William Taft- The Most Progressive President

            "Everyone Loves a Fat Man".

            

            

             In the early nineteen hundreds, the events that come to mind first are most likely World War I, which was going on at full steam, maybe even the Wright brothers making their first successful flight, and most likely the subject of racism and segregation. All these events became a major part of the future of our nation, and even the world. But nothing molded our country as much as the progressive movement from 1900 to 1917, and even more importantly, those who lead the movement. Theodore Roosevelt, William Taft, and Woodrow Wilson consisted of those who lead. All three were great leaders, but not all were as progressive as they could have been. To understand the importance of a progressive leader, it is critical to understand the definition of "progressive." In a nutshell, progressivism is defined as trying to achieve social progress through political reform. Progressivism consisted of primarily the middle to upper middle class. They concentrated on helping out the poor, getting the government out of corruption and back into the people"s hands, and ending all the business abuse that destroyed free enterprise and brought wealth to few individuals. As stated, all three, Roosevelt, Taft, and Wilson, were great leaders, but William Taft had to be the most progressive leader of them all.

             Taft achieved many goals and had many great progressive ideas for our country. For example, one of his major accomplishments was getting the Mann-Elkins Act passed in 1910. The Mann-Elkins act basically strengthened the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC), so regulate the top railroad, telephone and telegraph corporations. For example, t this time, railroads had ridiculously high prices, and this act regulated that. Taft also got the Department of Labor to form a Children"s Bureau to investigate and solve any problems concerning child labor. Taft was also against the trust and large businesses that didn"t play by the "rules.

Related Essays: