Theodore Roosevelt - Constituting America

1936, Franklin D. Roosevelt Defeats Alfred Landon: Administrative Centralization And Its Implications For Constitutionalism

6. Guest Constitutional Scholar Essayists, 90 in 90 2016, Joerg W. Knipprath 6. Presidential Elections and Their Constitutional Impact, 13. Guest Constitutional Scholar Essayists, 17. Topics, 1936 Franklin D. Roosevelt Defeats Alfred Landon Administrative Centralization And Its Implications For Constitutionalism, Civil War, Joerg W. Knipprath, Progressive, Supreme Court

Guest Essayist: Professor Joerg Knipprath

Franklin Delano Roosevelt, running for re-election in 1936, received 60.8% of the popular vote, second-highest popular vote percentage since that method of selecting presidential electors became dominant in the 1830s. Only Lyndon Johnson’s 61.1% over Barry Goldwater in 1964, Richard Nixon’s 60.7% over George McGovern in 1972, and Warren Harding’s 60.3% over James Cox in 1920 are on a similar scale. The electoral vote was even more lopsided, as Roosevelt defeated Kansas Governor Alf Landon 523 votes to 8 (46 states to 2). Only Ronald Reagan in 1984 (525 votes to 13; 49 states to 1 plus D.C.) and Richard Nixon in 1972 (520 votes to 17; 49 states to 1 plus D.C.) enjoyed similarly impressive margins since the modern two-party system emerged.

1928, The Effects Of Urbanization On The U. S. And Its Implications For Constitutional Government

6. Guest Constitutional Scholar Essayists, 90 in 90 2016, Scot Faulkner 6. Presidential Elections and Their Constitutional Impact, 13. Guest Constitutional Scholar Essayists, 1928 The Effects Of Urbanization On The U. S. And Its Implications For Constitutional Government, Scot Faulkner

Guest Essayist: Scot Faulkner

How Urbanism Forever Changed America

The 1928 Presidential Election remains the zenith of Republican political power. Republican Herbert Hoover crushed Democrat Al Smith, winning 58 percent of the popular vote and 83 percent of the electoral vote. [1] The landslide was fueled by years of prosperity, affection for outgoing President Calvin Coolidge, and deep seated concerns over Smith’s Catholicism. Republicans also amassed majorities in the House and Senate not seen again until 2014.

1912, Eugene Debs’ Socialism And The U. S. Constitution

6. Guest Constitutional Scholar Essayists, 90 in 90 2016, Joerg W. Knipprath 6. Presidential Elections and Their Constitutional Impact, 13. Guest Constitutional Scholar Essayists, 17. Topics, 1912 Eugene Debs’ Socialism And The U. S. Constitution, Joerg W. Knipprath, Progressive, Socialism, Supreme Court

Guest Essayist: Professor Joerg Knipprath

Dissenting from the Supreme Court’s 1905 opinion in Lochner v. New York that found unconstitutional a maximum-hour law for bakery employees, Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., declared, “[A] constitution is not intended to embody a particular economic theory, whether of paternalism and the organic relation of the citizen to the State or of laissez faire.” Holmes’s point is valid at least to the extent that the Framers–most of whom adhered to the then-dominant mercantilism–did not encrypt the grand contours of a particular system of political economy in the Constitution’s provisions aligning and balancing individual liberties and governmental powers. Yet, the Constitution also protects personal rights whose exercise is more likely to be realized in a political system premised on fundamentally liberal (in the classic meaning) conceptions of the role of the government and the individual’s relationship to the State than in a system that rests on a different view of such essential matters.

1912, Theodore Roosevelt’s “New Nationalism”

6. Guest Constitutional Scholar Essayists, 90 in 90 2016, William Morrisey, Ph.D. 6. Presidential Elections and Their Constitutional Impact, 13. Guest Constitutional Scholar Essayists, 17. Topics, 1912 Theodore Roosevelt’s “New Nationalism”, Articles of Confederation, Declaration of Independence, William Morrisey PhD

Guest Essayist: Professor William Morrisey

By August 1910, Theodore Roosevelt had been out of office for a year and a half. He was unhappy with President William Howard Taft’s performance. Although Roosevelt had effectively designated Taft as his successor and continued to esteem him personally, Taft wanted no part of the rising Progressive movement in American politics. By 1910, Roosevelt did, for reasons that remain controversial.

1912, Woodrow Wilson Defeats William Howard Taft, Theodore Roosevelt, Eugene Debs: Woodrow Wilson’s “New Freedom”

6. Guest Constitutional Scholar Essayists, 90 in 90 2016, Tony Williams 6. Presidential Elections and Their Constitutional Impact, 13. Guest Constitutional Scholar Essayists, 1912 Woodrow Wilson Defeats William Howard Taft Theodore Roosevelt Eugene Debs Woodrow Wilson’s New Freedom, Tony Williams

Guest Essayist: Tony Williams

“The Professor and the Bull Moose” 1912 Election

In June, 1912, former President Theodore Roosevelt broke with the tradition of candidates not attending conventions and arrived at the Republican National Convention with great fanfare. He fervently announced, “We stand at Armageddon and we battle for the Lord.” He then proudly labelled himself a “Bull Moose.”

1908, William Howard Taft Defeats William Jennings Bryan

6. Guest Constitutional Scholar Essayists, 90 in 90 2016, Daniel Cotter 6. Presidential Elections and Their Constitutional Impact, 13. Guest Constitutional Scholar Essayists, 17. Topics, 1908 William Howard Taft Defeats William Jennings Bryan, Daniel Cotter, Electoral College, Supreme Court

Guest Essayist: Daniel A. Cotter

The 1908 Presidential election featured the incumbent Republican President Theodore Roosevelt following through on his promise to not seek a third term and encouraging the Republicans to nominate Secretary of War William Howard Taft. While a number of third party candidates ran against Taft, the only non-Republican candidate who garnered any significant votes was the Democratic nominee, William Jennings Bryan. Bryan had been the Democratic nominee for President in 1896 and 1900, but the 1908 election was the most lopsided of his three defeats in the race for President.

1904 And 1908 Elections: Theodore Roosevelt’s “Square Deal” vs. William Jennings Bryan’s Populism

6. Guest Constitutional Scholar Essayists, 90 in 90 2016, Daniel Cotter 6. Presidential Elections and Their Constitutional Impact, 13. Guest Constitutional Scholar Essayists, 17. Topics, 1904 And 1908 Elections Theodore Roosevelt’s “Square Deal” vs. William Jennings Bryan’s Populism, Civil War, Daniel Cotter, Electoral College, Supreme Court

Guest Essayist: Daniel A. Cotter

The United States Constitution is silent on the subject of corporations. After the Civil War, as American society began to quickly evolve from agrarian to industrial, politicians from both major parties raised concerns about the rise of corporations, banks, and businesses, and the need for protection of the individual. Against this backdrop, two important political figures emerged on the national scene. William Jennings Bryan was a leader of the Populist Party (which would merge with the Democratic Party in 1896) who unsuccessfully ran for President in 1896, 1900 and 1908. Republican President Theodore Roosevelt proposed a number of “progressive” initiatives through his “Square Deal” program and other policies and positions. Other essays in this series cover the various Presidential elections in which Bryan and Roosevelt were their parties’ nominees. This essay compares the progressive and populist views of Roosevelt and Bryan, respectively.

April 29, 2016/1 Comment/by Janine Turner and Cathy Gillespie

1904, Theodore Roosevelt Defeats Alton Parker: Anti-Trust Legislation

6. Guest Constitutional Scholar Essayists, 90 in 90 2016, Steven H. Aden 6. Presidential Elections and Their Constitutional Impact, 13. Guest Constitutional Scholar Essayists, 17. Topics, 1904 Theodore Roosevelt Defeats Alton Parker Anti-Trust Legislation, Sherman Antitrust Act, Steven H. Aden, Supreme Court

Guest Essayist: Steven Aden

“The Most Absurd Political Campaign of Our Time”: Teddy Roosevelt, Alton Parker and the Election of 1904

The candidates who squared off in the presidential election of 1904, Republican President Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt and Democrat Alton Parker, were both native to New York State; beyond that one commonality, they were a study in contrasts. Parker was tall and rangy, but with a tentative demeanor that seemed to apologize for looming over others. Parker resigned his post as the chief judge of the New York Court of Appeals, the state’s highest court, to run for the nation’s highest office. True to his calling and by all accounts a thoughtful decision maker on the bench, Parker was quiet and professorial, and an unimpressive speechmaker with a voice like a cracked reed. The barrel-chested, bull-voiced Roosevelt, on the other hand, had been tapped for the vice presidency by William McKinley on the strength of his renown as the Rough Rider who led his troops up San Juan Hill in 1898, as if he had carried the country on his shoulders to victory in the Spanish-American War. The living embodiment of the national will that found its expression in “Manifest Destiny” and the Monroe Doctrine, Roosevelt was arguably the most physical president America has ever had. Sometimes overcome by pent-up energy, Roosevelt would jump up from his seat in the Oval Office and hike in a straight line for five miles, climbing, jumping, and swimming all barriers natural or manmade he encountered on the way. This exercise exhausted the few staffers and security officers who could keep up with him, but Roosevelt would return refreshed and invigorated.

April 28, 2016/1 Comment/by Janine Turner and Cathy Gillespie

Posts