Summary

Roosevelt encountered heavy resistance to his programs by the ultra-conservative wing of the Republican Party. Specifically, Congress only considered a small fraction of the 60 initiatives the president recommended in his 1906 state of the union address. Legislation to establish an eight-hour work day, outlaw child labor, end corporate contributions in federal elections, enact a Philippine tariff law, pass an inheritance tax and establish a progressive income tax were blocked or stalled in Congress. The final straw was passage by the Senate of an amendment to the agricultural appropriations act that canceled the president's executive power to create six new western national parks. But Roosevelt figured out a stratagem to salvage his conservationist measures. At the 11th hour before the amendment was to take effect, Roosevelt signed an executive order that prevented development on 16 million acres set aside for national parks...