Roosevelt and Wilson

Theodore Roosevelt's "New Nationalism" took a clear position on "The Trusts"

"Combinations in industry are the result of an imperative economic law which cannot be repealed by political legislation. The effort at prohibiting all combination has substantially failed. The way out lies, not in attempting to prevent such combinations, but in completely controlling them in the interest of the public welfare. "

Speech at Ossawatomie, Kansas, August 31, 1910

Woodrow Wilson's "New Freedom" took a position in fundamental opposition to Roosevelt

"A trust is an arrangement to get rid of competition, and a big business is a business that has survived competition by conquering in the field of intelligence and economy.  A trust does not bring efficiency to the aid of business; it buys efficiency out of business.  I am for big business, and I am against the trusts."

"I know, and every man in his heart knows, that the only way to enrich America is to make it possible for any man who has the brains to get into the game."

From "Monopoly or Opportunity"

• What did Americans mean by "the trusts?"
• What was "the rise of big business?"
• The antitrust movement before 1912

• The party platforms speak on "the trusts"
• Arguments against "the trusts"
• The trust issue and the 1912 campaign