Truman- Roosevelt

From George Washington to George W. Bush, there has been forty-two presidents in the United States of America. Presidents with similar and contrasting personalities and political positions have led the United States of America throughout the good and the bad situations encountered. During the twentieth century, the U.S.A. experience some of the harshest time in its history. From World War I and the Great Depression to World War II and the Vietnam War, there were many presidents who struggled to keep America on its "feet". Some were successful such as FDR, while some were not very successful, Hebert Hoover. Right at the beginning of the twentieth century, Theodore Roosevelt became president. He served from 1901 to the year 1909. Later on the century, Harry S. Truman became president, serving from 1945 to 1953. Roosevelt, before becoming president was a governor from New York, while Truman was a senator. Both former presidents served in some kind of military service. Roosevelt became a hero by leading the Rough Riders during the Spanish- American War, in the other hand, Truman fought World War I. Both Theodore Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman had the opportunity of becoming presidents after the death of the presidents while they were serving as the vice-president. As presidents, Roosevelt and Truman were successful. Both presidents were willing to act upon the concerns of the society as well as the economy.
Roosevelt and Truman were both aware of America's need for improvement at the beginning of their presidency. During Roosevelt's term, the regulation of industry was a big concern, while at the time of Truman's term the United States had to struggle to get back to the economic status it was in before U.S. got involved in World War II. In response, Roosevelt and Truman created the Square Deal and the Fair deal respectively. Both were excellent deals that satisfied the needs for the economy and the social fabric. Roosevelt acted upon trusts. Additionally he regulated the railroad industry. He passed the Hepburn Act in 1906 which set maximum railroad rates. Roosevelt also contributed in the creation of the Pure Food and Drug Act and the Meat Inspection Act which ultimately benefited the society. Correspondingly, in Truman's Fair Deal, helping society was the main goal. Truman tried to establish various acts concerning civil rights, education, health care and housing. Unfortunately, congress did not agree with many of Truman's ideas, except for the concern of housing which led to the creation of the Housing Act of 1949.
During their presidency, Truman and Roosevelt had to face increments of labor unions and their various strikes. Both presidents tried to solved these strikes in a similar way. In the Anthracite Coal Strike of 1902 and in the National Railway Strike of 1946 both presidents made some kind of threat to solve the problem. Unfortunately, the agreements in both cases ended up having a negative effect in the economy.
In foreign politics, both presidents took different actions for different purposes. Roosevelt was largely involved with Latin America. He created the Roosevelt Corollary which allowed the U.S. to intervene in Latin American affairs to solve various problems such as corrupt governments. He was also however involved in other continents. Roosevelt helped to negotiate an end to the Russo- Japanese War. Truman was also heavily involved in international affairs. The most significant moment being his decision of dropping the atomic bombs in Japan in order to make Japan surrender, and maybe to also show the rest of the world how powerful the U.S. can be. He was involved in the Korean War, among others.
Both Roosevelt and Truman were mostly successful during their presidencies. They were able to take control of the country during difficult situations that had been started by the previous president of their time. Both made attempts to satisfy the needs of society and the economy. Although they were not successful in accomplishing everything they desired, they did brought more attention to the issues they tried to address.

Atomic Justification.

As a result of the harsh conditions Germany was left in after World War I, many extremist organizations aroused, one being the National Socialist German Workers Party, or the Nazis. The Nazis were led by Adolph Hitler; Hitler was willing to conquer many territories. Britain and France satisfied Hitler's demand for territories at the Munich Conference, were Germany was allowed to control Sudetenland, in former Czechoslovakia. Through this agreement, Britain and France hoped for Hitler's territorial ambitions to come to an end. Unfortunately they made a mistake. Germany continued its path until the finally conquered Poland, thus starting WWII in Europe. Further on other nations such as Japan and Italy were fighting along with Germany against the rest of the world. Particularly, United States' relations with Japan deteriorated greatly. Trade with Japanese was cut off , resulting in Japanese madness. Europe's Axis powers were defeated first, and the remaining Japanese nation was left, it corresponded the U.S. to take care of the Japanese, after all they were attacked by the Japanese in the Pearl Harbor incident. An so they did in 1945, in a very harsh but necessary, and justified way. The U.S. resorted to using the powerful atomic bombs which fell on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The U.S. was justified in dropping the bombs because if they never did so, the number of casualties could have been even bigger if trying to invade Japan. In addition, the Japanese may have never surrendered. Plus the costly and savage battles at Okinawa and Iwo Jima were motives to drop the bomb which would result in less casualties.
Truman decide to use the atomic bombs on Japan because if he decided to go along with the already planed Operation Downfall which purpose was to invade Japan, the number of casualties could have been larger on both the Japanese and American side. In case of invasion attempt, the Japanese were willing to use women and children to fight. Additionally, Japan battled by using total war, meaning that ever single available resource was used against the enemy. This also meant that many civilians from around the world were in greater danger since the war would have last longer.
Japan's fighters fought with great honor and pride, this made the battle for the allies even harder. Japanese culture taught its people to never surrender no matter what. The Japanese were willing to fight till the very end, so a formal agreement with Japanese leaders to end battle was hardly possible. The pride of the Japanese can be seen in many action. One was the kamikaze pilots or suicide pilots that did not want to die without making any damage to the enemy. In addition, many Japanese leaders committed suicide rather than to be captured and prosecuted and most likely executed. The dropping of the bombs was necessary to make the Japanese surrender.
The U.S. did not want the same thing for the many Americans who lost their lives due to the fierce battles of Okinawa and Iwo Jima. The bombs were necessary to lessen the casualties. Having to battle at Japan was very dangerous due to the battle methods of the Japanese. The bombs were necessary to save millions of lives that could been lost at battle even bigger than Iwo Jima and Okinawa.
The United States made a justified decision in dropping the atomic bombs at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. They did it in order to save the rest of humanity threatened by the strong minded Japanese fighters. This was the only way to force the Japanese to surrender, since when the allies offered a conditional surrender the Japanese objected the offer. The bombs were successful in making the Japanese surrender. More importantly it ended World War II.

Dark Ages

"The roaring twenties", an era in which many prospered. Take the Harlem renaissance for example, where numerous African American artists flourished. During this period of time the economy grew rapidly thanks to a number of technological inventions. One was Ford's assembly line which made the automobile more affordable than ever. Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end; So in 1929, the Roaring Twenties came to an unexpected end when the stock market crashed. The excitement of the 1920's was now over. Ahead came harsh times, some of the worst U.S. economy had. This so called 'Great Depression" altered the American Social fabric in many ways. Those who were poor during the roaring twenties would now suffer even further, and those whose life prospered in the twenties would overcome a dramatic change.
The great depression, besides causing banks to panic, also caused millions of people to be unemployed. Unemployment came from a varied amount of reasons. One was the use of new technology which at times replaced human labor. Machines without a doubt made a better and faster job than humans could do, however this lead to overproduction, followed by under consumption as a result from the unemployed.
Starting with the living conditions, people no longer lived in nice homes, instead they became part of the Hoovervilles. Named after the President of that time, Herbert Hoover, who during his term was unable to get the United States out of the Great Depression, Hoovervilles were shanty towns for the homeless and unemployed as a result of the depression. People who lived here lived under bad conditions. Those not skilled enough had to built their temporary homes out of cardboard and other simple materials. In the other hand, the skilled built their houses out of stone. Even those who had cars suffered, since gasoline was not affordable anymore. Cars had the engines taken out in order to be pulled by horses.
Some in response decided to get together through charities in order to help the unfortunate. The infamous soup- kitchens were created to provide free food for those who needed it the most. Some minorities such as women and African Americans were also affected. Women were not affected in a very bad way, for they were considered the only hope for some families. Even though they were not paid as much as men, their effort to make a difference was well appreciated. African Americans in the other hand suffered even more during the depression. They were the last on the waiting list for jobs as well as the first to be fired. Nevertheless others outside the United States were affected, for example, in Latin America many fascist movements arose due to the effects of the great depression resulting from the many investments the United States had with many Latin American countries.
The great depression affected many in America mostly in a bad way. The depression was not however only a local issue, but rather a global one that affected millions of people, even foreigners in the U.S. were affected, for example, Mexican-Americans who faced illegal deportation in order to yield jobs for white Americans. In the United States, the depression ended an era of mass consumerism that once prospered in the urban areas.

The Roaring Twenties.- A good or a bad thing?

By the beginning of the nineteen-twenty's , World War One was over. The war had changed the United States in a big way. Despite the fact that the United States did not join the League of Nations or the failure of Woodrow Wilson after the war, the United States arose as a major economic and military power. People wanted more than anything a return to normality concerning politics. Economically after the war, the United States faced a period of prosperity.
The period in which the United States encountered various kinds of cultural, social, and artistic innovations was called " The Roaring Twenties" ( 1920-1929). During this period a big economic boom faced the United States. The people, to extend the economy, made a big impact when consumerism vastly increased due to the many inventions during that period; For example, before this period not many people owned a car, but thanks to Ford's famous assembly line made the process faster, therefore cheaper and more affordable to the public. Additionally, human intellect arose: Albert Einstein's relativity theory. Technology was improved, or invented as well. Unfortunately not everything was pleasing, for the "Roaring twenties" experienced social ,economic, and cultural alterations that affected the lives of Americans.
Disputes over the rural versus urban attitudes were created. Rural areas were guided by tradition, and the cities were looked at by the rural public as corrupted and sinful. What small-town people looked at as a provocative lifestyle, the drinking in the cities was the "thing". Even after Prohibition. Even women in the cities were different. The way they dressed was very different from women in the rural areas. What became know as " Flappers", were women wearing make-up and smoking.
Citizens also grew concerned about communism. In what became known as the "Red Scare", fear swept the country for the feeling that communism could spread after the success of the Russian Revolution in 1917. People also reacted against local radicals , union members, socialist and immigrants. AS a result of increase of nativist sentiment, groups such as the KKK were reestablished to fight against Eastern Europeans, catholics, Jews, unions, and African Americans. Foreigners, such as Sacco and Vanzetti , were victims of nativist fear due to their ethnicity and political views. Not even if the need for cheap labor was big, anxiety about immigrants caused various legislations to be passed in order to minimize immigration impacts to the U.S.
Religion, still in the hearts of the rural citizens, was put a question mark when in the city, ideas based in science about the creation of man were rationalized. In the Scopes Monkey trial, prosecuted by W. J. Bryan tried to settle the dispute of whether the theory of evolution should be taught at schools.
This conflicts were mainly driven by the concern from the citizens on what was adequate and appropriate for the sake nation's status. Unfortunately, all things must come to and end. By the year 1929, those great and not so great times would be over. For the next period would be that involving the Great depression were even those who prospered during the "roaring twenties" would have to go down.

US Neutrality.

During the industrial era, the United States was in much need for raw materials in order to feed its economy. Local resources were not enough, therefore the United States needed to get these materials from other countries. As a result, the United States opted for imperialism; The United States achieved a lot during this era. The United States was not alone in these race for territories. In order to achive the conquering of many foreign territories a vast expansion of the army was needed. The use of these armies was to intimidate other nations, this is also known as militarism. Moreover, imperialims created distrust among the imperialist which ultimately resulted in the creation of secret military alliances.
All this factors, along with the rise of nationalism by those conquered by imperialist, were the creators of Wolrd War one which lasted from 1914 to 1918. As the war broke out with the assassination of heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, Francis Ferdinand, the United States declared their neutrality. The United States was in fact neutral, until a number of factors forced the nation to intervene along with the allies.
By 1914, the United States president at the time, Woodrow Wilson, declared the nations neutrality, ( Doc A ) stating that the war was not in the best of interest for the nation. National leaders such as Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan also gave voice to the inclination for American neutrality (Doc D).The United States remainded neutral, until Germany along with its unrestricted submarine warfare in european seas resulted in the lost lives of hundreds of Americans. This action of course upset the United States. As stated by the German embassy, (doc E) any ship sailing in the warzone would be attacked. Since the United States still traded with european nations, this was a big problem for the nation. In response, the United States president declared to cut off all kinds of dipolomatic relationships with Germany unless the unrestricted Warfare stoped.( Doc G) Germany wanted to keep the United States out of conflict therefore they promised not to sink any ships without warning or taking care for the lives of passengers, this was known as the Sussex Pledge.
Deeper United States involvement in war came in 1917 when Germany decided to continue with their Submarine Warfare. The U.S. declared "Armed neutrality" , this meant that U.S. merchant ships would be armed to protect themselves from German U-Boats. Germany realized that this was a small step into bringing the U.S. into war; They also thought that it was too late however for American intervention to have any effect in the outcome of war. Just in case the U.S. became too involved in war, Germany's Arthur Zimmerman sent a telegram to German Ambassador Johann von Bernstoff in Mexico. (Doc H) The telegram was intercepted by the British however. The telegram encouraged Mexico to join Germany's cause in case the U.S. joined war. If Germany won, Mexico would get back the lasn lost to the U.S. during the Mexican-American War. This angered the Americans.
Later on, the United States entered War in order "to make the World safe for democracy." Now the United States was beginig to see Germany as a threat to the world ( Doc I). Fortunately U.S. intervention was very helpful since its help was a big factor to defeating the Germans. After war ended, Wilson and the Allies came up with the Treaty of Versailles and the League of Nations.
By the begining of the war the U.S. still traded with Britain and even Germany, however, since Germany decided to use Submarine Warfare and take the lifes of people, including Americans, the United States could not keep its neutrality for too long. Due to the fact that Germany was a threat to American lifes as well as the rest of the world, U.S involvement was necessary in order to stop Germany's awful militaristic plans.

Roosevelt, Taft, and Woodrow Wilson.

By the start of the twentieth century, the United States had managed to become a powerful world power, perhaps the most powerful. The ones that benefited the most of bieng a powerful nation were the upper class that came from corporations and and large business that operated with hardly any government intervention. In addition, in most places poverty was still a big issue. One goup of people, the middle class, were willing to make a change in American democracy. The period in which these people took some action was called the progressive era.

Presidents also took some actions to adress the problems of their society. Among these were Theodore Roosevelt, William H. Taft, and Woodrow Wilson. In order to solve the problems during this era, federal policies and legislation were needed. Each president had its own ideas and proposals to confront the problems. However, Roosevelt was the one that stood out the most at reforming society during the progressive era.

When runnig for president, Taft and Roosevelt were enemies due to the fact that Taft did not carry out Roosevelt Plans after Roosvelt had done his term. One of Taft's achievments is the busting of more trust than Rosevelt. However, unlike Roosevelt, Taft was very weak on progressivism, conservation, and social- welfare. Regarding trusts, Wilson passed the Clayton anti-trust act.

Roosvelt was also a conservationist, this can be seen by the Newlands Act, which opted for the preservation of forest. What made Roosevelt tha best in the progressive era was that he succesfuly acoomplishd many reforms in various "fields

", including the workers and consumers, for example: the creation of the Hepburn Act , which solved the problems with the railroad rates. Another was the Anthracite coal strike in which Roosevelt threatened to sent troops to take over the mine, however, frightened that Roosvelt actually seize the mine, the operator came up with an agreement to have an arbitration commitee in order to settle the dispute. After the strike ended, the result were fulfiling, it provided a ten percent wage increase and a shorter workday.

Even Wilson made a better job than Taft in the social sector. This can be seen in Muller v Oregon, which solved issues concerning women workers. Anyhow, Wilson did not do much concerning foreign reforms. Taft passed his Dollar Diplomacy, which allowed private investors ( wealthy class) to give out loans to Central American countries. More exceptional, Roosevelt got the Panama canal and created the Roosevelt corollary; additionally he was also the mediator to the Russo-Japanese war.

Clearly Roosevelt was the better man when it came to reforming. He was the "Square deal Reformer", meaning that he took actions concerning: Trust busting, consumer protection, and conservation. More importantly he also suceede in these. He was the one that had the most impact in the nation. He also got the most support from people due to his concern for the common man. Taft and Wilson cannot be ignored however, since they also took some actions to fight against the parasites of the nation.

America's way of Imperialism (pride or embarrasment)

Before Civil War, the United States had two sides, the Union and the Confederates, each with different views about slavery. These differences were disputed in the Civil War. Abolition of slavery was one of the results of this war. Subsequently, the United States now had other worries: economic problems, racial equality, etc. Not long after most of the local problems were solved, an urge for yet more territorial expansion emerged. Not only the United States was seeking local expansion but as well as expansion beyond its borders.
Now, was the way the United States became a world power a reason for an American to be proud of its nation or embarrassed of it? The United States had a variety of justifications to go beyond its virtual limits, however these were mostly economic and were also fueled by many theories. Additionally the United States also wanted to become a world power that would influence other nations. As in most political cases, there were those who opposed this policy of imperialism.
Imperialism by the United States had many theories from those who supported it. Among these was Alfred Mahan's which stated that the United States ought to have a large Navy and that in order to achieve this additional natural resources such as coal and more land were needed , therefore acquiring colonies was needed. Another theory was Frederick Jackson's, which declared that territorial expansion was good to improve social, political and ECONOMIC stability. A theory that showed extreme nationalism was Social Darwinism, which declared that the United States was above other nations morally and biologically.
The United States took actions to extend its power to other nations. This was seen when the United States went in a "rescue" mission against Spain in order to "help" Cuba. However the United States had its eyes on the vast amount of sugar cane that Cuba produced, which after helping Cuba to gain its independence from Spain would help boost the American economy. More importantly the United States now had showed its capability of being a world power.
The United States was not satisfied yet, and to strengthen it s naval power, they took on mission to obtain Hawaii. However after trying to obtain, the Queen Liliuokalani refused to give it. Later the United States imposed a tariff which made it a struggle economically to trade. As a result, many people supported the annexation of Hawaii to get rid of the tariff. After overthrowing the Queen, Hawaii became a state now belonging to the United States and serving as an excellent naval base.
The United States had now many more resources needed to boost its economy as well as its military power which was needed in order to help the United States reach the number one spot as the strongest nation. Clearly, the reason for the United States to "help" other nations was to ultimately solved its economic problems as well as to be seen as a reliable nation for many Latin American countries that the United States had "helped".


I saw that picture in facebook. You were wearing some glasses with an afro wig and "throwing" a peace sign. lol