Theodore Roosevelt And the Rise of America to World Power

According to the United States, democracy and Christianity were principal elements of a successful society. During the end of the eighteen-hundreds and throughout the beginning of the nineteen-hundreds, America tried to colonize and reform less fortunate nations. Following a social-Darwinist point of view, Americans took their “God-given” superiority to those who were incapable of establishing their own self-government (Doc. H). After much debate, American foreign policy towards the Philippines and Cuba was that it is our duty to rule them until they could rule themselves. We pledged to save the indigenous people from their savage, bloody, and corrupt ways of life. President McKinley’s foreign policy towards the Philippines stated that “they would soon have anarchy and misrule…there was nothing left to do but take them all, educate the Filipinos, and uplift and civilize them” (Doc. A).

Roosevelt, taking office in 1901 after the assassination of President McKinley, inherited a unique situation-America was, for the first time,

Theodor Roosevelt, our 26th president, was a gruff politician who had a huge impact on America. He is known for his accomplishments in the political, social, and business world during the Progressive Era. His accomplishments helped shape America, and because of this influence, he is one of the faces found on Mount Rushmore.

Although some believe that president Theodore Roosevelt abused his executive power, he did not. He was a very successful president who used his powers as president expertly during his presidency. Roosevelt used his diplomatic power wisely in the Dominican Republic and when he mediated the Russo-Japanese war. He used his legislative power effectively to influence reform policies. Roosevelt used his military power strongly to suppress Columbia and free Panama while asserting America’s military power as a leading world force. Additionally, he used his executive power in a way that benefited the U.S. greatly by protecting the environment in America while being careful not to abuse his power as chief executive.

There have been many influential presidents during the history of our nation. A few examples include George Washington who led our country through the revolutionary war and our nation’s first president. There was also Abraham Lincoln who led us through the Civil War. However our most influential president is Franklin D. Roosevelt. During Franklin Roosevelt’s years in the oval office he would lead our country through one of the toughest times during the 20th century enduring the great depression and World War II. His influence on the United States and the world still exist today with charities he started, federal laws in effect

After Hitler invaded Poland in 1939 and World War II officially began in Europe, President Roosevelt encouraged Americans to be neutral in action, but not necessarily in thought. It was clear that he favored the British, marking the beginning of the end of neutrality. President Roosevelt believed that Great Britain’s survival in the war was key to American safety, causing him to extend a “cash and carry” policy and to sell destroyers to the British. In a press conference in 1940, Roosevelt made his famous analogy in which he compared Great Britain to a house on fire and reasoned that the neighbor must give them a hose to put out the fire (Doc H). In it, he essentially described to the American people that the United States must help the British in order to keep democracy safe at home and abroad. Though the United States still remained officially neutral in the war, it was clear the nation was becoming more involved in international affairs. Many Americans opposed this increase of participation in world affairs, regardless of the threat of dictatorship and fascism. One advertisement in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch even described President Roosevelt as “America’s first dictator” (Doc F). However, President Roosevelt and the American

Out of all the men who have been President of the United States, there are some that just take the cake of who were the most influential and important. Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, and Ronald Reagan being the top three. These three have impacted America tremendously from WW2 and helping the Cold war to ending The Great Depression. They were good leaders in a time of need which makes them well known and unforgettable.

Roosevelt felt President Taft was too conservative and pro-business (Robinson, 2003). In reaction to that, he met with Progressive leaders after returning from Africa and began plotting a political comeback (Robinson, 2003).

Although Roosevelt was a great United States President, there is the matter of how exactly the United States entered World War II. There is no debate that Roosevelt thought that the United States should enter World War II. He knew that fascism was wrong and that the Axis Powers, led ultimately by Adolph Hitler of Germany, had to be defeated to protect democracy. Also, Roosevelt knew a war would boost the United State’s economy severely. Generally, in war time there is many more jobs, which decreases unemployment tremendously. However, the majority of the citizens of the United States wanted to take an isolated approach from the rest of the world as far as foreign affairs are concerned. As much as 85% of the public opposed entering the war.4 The United States did not want to enter into another world war, such as World War I, that costs so many lives and money. When World War II broke out in 1939 with Germany’s invasion of Poland, Roosevelt called Congress to revise the Neutrality Act in an attempt to enter the war. His attempt failed. Knowing the public would not agree to enter World War II, Roosevelt took several measures to make sure that

Theodore Roosevelt was one of our greatest presidents. He created the FDA and improved the position of the presidency greatly. Before Theodore came to be president, the position of presidency was slow and wasn’t very interesting so he made the executive branch more powerful by starting new reforms and a strong foreign policy. The life of a president is hard. It is full of stress, responsibilities, and a strong dedication the welfare of your country. Theodore had to deal with all of these presidential stresses, taking up much of his time. Do you know, though, that despite being a president, he led a life of excitement and freedom that many other presidents had never before experienced? Theodore, “Teddy” as his first wife Alice called him,

the book, Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Making of Modern America, the entire life of Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) is told. This book includes all aspects of the former democratic Presidents life, from his parent’s life, his education, his life before presidency, his time in office, and his death.

So as we talked about with the politics of progressivism with the government changing laws and regulating the economy. Giving women the right to vote, and getting rid of child labor and ect. Around this time, there was an increasing belief that America should go overseas to help other countries out with their problems. Giving knowledge on free markets and democracy, but reality was that Americans were invading to build an American empire. Teddy Roosevelt was making a big American navy, this trade overseas was getting bigger. Getting from the atlantic to the pacific, he didn't really want to go back and forth all the way to the bottom of South America every time. He wanted to go through the Panama province of Columbia, so he asked if he could

Theodore Roosevelt offered a slightly different perspective on the role of the frontier in the formation of a unique American culture based on wars and violence against the Indians. What never escape the settlers mind were the were superior if they wnated something al they had to do was take it with forced. Which is resemble with the eroupean ways of doing things. The only reason why eroupeans were so successful in colonization was because they would take what they wante by force .they stripped each colony of their identities we see thats what they were dealing wih in the west as well as in the philipines. They were trying to stripe the natives of their cultre in order to create this american civilizations. In the philipines the Unite states

In a passage from Our Country, Josiah states, “let us hope, of the largest liberty, the purest Christianity, the highest civilization -- having developed peculiarly aggressive traits calculated to impress its institutions upon mankind, will spread itself over the earth” (674). This applies to the issues with the Philippines because it supports McKinley's reasoning for sending troops and “missionaries” over to convert the people but ultimately ended up wreaking havoc. “Aguinaldo’s Case against the United States” written by Emilio Aguinaldo explained why he opposed American imperialism. Emilio led the Filipino armed against Spain for Independence. He was against imperialism because he believed the Filipino’s were being treated unfairly, America thinking that they were “ignorant savages”. The point he made was that America was treating the Philippines like how the colonials were treated before they escaped England. Emilio asked for America to “give us the chance; treat us exactly as you demanded to be treated at the hands of England when you rebelled against her autocratic methods”. By America treating the Filipino’s this way, it tossed all their morals about liberty and out the door putting the Filipino’s in the position that Americans were in trying trying to escape from England’s

Then in 1904 President Roosevelt made an extension of The Monroe Doctrine, expressed by Theodore Roosevelt, which stated that the U.S. would intervene in conflicts