The Everything Theodore Roosevelt Book (10 page)

The voters of his district were supportive of TR after his first year’s performance. They re-elected him in 1882, expecting more of the same from him. He did not disappoint them.

TR began his second year in a stronger power position in the Assembly. The Republicans put forth his name for the Assembly speakership. Since the Democrats held a majority, he became the minority leader. Regardless of his position in the Assembly, he continued to pursue reform, which he knew many of his colleagues opposed.

In his January 26, 1883, speech at Buffalo, New York, “The Duties of American Citizenship,” TR said, “Nothing is more effective in thwarting the purposes of the spoilsmen than the civil service reform. To be sure, practical politicians sneer at it.” He considered himself practical, but he never sneered at reform, civil or otherwise.

TR had to fight his battles against corruption on two fronts. He estimated that at least one-third of the members of the Legislature were corrupt. As a result, he had to fight corruption from within the Legislature and among the outsiders who were trying to influence representatives to pass bills in their best interests. TR fought hard, along with a phalanx of friends from both parties, against both groups.

TR kept up the pressure against corruption on all fronts, while introducing bill after bill to establish a park in New York City, lower taxes for New Yorkers and raise them on certain businesses, strengthen laws governing child abuse, and change machine politics. Not all passed, and he did not always succeed in his reform attempts, but he never stopped trying.

The three years TR spent in the Legislature provided him with some valuable lessons about morality, chicanery, constitutionality, and political principles in general. During that time he grasped the connection between business and politics, which he later made a habit of severing. The lessons played a subsequent role in how he conducted his affairs in his politically appointed and elected positions.

Working for Social Justice

Roosevelt was re-elected as state assemblyman by a two-to-one margin in the 1882 elections and nominated on January 1, 1883, to stand as the Republican candidate for Assembly speaker. Although he lost to the nominee of the majority Democrats, Roosevelt served as minority leader.

By the beginning of his second term, TR was feeling more comfortable in the Assembly. Quickly, he introduced a civil service reform bill to enhance job seekers’ chances for acquiring government jobs. The legislation was modeled on a similar bill, the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act, passed by the United States Congress in January 1883.

The Pendleton Act addressed political patronage at the federal level. It mandated that government jobs had to be awarded on the basis of merit, introduced competitive exams for civil service jobs, and made it illegal to fire or demote government employees for political reasons. The law also created the United States Civil Service Commission to enforce the mandates.

One of TR’s strongest allies in enacting his proposed legislation was the New York state governor, Grover Cleveland. The two men formed an unholy and unpopular alliance early in Cleveland’s tenure, even though TR was a Republican and Cleveland was a Democrat.

Despite their differences in political philosophy, Roosevelt and Cleveland were both committed to honest, efficient government. Cleveland privately discussed strategy with Roosevelt and publicly endorsed the bill, which passed both houses and was signed into law in May 1883.

Another early 1883 bill that highlighted the connection between Cleveland and Roosevelt reduced fares on New York City’s elevated trains from ten cents to a nickel. Jay Gould had instituted the increases in an effort to make the city’s failing railway system solvent. The legislators, including TR, voted to reverse the hikes, because Gould was unpopular. The governor vetoed the bill—one of eight vetoes he delivered in his first two months in office.

The governor’s veto was as unpopular among legislators as Gould. Yet, he had a valid reason for vetoing the bill. He believed it was unjust, since the fee hike was necessary. Cleveland also argued that legislatively changing Gould’s franchise violated the contract clause of the U.S. Constitution. Newspapers sided with the governor.

Democrat Grover Cleveland was elected mayor of Buffalo, New York, in 1881 and governor of New York in 1882, based on his reputation as an anti-graft reformer. His battle cry was “I regard it as the culmination of a most bare-faced, impudent, and shameless scheme to betray the interests of the people, and to worse than squander the public money.”

The governor’s veto convinced TR to take a second look at the bill. He acknowledged voting for it originally even though he believed it was wrong. But he voted for it more to punish Gould than anything else. After careful consideration, he realized that Cleveland was right. He voted to sustain the veto, which the Legislature sustained. The governor had taught him a valuable lesson: People’s first impressions are not always the right ones. There were other lessons TR would learn as he matured politically.

Touring with Gompers

One of the men who influenced TR most in his formative years was Samuel Gompers, a young man who had experience making cigars in New York City tenements, where he lived. He attempted to get a bill passed in the New York State Legislature that would protect the women and children making the cigars. He persuaded TR to tour the tenements where the cigars were being made. The tour—and Gompers—had a profound effect on TR’s life.

TR did not like what he saw in the tenements. He said, “My first visits to the tenement-house districts in question made me feel that … as a matter of practical common sense I could not conscientiously vote for the continuance of the conditions which I saw. These conditions rendered it impossible for the families of the tenement-house workers to live so that the children might grow up fitted for the exacting duties of American citizenship.”

TR was no stranger to the city tenements and the poverty and squalor that were associated with them. As a child, he had accompanied Thee on his visits to city slums often. His visit with Gompers heightened his desire to alleviate the cigar makers’ conditions. He got the chance, but the attempt ultimately went up in smoke.

The Cigar Makers’ Union introduced a bill into the Legislature seeking to ban the manufacture of cigars in tenements. TR was appointed to a three-member committee to investigate the conditions in the tenements. He learned a valuable lesson about the role of political influence in legislations.

One other member of the committee said he had to vote for the bill because he represented labor interests. A second said his orders were to vote against it because he represented businesses. But he told TR he did not care personally one way or the other which way the vote went.

Another Change of Heart

Initially, TR was against the bill. After he toured the tenements, he changed his mind and supported it. He was not sure that Governor Grover Cleveland would sign it, though. The governor was not sure either.

The Cigar Makers’ Union pleaded with TR to convince the governor the bill was needed. He did, and Governor Cleveland signed it. Ultimately, a Court of Appeals declared the bill unconstitutional, much to TR’s chagrin.

The Court of Appeals based its decision on the fact that one home in which the cigars were made was an ideal spot for the process. They labeled the law an assault upon the “hallowed” influences of “home.” The outcome of the case taught TR “the courts were not necessarily the best judges of what should be done to better social and industrial conditions.”

TR said later that this decision completely blocked tenement-house reform legislation in New York for at least twenty years. In fact, he emphasized, it was one of the most serious setbacks the cause of industrial and social progress and reform had ever received.

But, as so often happened in TR’s case, the setback turned into a victory of sorts. He learned more about playing the political game and impressed Governor Cleveland. The two would work together closely again, despite their different political affiliations.

The Third Year Is Not a Charm

TR was elected to a third term in the 1883 election. His constituents still supported him. The Republican Party did not. They conspired to remove him from any leadership position in 1884 because he was stepping on too many toes. That did not stop him. As a consolation prize, the leaders appointed him to the Cities Committee. That worked in his favor.

Democrats and Republicans alike looked to TR for floor leadership in the Assembly. He ended up with more power than he would have had as the official House leader and learned a valuable lesson from the situation. He commented, “As so often, I found that the titular position was of no consequence; what counted was the combination of the opportunity with the ability to accomplish results.”

TR’s 1883 re-election victory as assemblyman gave him the opportunity to change the role of the aldermen in New York City. He deemed it the most important challenge of the term. TR saw it as a chance to get the citizens of the city involved in politics to their benefit.