President William Howard Taft signed the Mann-Elkins Act, also called the Railway Rate Act of 1910, strengthening the Interstate Commerce Commission’s (ICC) authority over railroad rates and expanding federal regulation to telephone, telegraph, and wireless companies for the first time. The …
President William Howard TaftStephen Benton ElkinsJames Robert MannInterstate Commerce Commissionprogressive-eraregulatory-enforcementcorporate-powertelecommunicationsrailroad-regulation
After a dramatic 29-hour marathon session, the House of Representatives voted 191 to 156 to strip Speaker Joseph Cannon of his autocratic powers, removing him as chairman of the Committee on Rules and expanding its membership from five to 15 members. Representative George William Norris of Nebraska, …
Joseph CannonGeorge William NorrisPresident William Howard TaftProgressive Republicansprogressive-eracongressional-reformrepublican-partycorporate-powerpolitical-realignment
President William Howard Taft signed the Payne-Aldrich Tariff Act and infamously praised it as “the best tariff bill the Republican party ever passed,” betraying his 1908 campaign promises for meaningful tariff reform and triggering a permanent split within the Republican Party. Taft had …
President William Howard TaftNelson AldrichProgressive RepublicansOld Guard Republicansprogressive-eratariff-policyrepublican-partycorporate-powerpolitical-realignment