Comparison William Jennings Bryan Theodore Roosevelt

The United States has a long history of great leaders who, collectively, have possessed an even wider range of religious and political convictions. Perhaps not unexpectedly, their beliefs have often been in conflict with one another, both during coinciding eras, as well as over compared generations. The individual philosophies of William Jennings Bryan, Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson, with regard to America’s roles in world affairs and foreign diplomacy; are both varied and conflicted. Despite those conflicts however, each leader has left his own legacy behind, in terms of how the U.S. continues to engage in world affairs today. William Jennings Bryan, despite being a thrice-failed presidential candidate, was a well respected†¦show more content†¦However, once the Spanish had withdrawn, he felt it was imperative that the Philippines be left to self-rule. (Though, that is of course, not how it ended up!) Bryan stated outright that continued U.S. involvement in â€Å"a career of empire† violated the very essence of American values; boldly asserting that the U.S. â€Å"cannot repudiate the principle of self-government in the Philippines without weakening that principal [at home]†. (Bryan, â€Å"Imperialism†). In many ways Bryan was ahead of his times, and became one of the first to develop the policy of â€Å"international peacekeeping†, in helping to mediate the end of the Russo-Japanese war (though, the Nobel peace Prize for this accomplishment would go to someone else). Ironically, it seemed as though Bryan’s interest in maintaining peace and neutrality in world a ffairs (to KEEP American’s focus on issues at home) overshadowed his noble efforts to promote ‘life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness’ domestically. Ultimately, this (along with his conservative religious views) caused him to lose the last of his three attempts at presidency, to William McKinley. Upon McKinley’s assassination, a (relatively) young Theodore Roosevelt found himself in the position of President of the United States. A man of action – perhaps unnecessary action- Roosevelt was unafraid of the political consequences of his bold and often unilateral decision making, both domestically and abroad. U.S. governance in the Philippines had alreadyShow MoreRelatedThe Whig Theory And The Federalist Party1823 Words   |  8 Pagesforbidden by the constitution. There were a few presidents that supported both theories but I am only going to focus on one for each. For the Whig theory I will discuss the Taft administration, and for the Stewardship theory I will discuss the Theodore Roosevelt administration. Taft believed that the president should rely on the guidance of congress and that congress should have most of the power. He said himself, â€Å"The true view of the executive function†¦is that the President can exercise no powerRead MoreEssay about History: World War I and Bold Experiments7600 Words   |  31 Pagesof Industrialization, 1877–1929 ECONOMY POLItICS aND LaW rEFOrM CULtUrE FOrEIGN rELatIONS 1870 Economic depression of 1870s Reconstruction ends (1877) Great Railroad National Strike of 1877 league launches professional baseball (1876) William Dean Howells calls for realism in literature (1881) Treaty brings Hawaii within U.S. orbit 1880 First vertically Era of close integrated party comfirms petition, 1876 –1894 Rockefeller establishes Chinese Standard Oil exclusion Trust (1882 –1943)