Trust-Busting Theodore Roosevelt’s Effectiveness in...

Before a series of antitrust acts and laws were instituted by the federal government, it was not illegal for businesses to use any means to eliminate competition in late nineteenth-century America. Production technology was now advanced to the point that supply would surpass product demand. As competition in any given market increased, more and more companies joined together in either trusts or holding companies to bring market dominance under their control (Cengage 2). As President Theodore Roosevelt was sworn into office in 1901, he led America into action with forceful government solutions (â€Å"Online† 1). Roosevelt effectively regulated offending business giants by the formation of the Department of Commerce and Labor, the Bureau of†¦show more content†¦Some of the dishonorable measures taken by the interstate trusts and monopolies were product quality reduction, employee exploitation, and even putting ultimatums on necessary products (â€Å"Domination† 1 ). Such abuse of business combinations consisted of secrecy or misinterpretation in corporate organization, overcapitalisation, and of course, price manipulation (Johnson 572). Roosevelt became president as a result of William McKinley’s assassination, but his policies were vastly different from those of McKinley (â€Å"Theodore† 1). McKinley had been in favor of maintaining the Republican laissez-faire status quo, and seemed to favor big business (â€Å"Online† 1). Roosevelt’s bullish personality and brazen self-confidence was a substantial factor that strongly influenced both the development of governmental regulation of trusts and the supervision of corporations functioning across state lines. He believed that â€Å"industrial combination† was unavoidable and â€Å"generally desirable,† adhering to this view (Johnson 571). â€Å"Trust-busting† was apparently not a popular term with the president. He did not believe in destroying th e offending corporations, but only that they needed to be regulated. Critics of Roosevelt’s policies, however, did not consider the difference (â€Å"Online† 1). In reality,