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| | [[Image:Tr2006.jpg|thumb|290px|''Time'' July 3, 2006]] | | [[Image:Tr2006.jpg|thumb|290px|''Time'' July 3, 2006]] |
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| − | ===Life in the White House===
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| | Roosevelt redefined the modern presidency by drawing attention to the office through his dynamic personality, thus creating a 'public obsession' over his executive actions and attracting a permanent public eye toward the presidency that endowed it with new power. | | Roosevelt redefined the modern presidency by drawing attention to the office through his dynamic personality, thus creating a 'public obsession' over his executive actions and attracting a permanent public eye toward the presidency that endowed it with new power. |
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| − | Roosevelt relished the presidency and seemed to be everywhere at once. He took Cabinet members and friends on long, fast-paced hikes, boxed in the state rooms of the White House, romped with his children, and read voraciously. In 1904, he was permanently blinded in his left eye during one of his boxing bouts, but this injury was kept from the public at the time.<ref>Brands, (1997) 565</ref> His many enthusiastic interests and limitless energy led one ambassador to wryly explain, "You must always remember that the President is about six."<ref>Cecil Spring Rice, ''The Letters and Friendships of Sir Cecil Spring-Rice,'' (1929) p 437</ref>
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| − | Roosevelt's oldest daughter, Alice Roosevelt, was a controversial character with a tart tongue and a spirit of adventure. When friends asked if he could rein in his elder daughter, Roosevelt said, "I can be President of the United States, or I can attend to Alice." In turn, Alice said of him that he always wanted to be "the bride at every wedding and the corpse at every funeral."<ref> Carol Felsenthal, ''Princess Alice: The Life and Times of Alice Roosevelt Longsworth'' (1988) pp. 60, 105</ref>
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| − | Roosevelt rebuilt the White House building. he added a new West Wing to free up the second floor rooms in the residence that formerly housed the president's staff. To this day, "west Wing" signifies the presidential staff. He and Edith also had the entire house renovated and restored to the [[federal style]], tearing out the Victorian furnishings and details (including Tiffany windows) that had been installed over the previous three decades.
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| | ===Domestic policy=== | | ===Domestic policy=== |
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| | Widespread outrage followed publication in 1906 of [[Upton Sinclair]]'s novel, ''The Jungle,'' which detailed the horrible conditions in Chicago’s packinghouses. Roosevelt sent sociologists and social workers to investigate the meat-packing industry in Chicago. Their report to the president was 'revolting,' but since Roosevelt feared the impact on ranchers and European meat importers, he withheld the report from publication. Sinclair was so upset that he provided specific information to newspapers. Roosevelt then had the commissioners put their report in writing, and sent it to Congress. This led to a hearing before Congress; witnesses were asked about seeing a dead hog slide partway into a men's privy. Although Sinclair was a Socialist and his main interest was in the stockyard workers, not consumers, the turmoil over tainted meat helped move Congress to enact the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906. The act itself had been drawn up by experts in the Department of Agriculture, and remains in effect in the 21st century.<ref> James Harvey Young, "The Pig That Fell into the Privy: Upton Sinclair's 'The Jungle' and the Meat Inspection Amendments of 1906." ''Bulletin of the History of Medicine'' 1985 59(4): 467-480 </ref> | | Widespread outrage followed publication in 1906 of [[Upton Sinclair]]'s novel, ''The Jungle,'' which detailed the horrible conditions in Chicago’s packinghouses. Roosevelt sent sociologists and social workers to investigate the meat-packing industry in Chicago. Their report to the president was 'revolting,' but since Roosevelt feared the impact on ranchers and European meat importers, he withheld the report from publication. Sinclair was so upset that he provided specific information to newspapers. Roosevelt then had the commissioners put their report in writing, and sent it to Congress. This led to a hearing before Congress; witnesses were asked about seeing a dead hog slide partway into a men's privy. Although Sinclair was a Socialist and his main interest was in the stockyard workers, not consumers, the turmoil over tainted meat helped move Congress to enact the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906. The act itself had been drawn up by experts in the Department of Agriculture, and remains in effect in the 21st century.<ref> James Harvey Young, "The Pig That Fell into the Privy: Upton Sinclair's 'The Jungle' and the Meat Inspection Amendments of 1906." ''Bulletin of the History of Medicine'' 1985 59(4): 467-480 </ref> |
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| − | ==Coal strike== | + | ====Coal strike==== |
| | The [[Coal strike of 1902]] was a strike by the [[United Mine Workers of America]] in the anthracite coal fields of eastern Pennsylvania. The strike threatened to shut down the winter fuel supply to all major cities.<ref> Most homes and apartments were heated with anthracite or "hard" coal because it had higher heat value and less smoke than "soft" or bituminous coal.</ref> Roosevelt jumped in, and personally negoatiated with the mine leaders and financiers. Acting as a neutral party, he set up a fact-finding commission that suspended the strike. The strike never resumed, as the miners received more pay for fewer hours; the owners got a higher price for coal but did not recognize the union as a bargaining agent. It was the first labor episode in which the federal government intervened as a neutral arbitrator and it made Roosevelt's reputation as a peacemaker. | | The [[Coal strike of 1902]] was a strike by the [[United Mine Workers of America]] in the anthracite coal fields of eastern Pennsylvania. The strike threatened to shut down the winter fuel supply to all major cities.<ref> Most homes and apartments were heated with anthracite or "hard" coal because it had higher heat value and less smoke than "soft" or bituminous coal.</ref> Roosevelt jumped in, and personally negoatiated with the mine leaders and financiers. Acting as a neutral party, he set up a fact-finding commission that suspended the strike. The strike never resumed, as the miners received more pay for fewer hours; the owners got a higher price for coal but did not recognize the union as a bargaining agent. It was the first labor episode in which the federal government intervened as a neutral arbitrator and it made Roosevelt's reputation as a peacemaker. |
| | [[Image:Coal-TR.JPG|thumb|300px|left|TR teaches the childish coal barons a lesson; 1902 editorial cartoon]] | | [[Image:Coal-TR.JPG|thumb|300px|left|TR teaches the childish coal barons a lesson; 1902 editorial cartoon]] |
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| | ====Antitrust==== | | ====Antitrust==== |
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| | == Sidelights == | | == Sidelights == |
| | + | ===Life in the White House=== |
| | + | Roosevelt relished the presidency and seemed to be everywhere at once. He took Cabinet members and friends on long, fast-paced hikes, boxed in the state rooms of the White House, romped with his children, and read voraciously. In 1904, he was permanently blinded in his left eye during one of his boxing bouts, but this injury was kept from the public at the time.<ref>Brands, (1997) 565</ref> His many enthusiastic interests and limitless energy led one ambassador to wryly explain, "You must always remember that the President is about six."<ref>Cecil Spring Rice, ''The Letters and Friendships of Sir Cecil Spring-Rice,'' (1929) p 437</ref> |
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| | + | Roosevelt's oldest daughter, Alice Roosevelt, was a controversial character with a tart tongue and a spirit of adventure. When friends asked if he could rein in his elder daughter, Roosevelt said, "I can be President of the United States, or I can attend to Alice." In turn, Alice said of him that he always wanted to be "the bride at every wedding and the corpse at every funeral."<ref> Carol Felsenthal, ''Princess Alice: The Life and Times of Alice Roosevelt Longsworth'' (1988) pp. 60, 105</ref> |
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| | + | Roosevelt rebuilt the White House building. he added a new West Wing to free up the second floor rooms in the residence that formerly housed the president's staff. To this day, "west Wing" signifies the presidential staff. He and Edith also had the entire house renovated and restored to the [[federal style]], tearing out the Victorian furnishings and details (including Tiffany windows) that had been installed over the previous three decades. |
| | + | ===Teddy Bear=== |
| | The Teddy Bear is named for Theodore Roosevelt. After it was reported that Roosevelt had refused to shoot a bear on a hunting expedition a toy shop owner placed a sign next to a toy bear in his shop window announcing that this was "Teddy's Bear". The name stuck. | | The Teddy Bear is named for Theodore Roosevelt. After it was reported that Roosevelt had refused to shoot a bear on a hunting expedition a toy shop owner placed a sign next to a toy bear in his shop window announcing that this was "Teddy's Bear". The name stuck. |
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| − | Roosevelt was not sworn in on a Bible. He remains the only president in history to do so.<ref>[http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/pihtml/pinotable.html Library of Congress Presidential Inauguration Precedents and Notable Events]</ref>
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| | ===Spelling reform=== | | ===Spelling reform=== |
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| | Like his Roosevelt ancestors, Theodore Roosevelt was a member of the Dutch Reformed Church (denomination). His mother was a Presbyterian, another Calvinist denomination like the Reformed. In Oyster Bay there was no Reformed church, and so from 1887 onward he went to Christ Church (Episcopal) with his wife Edith and the children, where he took part in the service, loudly singing the hymns. But in Albany Roosevelt attended a Dutch Reformed church, while Edith went to an Episcopal church. In [[Washington]] he attended nearby Grace Reformed Church, a German Reformed church, close to the Dutch, while Edith, as First Lady attended St. John's Church, Lafayette Square (Episcopal), the "church of the presidents," across from the White House.<ref>[http://www.theodoreroosevelt.org/life/Religion.htm THE RELIGION of THEODORE ROOSEVELT]</ref> Relative little has been written on Roosevelt 's religion, although a book, ''ROOSEVELT'S RELIGION'' by Christian Reisner,<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=-rVEAAAAIAAJ&dq=ROOSEVELT%27S+RELIGION+by+Christian+Reisner&printsec=frontcover&source=bl&ots=NaRpPqwPWv&sig=v-mVzmOukGfPAKjq6jZgfo4q3aM&hl=en&ei=x8-CSpiCOsaltgfD_rjMCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1 Extract and search]</ref> provides recollections from his friends and others on the subject. | | Like his Roosevelt ancestors, Theodore Roosevelt was a member of the Dutch Reformed Church (denomination). His mother was a Presbyterian, another Calvinist denomination like the Reformed. In Oyster Bay there was no Reformed church, and so from 1887 onward he went to Christ Church (Episcopal) with his wife Edith and the children, where he took part in the service, loudly singing the hymns. But in Albany Roosevelt attended a Dutch Reformed church, while Edith went to an Episcopal church. In [[Washington]] he attended nearby Grace Reformed Church, a German Reformed church, close to the Dutch, while Edith, as First Lady attended St. John's Church, Lafayette Square (Episcopal), the "church of the presidents," across from the White House.<ref>[http://www.theodoreroosevelt.org/life/Religion.htm THE RELIGION of THEODORE ROOSEVELT]</ref> Relative little has been written on Roosevelt 's religion, although a book, ''ROOSEVELT'S RELIGION'' by Christian Reisner,<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=-rVEAAAAIAAJ&dq=ROOSEVELT%27S+RELIGION+by+Christian+Reisner&printsec=frontcover&source=bl&ots=NaRpPqwPWv&sig=v-mVzmOukGfPAKjq6jZgfo4q3aM&hl=en&ei=x8-CSpiCOsaltgfD_rjMCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1 Extract and search]</ref> provides recollections from his friends and others on the subject. |
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| | + | Roosevelt was not sworn in on a Bible. He remains the only president in history to do so.<ref>[http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/pihtml/pinotable.html Library of Congress Presidential Inauguration Precedents and Notable Events]</ref> |
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| | Roosevelt provided ''Nine Reasons Why a Man Should Go to Church'',<ref>http://www.theodoreroosevelt.org/life/Church9reasons.htm</ref> such as | | Roosevelt provided ''Nine Reasons Why a Man Should Go to Church'',<ref>http://www.theodoreroosevelt.org/life/Church9reasons.htm</ref> such as |