Theodore Roosevelt's 'Square Deal' and Woodrow Wilson's 'New Freedom,' were both programs of reform. Roosevelt covered more areas of reform than Wilson (who focused mainly on economy), and was more of a progressive than Wilson was. As a governor and the first president of the era, Roosevelt set a terrific example of what a president of this time should do. 'Progressing' from bad, and implementing various reforms to do so defined the era. These two programs are comparable in the areas of antitrust, tariff, and labor reform. Though Wilson seemed to have many more acts in each category, mostly economic), he only acknowledged these few areas, unlike Roosevelt who acknowledged a whole array of areas such as labor, economy, politics, consumer …show more content…
Thus his policy was known as "New Freedom." Under the New Freedom he sought to restore power to competition among small corporations rather that regulate large monopolies. Roosevelt's Square Deal and Wilson's New Freedom were policies that they used to help improve American economy, society and politics. However Roosevelt tried to reform many areas, Wilson's focus of reform was mostly economic. (Gould, 97-100) (Auchincloss, 62,81,91,116, & 127) (Whitelaw, 104,11-120,135,138,145-146, & 162)
A major part of both policies was the breaking up and regulating of trusts. Roosevelt never wanted to dissolve or destroy the large corporations rather he saw them as necessary parts of American life. However he felt that these companies must be bounded tightly to strict moral standards. Roosevelt followed the idea of "rules of reason" which was the policy of "busting" bad trusts, leaving good ones alone. He was the person who would decide which trusts were good and which ones were bad. He earned the name of " trustbuster" when he had filed a suit against the Northern Securities Company (which was followed by 43 other cases). This was Roosevelt's first case, in which he filed a suit against a large corporation for the purpose of "trust busting."
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