Compare & Contrast the Presidencies of Theodore Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman

In the realm of politics the only thing that will get you on top is from thriving from the dreams of the people. The progressive era consisted of a varied collection of groups of people, artists, reformers, and mainly the middle class. The president during that time, Theodore Roosevelt is often closely joined to the presidency of Harry S. Truman. Theodore Roosevelt’s reform movements are a direct influence of later reform movements during the mid twentieth century. President harry S. Truman championed the end of World War II and fought to introduce similar reform movements to that of Franklin D. Roosevelt and his cousin; Theodore Roosevelt. The twentieth century reflected many similarities and differences to the previous progressive presidents. Sometimes the only constant in history is not change, which can be explained by the presidencies of Harry S. Truman and Theodore Roosevelt. Theodore Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman were extremely different presidents with distinct differences via their initial plans, labor policies, foreign policies, and domestic policies but Theodore Roosevelt proved to be the better of the two presidents.




Being a vice president during the time of President McKinley’s death, Roosevelt did not have very much of a plan. But compared to the plan of Truman it was destined to stand the test of time. Being a president for the people President Roosevelt’s plan, “the square deal” dealt with the control of corporations, consumer protection, and conservation which all proved extremely necessary for the survival of the average man. Unlike Truman’s fair deal, many of Roosevelt’s plans actually got past congress. Writers during the time of Roosevelt known as muckrakers severely altered America’s way of thinking. They were able to open the eyes of America and pin-point many of the problems the federal government wished to keep secret. Theodore Roosevelt was one of the many afflicted by the heart wrenching stories created by the writers. Upton Sinclair’s book entitled the Jungle influenced Roosevelt to pass such acts as the Meat Inspection Act of 1906 and the Pure Food and Drug Act. At the same rate, Truman managed to contemplate ideas such as a universal health plan and a more comprehensive Civil Rights Bill but hardly any of his ideas came to fruition during his presidency.




The Industrial Revolution, a few decades prior to the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt, left many blind spots in America’s consumer based markets. Such job locales as railroad site, stores, and mines were hit the hardest, when it came to a lack of consumer protection. As stated in Roosevelt’s “Square Deal”, Roosevelt quickly established such acts as the Elkins Act of 1903 and the Hepburn Act of 1906 geared to stabilize the quickly growing railroad sites. Fixed rates made it much easier for the public to trust railroad companies and in turn trust a Republican president. Truman on the other hand actually made several strides when it came to consumer protection. His best own act was the Minimum Wage Act of 1949 which dramatically increased the minimum wage nation-wide. Although this act was grand, it paled in comparison to Roosevelt’s treatment of American workers. As amplified in the Anthracite coal strike where Roosevelt forced the company to recognize the “little guy’s struggle”. In a similar situation with the United Mine workers, Truman threatened to cease control of the cooperation if the strike was not nullified.




As problems arose on the home front both Theodore Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman can be seen as imperialists as they attempted to secure America’s right as a world power. Similar to the Monroe Doctrine, Roosevelt established the Roosevelt Corollary which established America’s right to interfere with Central America. The first thing Roosevelt did with authorization to Central America was create the Panama Canal in conjunction with John Frank Stevens. The building of the canal in the long run can be seen as a fantastic idea, but during its construction it was hailed by the people as a “disaster” as it was plagued by such diseases as Malaria and experienced severe and often deadly landslides. Roosevelt’s policy “speak softly and carry a big stick” and increasingly similar to the foreign policy of Harry S. Truman. Truman’s greatest and most controversial foreign escapade was the dropping of the bomb on Nagasaki and Hiroshima. The bombing cost thousands of lives and did three times the damage of Roosevelt’s manufacturing of the Panama Canal.




Roosevelt’s greatest feat when it came to domestic policy was his conservation policy. Roosevelt and his chief advisor in conservation affairs, Gifford Pinchot introduced the Carey Land Act and Newlands Reclamation Act was Roosevelt’s way of preserving a piece of America for future generations. Truman’s domestic endeavors were less extravagant and hardly did anything to influence America’s Republican laden congress such Acts including the Housing Act of 1949 and the Social Security Act of 1950. These acts could be seen as a completely lack of trust, since such acts were initially created during the presidencies of Franklin D. Roosevelt and Herbert Hoover. The “little bull moose” progressive motivated president Roosevelt whole-heartedly succeeded in being a better president than the “Give ‘Em Hell” president Truman.




The differences and similarities of the presidencies of Theodore Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman were immense. Roosevelt’s progressive bridled policies thoroughly trampled the ideals of the Fair Deal. Roosevelt succeeded in being the one of few presidents that was able to balance both domestic and foreign policies; Truman was not one of those presidents. He was able to limit the power of big business at home and build a canal of hope in Central America. President Truman and President Roosevelt also had distinct similarities. One being that they wished to reform society by increasing Civil Rights for all or protect the consumer at all costs. On top of winning a Nobel Prize and surviving the Spanish-American War, Roosevelt won the hearts of all Americans and didn’t have to drop a bomb to get the nation’s attention.