Pivotal Decades The United States, 1900-1920

by Cooper, John Milton, Jr.

• ISBN13: 9780393956559
• ISBN10: 0393956555
• Edition: 00
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1990-09-17
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

Summary

These were the years in which two of our greatest presidents'”Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson'”transformed the office into the center of power; in which the United States entered the world stage and fought its first overseas war; in which the government's proper role in the economy became a public question; and in which reform became an imperative for muckraking reporters, progressive politicians, social activists, and writers. It was a golden age in American politics, when fundamental ideas were given compelling expression by thoughtful candidates. It was a trying time, however, for many Americans, including women who fought for the vote, blacks who began organizing to secure their rights, and activists on the Left who lost theirs in the first Red Scare of the century. John Cooper's panoramic history of this period shows us where we came from and sheds light on where we are.

Table of Contents

Introduction
Acknowledgments	p. xviii
The United States in 1900	p. 1
That Damned Cowboy	p. 31
Excitement and Irritation	p. 62
Power and Responsibility in the Age of Roosevelt	p. 90
Social Turmoil and Political Ferment in the Taft Years	p. 122
The Emergence of Wilson	p. 158
The New Freedom	p. 190
Armageddon Abroad	p. 220
He Kept Us out of War	p. 247
Over There	p. 268
1919	p. 319
The Twenties Begin	p. 357
Further Reading	p. 377
Illustration Credits	p. 393
Index	p. 395
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