The Progressive Presidents
This week we are discussing the history of the Progressive Era, an age when political and economic freedoms expanded for many. The tragic 1911 fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Company demonstrated the prevailing feeling in America that the government had to be more responsible for the well-being of its people. Progressives assumed that the modern era required a fundamental rethinking of the functions of political authority. Enlarging democracy, governing by experts, and spearheading reform were all characteristic of the era. In a well thought out and thorough discussion answer please compare and contrast the ideas and policies of the three “Progressive presidents”–Theodore Roosevelt, William Taft, and Woodrow Wilson. To what extent were their ideas and policies truly Progressive? To what extent did they succeed or fail in implementing Progressive policies?
