Both Theodore Roosevelt and
Franklin Roosevelt had similar views on the economy of the United States during
their
times. However they both had
different views of the economic elite and the role of government in the
economy.
Theodore
Roosevelt believed that that the economic elite, or people with great wealth,
were indebted to society. In his
“Message to Congress” he said, “The man of great wealth owes a particular
obligation to the State.” This
statement shows his belief that the individuals at the top of the corporate
order needed to give back to society.
Roosevelt said that these elite receive this special status as a result
of the government they live under. He
believed that some of these elite’s fortunes had grown to an unhealthy size and
thus needed adjusting. This was his
reasoning for introducing the graduated income and inheritance taxes. His goal was to distribute the burden of
running and supporting the government more equitably than it presently was and
to place more of the burden onto the economic elite. Roosevelt felt that the government needed to intervene in order
to help the economy. He wanted the
government and legislators to remodel the system of taxation so as to add the
graduated inheritance and income tax.
However, Roosevelt was much more cautious when mentioning government
intervention for the graduated income tax.
He was afraid of the difficulty in devising a law for this that was not
unconstitutional.
Franklin
Roosevelt, on the other hand, feels that the economic elite were part of the
cause of the economic depression facing the United States during his
presidency. These “money changers” as
he called them, were responsible because of their stubbornness and
incompetence. He admits that they tried
to help the situation but that when faced with credit failure, they only
proposed the lending of more money. He
says that these elite were too concerned with money and material wealth, and
the chase of these profits must be abandoned to help society. Roosevelt felt very strongly that the
government needed to intervene to improve the situation. He says that the primary task is to have the
government directly recruiting people to go to work. This is the kind of direct involvement Roosevelt was
advocating.
The
main difference between their views could result from the fact that Franklin
Roosevelt’s presidency was during a bad depression, thus he was more inclined
to place blame and speak negatively of the economic elite of the country. The same applies to their differing views on
the level of government intervention in the economy. Theodore wanted just moderate involvement in the legislation of
taxes. Franklin wanted more direct
intervention since he felt the country had a very serious problem that needed
to be fixed as soon as possible.