Nice write up on the U.S. first progressive President, Republican Theodore Roosevelt at the Heritage Foundation website here.
Shhhhhh. Don't tell the moron DeMint that they have this up at the website he will probably have it taken down.
Some nice excerpts:
Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President of the United States (1901–1909), was the youngest and arguably most energetic man ever to fill that office.
Growing up in the Gilded Age, he regarded commercial ideals as “mean and sordid” and brought these sensibilities with him into public life.[1] A firm believer in what he called the manly virtues, he urged his countrymen to fight for the right.
As President, he pushed executive powers to new limits, arguing that the rise of industrial capitalism had rendered limited government obsolete.
He took on the captains of industry and argued for greater government control over the economy, pursuing a two-pronged strategy of antitrust prosecutions and regulatory control.
He pushed through legislation that gave the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) new powers to set railroad rates, laying the foundation for the modern administrative state.
Casting himself as steward of the nation’s natural resources, he presided over the birth of the conservation movement.
Convinced that a strong defense was the best guarantee of peace, he built up the Navy and sent it around the world.Roosevelt sought to return the Republican Party to its high moral purpose and once again make politics respectable for a rising generation of high-minded reformers.
It was not only the waste and inefficiency that Roosevelt deplored, but also the corruption.
he believed that the President did not have to cite some specific grant of power to justify his actions.Lots of ideas in this article that seem to be completely gone from the scene today in any current version of our political parties.
Imagine the traditions of modern government that this guy could have established with a non-metallic based system of state currency at his disposal.
1 comment:
"...arguing that the rise of industrial capitalism had rendered limited government obsolete."
Yes, that is what those government haters don't get. It applies even more today. We don't have a too much government problem. We have a corrupt and inept government problem. I don't see any solutions though, because 95% of the "electable" people (meaning capable of attracting contributions) are corrupt or stupid or both.
Post a Comment