Theodore Roosevelt
In his senior essay examination at Harvard University, Roosevelt contended that in a marriage, "there should be the most equality between the two sexes." (2) His thought acquires even more depth if we considered it was conceived during the Victorian Age when the cult of domesticity was the norm. Women were considered a male property with a few civil rights if any at all. By 1880, the women's rights movement was still in its infancy and restricted to a few upper–class educated Caucasian women. Reconstruction had just been abandoned in the South and the Gilded Age had just moved its first steps. T. Roosevelt also had the potential to address the gender gap due to his volcanic, greater than life dynamic presidency. He was the first president of the 20th century to believe the president had the "duty to do anything unless such action was forbidden by the Constitution. " (3) He anticipated the age of Presidential Rhetoric. Like Wilson afterwards, T. Roosevelt embraced the idea of mandate to use popular appeal to pressure Congress to adopt his policies. The 1906 Hepburn Act, which regulated railroads, is a case in point. By going "over the heads" of Congress and against his party he took his Square Deal directly to the people. He toured the country to gather support to regulate railroad corruption. He engaged time and again throughout his Presidency in moral rhetoric to awaken popular consciousness to "fulfill a moral purpose" tuned to Presidential ideas. His example will be crucial to inspire all presidents to come to use the executive office to intervene in matters of public domain "for the common well–being of all [American] people... In whatever manner was necessary." (4)
Everything would seem to be in place for women to finally take great and fast strides towards emancipation with such a strong, determined President using morality to reform society. Why, then, did he neglect an issue he clearly and passionately embraced before he became President? One reason is that Roosevelt's agenda was stretched among big projects during his Presidency. Abroad, he was engaged with American expansionism in the Pacific ("speak softly and carry a big stick") and the building of the Panama Canal. In domestic affairs, he acquired trust–busting fame by bringing big business under government regulation (Square Deal), and conserving the environment. Certainly, he had a greater than life will to get things done his way. Roosevelt had changed the government from being an engaged observer of events to a government that solved social problems, no matter how controversial they were. He began the tradition of leading by executive order. For example, the seven Presidents preceding him used executive orders fewer than 100 times, all combined. Roosevelt issued 1,006 executive orders throughout his presidency. (5) At the end, he neglected issue of women's equal rights right at the time when he could have had an impact on the subject. His lack of action grossly contradicted his views about female equality when he was a student and later on as New York Police Commissioner.
Undoubtedly, Roosevelt had a sincere commitment to the cause of women as he clearly demonstrated up to the time of his election. After all, he did not have any hesitation to include them in his Moose Party Platform during his bid to the 1912 Presidency. Yet, he did not seize the moment to advance the female agenda when he had a chance as President–elect.
Why Roosevelt did not act on the issue when in office may find an explanation with the reality of the presidency. A president representing the country must follow a strategy that allows the implementation of as many items in his agenda as possible. Let us face it: women did not have connections inside the White House. They were still relying on moral and fairness principles to get things changed. Their political activism was in an infant phase. Politicians seldom are willing to risk their effectiveness and political "survival" without any tangible gains boosting their leadership. Women's equality simply did not have enough popular support to entice Roosevelt to commit to the issue. Imagine if President Obama tried to implement at the same time his health reform along with a sweeping, comprehensive immigration bill. It is easy to see how the introduction of the new topic could distract, if not damage, his overall presidential agenda.
In a nutshell, Roosevelt's was a new Presidential breed. His rhetorical approach envisioned a presidency that could do anything that the Constitution did not forbid. He was not shy to go "over" the head of Congress anytime he needed to boost his vision of government. In 1905, he used moral language to rationalize government regulation of corporations. He spoke of justice and fairness to denounce the formation of class warfare. Moral ground allowed him to stand above corporate and union rights, capital versus labor. As a result, he claimed a detached vantage point that allowed him to claim that government should "strive to keep... justice alive in this country." (6) But, he had his own limits on how far he was willing to go with certain issues.
Even the most powerful presidents cannot always be true to their beliefs. Competing social/economic interests must be carefully evaluated to maximize presidential ability to persuade citizens and Congress. Given the impossibility of convincing everyone, presidents must learn how to "dance" without losing balance. Political ups and downs happen at every turn a President takes. Roosevelt, as energetic and popular as he was, could not have changed thousands of years of female stereotypes and social order. Meaning is not a matter of individual choice, only. It depends on the way the system works as a whole. Our effectiveness greatly depends on how we fit with everyone else. Meaning does not change people's minds by itself. It must represent the discursive reality of the whole to be effective. Roosevelt lived at a time when patriarchy was not questioned but by a few well off educated Caucasian women such as Charlotte Perkins Gilman and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Society assigned women the role of house protector, child educator. Their function was integrated with the ideas of purity, innocence, and frailty. Any attempt to change this order of things would have been considered deviant.
So, why did he not make use of the executive order strategy to open up opportunities for women like he did for other issues? Competing interests, more than a betrayal of the "cause," played a major role in his decision to neglect women's rights. Theodore Roosevelt was confined by the limitations of his own era.
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