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In 1912, the Theodore Roosevelt was running for his third term in office (though it would only be the second he was elected into after his first began with the assassination of President McKinley). He had split from the Republican Party and created his own Progressive Party after sitting President Taft had received the Republican Party’s nomination.

While on his way to a speech in Milwaukee Roosevelt was shot by John Schrank. The bullet deflected off his glasses case and a copy of his speech before it lodged in his chest. Instead of going to a hospital, Roosevelt insisted on giving his speech with blood seeping into his shirt. He addressed the situation as soon as he got on stage but insisted it would take more than a gunshot to stop a “Bull Moose.” His speech lasted a full 90 minutes before he allowed himself to receive medical attention. The bullet would remain lodged in his chest for the rest of the ex-President’s life. Because of the opening lines of his speech the Progressive Party was nicknamed the “Bull Moose” Party.

Roosevelt would go on to take second place in the presidential election of 1912, behind Woodrow Wilson but ahead of Taft. It is remarkable that his party was able to receive more votes than one of the nation’s two parties through Roosevelt's efforts on the stump and the sheer force of his personality. Four years later, Roosevelt declined the Progressive Party’s nomination in the 1916 presidential race. This led to a large portion of the Progressive Party to rejoin either the Republican or Democratic Party. By 1918 the “Bull Moose” Party ceased to exist without the charismatic voice of their former leader.

Over one million people descend on the Potomac each year to attend the National Cherry Blossom Festival. The trees, not native to the nations capital, were imported by former first lady Helen “Nellie” Taft.

Inspired by her time in the Phillipines, First Lady Taft wanted to create a river park for the public to enjoy. The decision was made to line the Potomac River with Oriental cherry trees. The project was made public and word reached the Japanese government who subsequently offered to donate 2000 trees in the name of Tokyo. This donation reached the United  States and to everyone's dismay was found to be infested. Each and every tree had to be burned.

The Mayor of Tokyo sent over an another 3000 trees. These are the specimens that people descend on D.C. to see bloom each year. The first tree was planted together by First Lady Taft and the wife of the Japanese Ambassador in a ceremony that served to strengthen ties between the two nations.

A trust was a term used around the beginning of the 1900’s for a group of companies that, when combined, took control of the market. In 1890 the Sherman Antitrust Act was passed to prevent their formation but for years, and across multiple industries, it hadn’t been effective in controlling the formation of trusts. Teddy Roosevelt, in his first term in office, believed trusts harming the public should be broken up and he believed himself to be the man to do it.

Two large trusts he set his eyes on were the Northern Securites Company, a collection of railroad companies that worked together to eliminate competition, and the “Beef Trust”, companies who worked together to fix the prices of meat to the detriment of the public. Roosevelt’s first task was to use the power of the press to get congress to approve the Department of Commerce and Labor. The job of this department was to monitor anti-competitive practices across state lines. A year later the Supreme Court dissolved the Northern Securites Company and, soon after, the Beef Trust. These cases set the precedent for the breakup of future companies, also under the Sherman Antitrust Act.

Coxey’s Army originated in Ohio with 100 men all fed up with the lack of jobs during the Panic of 1893. The group was led by Jacob Coxey, a man who would go on to lead another similar march in 1914. The aim of the march was to convince the government to create jobs by investing in the infrastructure of the country.

In The Bully Pulpit, Goodwin talks about how articles written by Ray Stannard Baker in the Chicago News-Record helped generate publicity for the march. The increased awareness led to more unemployed workers joining the protest as the group marched it’s way to Washington D.C. This event showed Baker how powerful a role the press could play in shaping the sentiment of the nation. Years later, Baker would accept a position at McClure’s magazine and join other journalists who realized the potential power the pen could wield.

The Pullman Strike occurred after the owner of the Pullman Company, George Pullman, reduced his workers wages during a recession. The workers went on strike and received the support of the American Railway Union (ARU). In an effort to convince the public to rally behind the worker’s cause, the ARU refused to carry any train that carried Pullman cars. President Grover Cleveland got the United States Army involved when it was determined the strike affected the transportation of mail.

William Taft was a Circuit Judge at the time, hearing cases in Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky, and Tennessee. He filed an injuction against ARU and the continued strike against trains with Pullman cars attached. When this injuction was ignored Taft judged one of ARU’s members guilty of contempt of court. Taft’s opinion on the matter was that the boycott by the ARU was a secondary boycott and had no direct ties to the Pullman workers attempts at gaining higher wages. The railroad workers had no right to boycott anything but the Pullman factory. The fact that the ARU tried to affect Pullman through the boycotting of other railway companies was illegal. This decision provided clarity about the how far the rights of labor extended to form unions and go on strike.

The incident occurred in Cincinnati in 1884. A young man named William Berner was brought to trial for the murder of his boss, a prominent stable owner. Seven witnesses testified against Berner but, instead of being found guilty of murder, he was found guilty of the lesser charge of manslaughter. Two days later an angry mob stormed the jail to lynch Berner where they found out he had been moved to another prison for his safety. Over the next few days the courthouse was destroyed in what would be known as the Cincinnati Courthoue Riots, some of the most desctructive riots in American history.

The reason Berner was able to get off was because of Republican lawyer Thomas C. Campbell. He was able to rig the jury to returned a verdict of manslaughter. Taft worked as a junior prosecutor during the disbarment of Campbell and found the collection of evidence against his fellow Cincinnati lawyer to be exhilarating. Doris Goodwin, in The Bully Pulpit, uses this example of Taft’s work as a direct comparison to future President Teddy Roosevelt’s work to rid the New York State Legislature of "party" politics. She contends that both men, early in their careers, found their voices in working to undo the influence held by old-guard statesmen over local politics, particularly within the courts.

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