John Morton Blum’s The Republican Roosevelt is a detailed and insightful look at the life and presidency of Rough Rider Theodore (Teddy) Roosevelt. Blum is a respected political historian whose works are critically acclaimed by many historians, academics, and government officials. In this work, the author shows us that Roosevelt is known as a progressive republican because of his expansion of government, tax hikes, and imperialist policies. Vice-president Roosevelt, long considered a firebrand, swept into office after the assassination of President McKinley. Blum tells us that before his nomination as vice-president, Ohio Senator Mark Hanna decried, “Don’t you realize that there’s only one life between this madman and the White House?” (22).
Nevertheless, the “madman” became president upon the extinction of McKinley’s life. While Roosevelt was not a madman, his time as president was marked by his typical aggressive and pro-active nature. The firebrand made his mark on history many times over during his two terms as president. Along the way he expanded the role of the federal government in the U.S. economy. Roosevelt became the first trust-busting president, tackling monopolies including John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil Company. Roosevelt defined antitrust proceedings but he was not in opposition to consolidation to prevent ruinous competition. Instead he believed monopolies designed to stifle all competition were unjust. As Blum notes: “He would restrain the perverters of privilege who by their manipulations of rates and rebates purloined the just profits of their honest competitors and threatened to provoke by their excesses the menace of socialism” (83).
Roosevelt was also the first president to strengthen the position of labor forces during strikes. The 1902 Anthracite Coal Strike crippled the nation. United Mine Workers (UMW) demanded pay raises, union recognition, an eight-hour workday ...