 to 1921.  His goal was to make the world safe for democracy, and to expand democracy to foreign countries.  He is also known for starting the Federal Reserve banking system that exists to this day.  The Federal Reserve Act of 1913, which was passed soon after Wilson became president, gave the nation a central banking system for the first time since President Jackson destroyed the Bank of the United States and refused to allow it to be reinstated.

As mentioned above, President Taft decreased tariff rates during his presidency (before Wilson).  In 1909, the Paine-Aldrich Tariff reduced tariff rates and then in 1913, the Underwood Tariff brought a big reduction in duty taxes on imports, the first significant reduction since the Civil War.  President Wilson did not like tariffs and felt they caused conflicts with foreign countries.  He wanted to replace tariffs with a "graduated" or progressive income tax that hit wealthy (primarily hard-working) people more than poor (primarily lazy) people.   

As mentioned above, President Taft slightly decreased tariff rates during his presidency (before Wilson).  In 1909, the Paine-Aldrich Tariff reduced tariff rates and then in 1913, the Underwood Tariff brought a big reduction in duty taxes on imports, the first significant reduction since the Civil War.  President Wilson did not like tariffs and felt they caused conflicts with foreign countries.  He wanted to replace tariffs with a "graduated" or progressive income tax that hit wealthy (primarily hard-working) people more than poor (primarily lazy) people.   

The 16th Amendment, which was ratified in 1913 just as Wilson became president, overruled the Supreme Court's decision of ''Pollack v. Farmers Loan and Trust'', which had declared an income tax to be unconstitutional.  The 16th Amendment in 1916 authorized a national income tax:

The 16th Amendment, which was ratified in 1913 just as Wilson became president, overruled the Supreme Court's decision of ''Pollack v. Farmers Loan and Trust'', which had declared an income tax to be unconstitutional.  The 16th Amendment authorized a national income tax:

:The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several states, and without regard to any census of enumeration.

:The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several states, and without regard to any census of enumeration.