The Progressive Presidents Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Progressive Presidents - Essay Example The former friends hurled insults at each other; Taft had the party behind him, but Roosevelt rallied the people. It was at this time that U.S faced a number of challenges that the people could not tolerate any more. 1880s, the country had witnessed changes in urbanization as a result of industrial revolution that it had gone through, therefore the country needed to react very swiftly by developing new approaches to curb the problems. The United States presidential election of 1912 was a four horse race; it involved the then incumbent president Taft who was re-nominated by the Republican Party as well as the support he got from it conventional wing. The former president Roosevelt unfortunately did not receive the Republican nomination, thus he drifted on his own and formed a progressive Party (Bull Moose Party), and also in the race was a Democrat Woodrow Wilson who was the preferred candidate and Eugene a nominee of the Socialist part of America. Roosevelt’s move to dare Taft for the Republican nomination in 1912 raised more questions than answers. But according to him, he was not guided by his own self interest instead he was against the status quo of the incumbent government. He sought to reform the mind-set of the majority Americans through his policies and the political ideologies of the progressive party. He made this by promoting restrictions on environmental preservation, employment and children; they also had favor towards labor unions. He also mentioned about the tariff that had directly affected the economic developments of America over the years. Roosevelt alleged that changes in the political systems, together with the plan and popular primary and direct election process would increase individual power; effectively make sure the probable power of the corporations without restricting monetary efficiency and advantages (Sinyai,2006,pg.246-8). On