Progressive Politics

In the context of this book, progressive politics means simply a shift in power from the ultra-wealthy toward the common man. Theodore Roosevelt, himself an aristocrat, awakened to the suffering and poverty evident in New York City and was appalled. The desire to make positive changes in the balance of wealth and power became the overriding purpose of his political life. As a progressive within the Republican party, he was at odds with the party old guard whose political interests lay primarily in maintaining their social and economic status at the top of the heap.

But he found an ally in William Howard Taft, the product of an upper middle class family who was concerned about the same issues. Roosevelt also discovered some high-powered journalists who were quite liberal, tending toward socialistic views. Although the word "socialism" was an instant trigger for GOP reactionaries who...