Antitrust Enforcement and the Rule of Law Taft significantly expanded the government’s role in trust-busting, initiating more antitrust cases than his predecessor, Roosevelt. His policies sought to balance the aggressive conservationism of his mentor with the growing public demand for regulatory oversight of corporate America.
Taft's Progressive Era Domestic Changes: Antitrust, Judiciary Act, and Dollar Diplomacy
He viewed a stable global financial system as an extension of domestic prosperity, believing that American banking interests abroad would create markets for domestic manufacturers. He believed in the strict application of the Sherman Antitrust Act and pursued legal remedies over the informal negotiations favored by Roosevelt.
He worked closely with Secretary of the Treasury Franklin MacVeagh to modernize the nation’s currency system, ensuring the financial foundation necessary for continued domestic investment and growth. He successfully pushed for the passage of the Judiciary Act of 1910, which restructured the federal judiciary and alleviated the overwhelming caseload of the Supreme Court.
Taft's Progressive Era Domestic Changes: Trust-Busting, Judiciary Reform, and Worker Rights
He was not a radical reformer but a pragmatic administrator who favored using established legal frameworks rather than creating new ones, a stance that often put him at odds with more impatient reformers. He generally supported the right of workers to organize and bargain collectively, a stance that distinguished him from more reactionary members of his party.
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