When Theodore Roosevelt's term ended, progressives wanted his successor to be someone who would preserve and build upon Roosevelt's reforms

in the face of conservatives who wanted to turn back the clock to the McKinley era.

Roosevelt thought he'd found just the man in William Howard Taft, someone whose views were similar to his own

and would be a steady and reliable hand on the tiller.

Alas, it would not be long before Roosevelt decided his faith in Taft was badly misplaced.

Welcome to the history of the 20th century.

Music I'm . . Episode 53 Take Advice from Theodore.

We're back at the United States today and in the closing years of the age of ragtime.

It's occurred to me that I only used the ragtime version of the theme music once before today,

and ragtime's almost over, so I want to get the most out of the music.

When last we visited the United States,

Theodore Roosevelt had just stepped down from the presidency,

so for today, we'll take a look at what happened next.

On the very night of his election in 1904,

Theodore had rashly promised not to run for president again.

As we have seen, he would come to regret that decision,

and although Roosevelt's popularity had peaked by 1906 or 1907,

he likely could have won re-election in 1908 if he had tried for it.

He was at this point only 49 years old and as hail as ever.

But he didn't. He felt bound by that promise.

During Roosevelt's presidency, the Republican Party had become increasingly polarized between

conservative Eastern pro-business Republicans, who generally had never supported Roosevelt

...