On History Channel Now--Teddy Roosevelt

[bamademo]

Teddy fought against large corporations and improving working conditions. He was the great reformer and he was a Republican. Pretty interesting stuff.

[ramapodem]

1. You also have to remember

The Democratic Party was just starting to move to the left during the progressive era. The Democratic Party in its current form did not come of age until his cousin takes office in 1932.

[KharmaTrain]

2. Teddy Was A Progressive

He all but rocked the Repugnican estabishment to its core...McKinley and Kenna tried to bury him as VP and to milk TR's popularity but keep him outta any real trouble...the strategy literally backfired.

Yes, for a brief time, the GOOP was the bastion of reform and progressive ideas...but it was short-lived. Taft promptly turned the country back to the corporate elite and rammed through the income tax. It would have been interesting how TR would have handled the outbreak of WWI had he won in 1912.