Square Deal
United States history
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Theodore Roosevelt, 1904.
Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (digital file number cph 3a53299)
- Date:
- 1902 - 1912
- Key People:
- Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt calling for a “Square Deal for every man and every woman in the United States” while addressing the Boys' Progressive League in New York City, July 3, 1913.
Public Domain
Square Deal , description by U.S. Pres. Theodore Roosevelt (served 1901–09) of his personal approach to current social problems and the individual. It embraced Roosevelt’s idealistic view of labour, citizenship, parenthood, and Christian ethics. Roosevelt first used the term following the settlement of a mining strike in 1902 to describe the ideal of peaceful coexistence between big business and labour unions. The Square Deal concept was later largely incorporated into the platform of the Progressive (Bull Moose) Party when Roosevelt was its candidate in the 1912 presidential election.