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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.
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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
Summarize
Perspective
As noted by one historian, “Theodore Roosevelt’s political views lurched further to the left after his departure from the White House.”[1] This was demonstrated when Roosevelt made the case for what he called "the New Nationalism" in a speech in Osawatomie, Kansas, on August 31, 1910.[2] The central issue he argued was government protection of human welfare and property rights,[3] but he also argued that human welfare was more important than property rights.[3][4] He insisted that only a powerful federal government could regulate the economy and guarantee justice,[3] and that a President can succeed in making his economic agenda successful only if he makes the protection of human welfare his highest priority.[3] 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.[5]
Commenting on the speech, one journal noted that
It requires only a very cursory reading of the speech to see that Mr. Roosevelt is one of the most radical of the “progressives.” Whether or not he has in mind any such contingency as separating from the Republican party in case his views as outlined at Osawatomie are not incorporated in future platforms there is, of course, no indication. But we believe there is not an article in the creed of Senators La Follette, Cummins and the other so-called “insurgents,” that he does not unqualifiedly accept.[6]
Further adding to this point, the same journal noted
The question that most immediately suggests itself in regard to the speech is therefore not “Is there going to a third party headed by Roosevelt, Cummins, La Follette, Pinchot, Garfield?”-but rather “How much of this program of radical or progressive Republicanism will the radical or progressive wing of the party under the picturesque and aggressive leadership of Roosevelt be able to write into the party platforms and make effective in Congress during the next six or eight years?” And once again, only time will tell.[7]
In terms of policy, Roosevelt's platform included a broad range of social and political reforms advocated by progressives.[8][9][10]
Socioeconomic policy
In the socioeconomic sphere, the platform called for the following:
- A National Health Service to include all existing government medical agencies
- Social insurance to provide for the elderly, the unemployed, and the disabled.
- Limited injunctions in strikes.
- A minimum wage law for women.
- An eight-hour workday.
- A federal securities commission.
- Farm relief.
- Workers' compensation for work-related injuries.
- An inheritance tax.
- A constitutional amendment to allow a federal income tax.
Electoral reform
The electoral reforms proposed included
- Women's suffrage.
- Direct election of Senators.
- Primary elections for state and federal nominations.
Anti-corporatocracy proposals
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 destroy this invisible Government, to dissolve the unholy alliance between corrupt business and corrupt politics is the first task of the statesmanship of the day.[11]
To that end, the platform called for the following:
- Strict limits and disclosure requirements on political campaign contributions.
- Registration of lobbyists.
- Recording and publication of Congressional committee proceedings.
Influences and comparisons
Summarize
Perspective
The Promise of American Life, written in 1909 by Herbert Croly, influenced Theodore Roosevelt to adopt the platform of New Nationalism and was popular with intellectuals and political leaders of the later New Deal.[12]
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.
In terms of policy, Roosevelt's platform included a broad range of social and political reforms advocated by progressives. According to Nathan Miller, in his Osawatomie speech:
Foreshadowing the modern welfare state, he advocated positive action by the national government to advance equality of opportunity, justice, and security for all. Graduated income and inheritance taxes, a revamped financial system, a comprehensive workmen's compensation law, a commission of experts to regulate the tariff, limitations on the political activities of corporations, the tariff, limitations on the political activities of corporations, stringent new conservation laws, and regulation of child labor were all parts of his grab a bag of reforms.[13]
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."[14]
On the other hand, President William Howard Taft told his brother, “I think the ‘New Nationalism’ proclaimed in the Osawatomie speech has frightened every lawyer in the Untied States and has greatly stirred up the indignation and fear of the thinking part of New England and the Middle States."[15]
Quotations
- "I do not ask for overcentralization; but I do ask that we work in a spirit of broad and far-reaching nationalism when we work for what concerns our people as a whole. We are all Americans. Our common interests are as broad as the continent. I speak to you here in Kansas exactly as I would speak in New York or Georgia, for the most vital problems are those which affect us all alike."[3]
- "The essence of any struggle for healthy liberty has always been, and must always be, to take from some one man or class of men the right to enjoy power, or wealth, or position, or immunity, which has not been earned by service to his or their fellows. That is what you fought for in the Civil War, and that is what we strive for now."[3]
- "We grudge no man a fortune in civil life if it is honorably obtained and well used. It is not even enough that it should have gained without doing damage to the community. We should permit it to be gained only so long as the gaining represents benefit to the community."[3]
See also
- Political positions of Theodore Roosevelt
- Square Deal
- Progressive nationalism
- Progressive Party (United States, 1912)
- The New Freedom, of Woodrow Wilson
- New Deal, of Franklin Roosevelt
- Fair Deal, of Harry Truman
References
Further reading
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