Early Political Career

As U.S. Civil Service Commissioner (1889-95), he worked to do away with the Spoils System in local governments,  and as Governor of New York, 1898, Roosevelt  set out to stomp corruption in the state; beginning with controlling the powerful political bosses of Tamanny Hall in NYC.  

Presidential Career

As president, Roosevelt held the ideal that the government should be the great arbiter of the conflicting economic forces in the nation, especially between capital and labor, guaranteeing justice to each and offering favors to none.  Roosevelt emerged spectacularly as a "trust buster" by forcing the dissolution of a great railroad combination in the northwest. Other antitrust suits under the Sherman Act followed. Establishing America as a major world power; he reduced the national debt by over ,000,000; and he secured the passage of the Elkins Act and the Hepburn Act for regulation of the railroads, the Meat Inspection Act and the Pure Food and Drug Act for consumer protection, and the Federal Employers' Liability Act for Labor. Roosevelt put the United States in an active role in world politics. He liked to quote a favorite African proverb, "Speak softly and carry a big stick, you will go far." Because he felt that there was a strategic need for a shortcut between the Atlantic and Pacific, he ensured the construction of the Panama Canal. After Colombia refused to accept his offer to purchase the Panamanian Canal Zone, 1903, he helped Panama to secede from Colombia and gave the United States a Canal Zone. Construction began at once on the Panama Canal. The Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine prevented the establishment of foreign bases in the Caribbean and arrogated the sole right of intervention in Latin America to the United States.He won the Nobel Peace Prize for mediating the Russo-Japanese War, reached a "Gentleman's Agreement" on immigration with Japan, and sent the "Great White Fleet" on a goodwill tour of the world. He also successfully mediated international disputes over Venezuela, the Dominican Republic and Morocco. Some of Theodore Roosevelt's most effective achievements were in conservation. He added enormously to the national forests in the West, reserved lands for public use, and fostered great irrigation projects.Theodore Roosevelt's character and reputation have been the subject of much critical attention, some have referred to him as a bully and an imperialist.