New Nationalism (Theodore Roosevelt)
New Nationalism was a policy platform first proposed by former President of the United States Theodore Roosevelt in a speech in Osawatomie, Kansas on August 31, 1910.
This article is about Theodore Roosevelt's progressive political platform announced that was during his 1912 presidential campaign. For the right-wing movement in the 2010s, see Neo-nationalism.The progressive nationalist policies outlined in the speech would form the basis for his campaign for a third term as president in the 1912 election, first as a candidate for the Republican Party nomination and then as a Progressive.
Speech[edit]
Roosevelt made the case for what he called "the New Nationalism" in a speech in Osawatomie, Kansas, on August 31, 1910.[1] The central issue he argued was government protection of human welfare and property rights,[2] but he also argued that human welfare was more important than property rights.[2][3] He insisted that only a powerful federal government could regulate the economy and guarantee justice,[2] and that a President can succeed in making his economic agenda successful only if he makes the protection of human welfare his highest priority.[2] Roosevelt believed that the concentration in industry was a natural part of the economy. He wanted executive agencies, not courts, to regulate business. The federal government should be used to protect the laboring men, women and children from exploitation.[4] In terms of policy, Roosevelt's platform included a broad range of social and political reforms advocated by progressives.[5][6][7]
In the socioeconomic sphere, the platform called for the following:
The electoral reforms proposed included
The main theme of the platform was an attack on what he perceived as the domination of politics by business interests, which allegedly controlled both established parties. The platform asserted:
To that end, the platform called for the following:
Influences and comparisons[edit]
The book The Promise of American Life, written in 1909 by Herbert Croly, Theodore Roosevelt.[9] New Nationalism was in direct contrast with Woodrow Wilson's policy of The New Freedom, which promoted antitrust modification, tariff reduction, and banking and currency reform.
According to Lewis L. Gould, "The Progressive party did not go as far as the New Deal of Franklin D. Roosevelt would, but it represented a long step in that direction."[10]