Document 19.11 Theodore Roosevelt, The Right of the People to Rule, 1912

Theodore Roosevelt | The Right of the People to Rule, 1912

In a speech in New York City in 1912, Theodore Roosevelt tried to distance himself from the policies of William Howard Taft and his Republican supporters. He defended progressive reforms such as the direct primary, the referendum, and the initiative against charges that these policies abridged constitutional powers. He also defended the possible entrance of the popular vote into judicial matters. As this speech demonstrates, Roosevelt couched his arguments in “the rights of the people to rule.” (4:36)

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Recorded by Thomas Edison, 1912. Courtesy of the G. Robert Vincent Voice Library of the Michigan State University Libraries.