square deal definition us history

square deal definition us history

The Square Deal in U.S. History: An Examination of Theodore Roosevelt’s Progressive Era Policies

1. Introduction to the Square Deal

In all, Roosevelt’s swift, sweeping actions so transformed the country that it seemed superficially to be what he had promised. The problem here was that although the expression Square Deal has come largely to symbolize, not mischievous special privilege seeking, but full-fledged progressivism, Teddy’s true temper was never reformistic. The distinction is not specious, and it provides a much-needed correction in America’s evaluation of the role that individuals may play in its history. For the legislative program that was described at the time as the Square Deal was demanded, not by a countermovement to the various specific privilege-ganters in America, but was proposed in order to prevent anti-competitive actions that were injurious to the nation and to special groups as well. In fact, when the directly demanding Progressive phase of Roosevelt’s career had gestated in his nimble mind barely six months, he knowingly hailed his program only as one of a “deal,” not a Square Deal.

The upheavals of the Progressive era at the turn of the 20th century called for swift and sweeping answers. Responding to the growing public demand for reform, Theodore Roosevelt altered the American political scene in a hurry. “I propose to be there immediately,” he told political allies after assuming the presidency in September 1901 following the assassination of William McKinley. “What you want is action,” Teddy had said during the election campaign the preceding year, “and I am an action man.” Indeed, the 26th president darted about so energetically that now his governmental program has for 63 years simply been referred to as the Square Deal. Typically, large sums of public monies were spent on rivers and harbors, on ships, and the Panama Canal. An unprecedented program of land and water reclamation was also begun, and the U.S. by stop time had the world’s biggest merchant marine and the most modern navy.

2. Theodore Roosevelt: The Progressive President

Passionate in his love for America and American institutions, but not a friend of weakness – whether found within or without, Roosevelt sought to produce an America that was both respected and virtuous. These qualities and his vision of a strong and respected United States led Theodore Roosevelt into the world of political action, a realm that features manifold problems and frustrations. As such, Roosevelt can be described as an active interventionist in government policy, one who sought to reshape the traditional American laissez-faire attitude toward labor, government, and business. Indeed, Theodore Roosevelt was no mere symbol of self-help and early individualism. Always the progressive, Roosevelt was one to help adjust the scales of economic justice in favor of the common man and society as a whole. His actions may not merit praise similar to that given to those reformers of the nineteenth century, but he is nowhere to be considered the laissez-faire conservative that a generation of his own time would have him. Because of his actions and principles, Theodore Roosevelt can easily be called “The Progressive President.” His principles would soon be tested and fought upon the foreign fields of land and power.

A man of quick nature and frequent thought, Roosevelt was a man of action and passion – a man of multiplying roles and controversy. As most Americans, Roosevelt was a lover of action, one who preferred to act first rather than philosophize about a question, but his actions were often precipitate. As a student of the Classics, he preferred acting in a Napoleon-like manner, often pursuing a plan of attack until success was achieved with no quarter given. It is little wonder, therefore, that with such a purposeful man as Roosevelt, both intended and unintended results often followed his actions. A note of caution must, therefore, sound in any examination of Theodore Roosevelt in his various roles or within the context of his administration. He was no blind deity who sought a consistent line of action in all of his decisions. Always given to the expression of “strenuousness,” Roosevelt was also a man of contradiction and whimsy.

3. Key Components of the Square Deal

Another key aspect of a square deal for corporate interests was Roosevelt’s efforts to curb the strength of corporate abuses and to prohibit unfair business regulation. One of the more effective corporations that Roosevelt reined in was the Allegany Coal and Coke Company. With anthracite coal miners striking in Pennsylvania, the country faced a crisis in the winter of 1902. More than one million workers were out on strike, and the nation faced a coal famine that would leave many Americans shivering in the cold. After considering his options, Roosevelt ordered Charles Baer, head of the major coal companies, and John Mitchell, head of the United Mine Workers, to the White House. There, the President informed the two sides that he would not hesitate to use troops to open the mines. Although the President was careful to not say so explicitly, Baer and Mitchell read between the lines that a strike was out of the question. As Wallace Everett Davies put it, “After a brief showdown, the miners backed down and the strike was settled in Roosevelt’s favor…The miners did earn raises from the operators and only had to work three hundred days a year as substitutes or agreements the companies could ask work from within the mines…These small concessions to the workers, said Lesley Davis, were to bring victory to the mine workers and spur the union’s growth; then, in many ways, the strike was an inherent success.”

Three components of the Square Deal are of particular interest in the twenty-first century: control of the corporations, a square deal for both labor and business, and an emphasis on environmental conservation. One of Roosevelt’s major achievements was the dissolution of the Northern Securities Company in 1903. The Northern Securities Company held the stock of two important western railroads, the Northern Pacific and the Great Northern. The government contended that the company’s goal was to extinguish competition in the further development of the West. The famous suit that led to the Northern Securities decision was a strongly worded form of judicial action. And although the Supreme Court itself is on occasion criticized for radicalism, the action arguably fulfilled an important check on other branches of government. Of course, the effectiveness of the decision in terms of the regulation of corporate America has been a source of debate in the century since.

4. Impact and Legacy of the Square Deal

Today, government consumes one-third of the national output; the demand for limited government has unraveled. There are those who believe that the world has reached a condition of stability with the establishment of economic order, with established legal rights between individuals protected by law, and with a government which does not favor one group over another. We have almost forgotten the older solutions and we are free to practice at the next level in order to obtain peace, prosperity, and progress. Theodore Roosevelt was an oracle whose nationalism, that is, putting an emphasis on America first, inspired a nation of 90 million souls to “walk softly but carry a big stick.” We have served our New World at an additional cost, which after the close of World War I was examined in detail. The emergency that caused TR to act in 1902 produced a solution still significant nearly sixty years after the consummation of this daring venture. In the final analysis, Teddy Roosevelt was “first and last the representative of a new age.”

Roosevelt’s reform program is remembered for the use of federal authority to regulate the economy and the workplace, and to protect the public interest from the concentration of power and wealth. Key to the success of the Square Deal was Teddy Roosevelt’s personal appeal, and his readiness to negotiate with all elements in the labor dispute. The new age was far from official in 1913 when Roosevelt left the White House. Roosevelt’s progressive brand of political activism reached its highest level of enthusiasm with a handful of great leaders over a span of four decades in the first quarter of the twentieth century. When Roosevelt put his stamp of approval on a philosophy, the power of that personality pushed a majority in the country to endorse the same.

5. Conclusion: The Relevance of the Square Deal in Modern Times

Thus, with a conscience for the people, and although often operating out of the limits of his presidential power, Theodore Roosevelt, as the first modern president, led the United States into the Progressive Era. He created a concern and awareness for citizens and a responsibility of the government to assist in the welfare of everyone, not just a selective few. He did much for a generation who came before us and had a clear vision for the future. Many programs were initiated during the Roosevelt era, some reflecting the views of the Square Deal and some which do not and reflect an earlier period. However, without these earlier reforms, many of the later federal policies would not have been possible. Therefore, when judging and evaluating the record of Theodore Roosevelt, it is appropriate to apply two words with which he was often described – that he indeed was “all-American.”

With the belief that it is the role of the federal government to leave the United States “better, safer, and sounder for the children,” Roosevelt sought to address the challenges of a changing, industrial America. With the Square Deal, he took on the issues for which public attention had been building for some time, making noteworthy social and economic progress. Modern presidents have tackled similar great issues such as pollution control, health benefits, economic fairness, social welfare, consumer and workplace safety. In addition to these inheritances from the Progressive Era, which spanned three presidencies, a fourth challenge is the regulation and control of big businesses. With this umbrella, the Square Deal of the Progressive Era has resonance and is still relevant to the modern American population.