Political, Cultural, And Social Changes During The Progressive Age

While not the most well known president, William Howard Taft did accomplish a lot in his 4 year term as president. In first thinking about Taft one might recall that he was the president who got stuck in a bathtub. And although that is true, being stuck in a bathtub should not be all that he is known for. Not much else is well known about Taft other than the fact that he was the only president who also served as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and was the only president who never wanted to be president. Because of this he became known as the “Reluctant President.”

Throughout American history, there have been numerous shifts and changes in politics and in the government. From the time George Washington was sworn into office in 1789 to Andrew Johnson’s assumption of presidency in 1808, one of the most prominent changes is the transformation of the presidential power and interpretation of the Constitution. As time goes on, the influence of the president gradually expands and evolves from a tightly constrained role into a significantly powerful position. The authority of the president grows along with the expansion of the nation's prosperity and prestige in the world. During the Revolutionary War in the late 18th century, the Founding Fathers created America and established a new system of governing.

Roosevelt easily beat his former close ally, Al Smith. Roosevelt won the nomination with the aid of a powerful publisher and the House Speaker John Nance Garner. Garner became the vice president. The thing that got Roosevelt so much support and fame was his New Deal, which was a plan and a set of programs that were designed to start a recovery from the Depression, and ensure the people that it would never happen again, it offered relief for the millions of suffering people. The new deal was so impacting and hopeful for the people and is another great example of why people would rank him to be one of the top presidents of the United States.

In my opinion, Theodore Roosevelt is the best example of a progressive president. He has made revolutionary steps to improve the nation. Roosevelt has inspired the belief that a balance will be found between pre-capitalism / business and the protection of the rights of all Americans. Although Taft and Wilson also made progressive reforms, they were neither as happy nor as supporters of the American public as generally successful in their efforts. To begin with, the progressive movement was an attempt to cure many of the American society's misfortunes that had developed during the Great Industrial Growth and could be described as an energy distribution of wealth evenly.

The Progressive Era was a period full of political reform and social activism. One major characteristic of this era was the call for higher efficiency in government. Reformers attacked inefficiency in government, which led to the government reorganizing agencies to eliminate redundancy. This era was also marked by a graduated federal income tax, a new national banking system and a governmental attempt to conserve natural resources. During the Progressive Era, there was a large call for social reform including: prohibition, the right to vote for women, child labor laws and an eight hour work day.

Based on my research of Martin Van Buren, I believe he succeeded in meeting the criteria of a good leader even though he was not the most popular President among the people of the United States. Not only was Van Buren a master politician, but he was also the person to create the union that later became the foundation of the Democratic Party. Before becoming the President, Van Buren served as President Andrew Jackson’s Secretary of State before becoming Jackson’s Vice President. After helping Jackson, he became the U.S. minister to Great Britain. Because of the many high positions he had throughout his life, he proved to the people of America that he was a good leader to later earn his position as the eighth President of the United States of America.

The Progressive Era from the 1890s to 1920s was a period that experienced extensive social activism and political reforms across the United States. This movement was spurred by the heightened level of corruption and injustice of large corporations and in government at that time. The movement primarily comprised of “liberals who wanted to reform and regulate their capitalist society and not destroy it. " There were several pushes to make the political process more open and transparent. One of which was the adaptation of the direct primary elections and to grant the Presidents more powers to regulate new laws.

The Progressive Era could not have made such an impact in the U.S without the political, social and economic

The “Progressive Movement was an early-20th century reform movement seeking to return control of the government to the people, to restore economic opportunity, and to correct injustices in American life.” (Danzer R54). The Progressive Era marked the end of the “Gilded Ages” and a start of a new era. The Progressive Era started in 1901 in the United States (Fagnilli 26). There were many major reforms in the Progressive Era that altered and advanced American society.

The Gilded age was a period in the late 1800s (1865-1900) that showed tremendous increase of wealth caused by the industrial age. The lifestyle of the rich during this period hid the many problems of the time that eventually brought about the progressive era movement. This was a movement for reform between 1900-1920s. Progressives typically held that the irresponsible actions of the rich were corrupting both public and private life. Forces such as immigration, the Populist Party and industrialization that led to the progressive era also impacted the American government both in its activeness and its democracy.

In the late 1800s, with the rise of the industrial revolution, there were business titans make millions and curating monopoly. These men were known as Robber Barons, like Cornelius Vanderbilt, J.P Morgan, Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller. These men were buying up every business that had any relationship with their companies to corner the market and create monopolies. These men had no restrictions on their business practices during this time. The U.S was a free market system, there were no government regulations or restrictions on trust and monopolies, which let the robber barons run free and do want they want.

The Progressive Era came to an end with World War I as the war exposed humanity's potential for large-scale cruelty (Social Welfare History Project, 2017). National politics took a part in the ending of the Progressive era. The Red Scare was a part of that because America had a fear that the United States would be vulnerable to a communist takeover (Schultz, 2013). America was not meant to be a communist country. Another issue they faced was with race.

William McKinley was the 25th President of The United States of America, from 1897 to September 14th 1901, the day of his unforgettable assassination. William McKinley was definitely a family man, and most importantly an outstanding politician. President McKinley was successful not only in Domestic Affairs and Foreign Affairs, but also in his Campaigns and Elections. Unlike past unsuccessful Presidents, President William McKinley was extremely successful in his Presidential Administration. William was a natural-born politician and was outstandingly successful in Foreign Affairs.

Question 1. The progressive period in US history started in the 1890s and remained current through the 1920s. Progressive leaders in the US include President Teddy Roosevelt, President William Howard Taft, and President Woodrow Willson. The main objective of progressives was to rid the government of corruption. These progressive leaders targeted political machines and worked to rid the country of monopolistic enterprises that were exploiting regular citizens.

During the periods of 1900 to 1912, the federal government and the Progressive Era reformers were able to bring limited change. This time period was when the U.S. desired to improve life in the industrial age by creating social improvements and political changes through government action. The Progressive Era reformers and the federal government support reforms as to limit the control of voting rights for women, trusts, improve sanitation, and enact child labor laws. Although they both managed to establish a precedent for more active roles in the federal government and managed to improve the quality of life, there were inevitable negative effects that occurred due to the Progressive movement. The efforts had both successes and limitations.