Colonel Roosevelt Contribution in the American History (Essay Sample)

American history questions
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Colonel Roosevelt contributed immensely to America’s history. Theodore Roosevelt attained the position of 26th president of the United States after his predecessor president Mckinley was assassinated. Roosevelt enjoyed numerous achievements in his lifetime. At the young age of 23, he joined the public service. He was privileged to earn election into the Assembly of the New York State. Roosevelt also earned himself the position of a legal officer who was commonly referred to as Sheriff. As a Sheriff he diligently carried out his roles and was admired by his seniors. He was later appointed in the Commission of Civil Servants by the US president Harrison. This was one of the manifestations and fruits of his dedication especially to the populous Republican Party. He went on to earn a reappointment into the same party though this time by President Harrison. In 1895, he continued enjoying success by being appointed into to be a board member of police commissioners. From there he went on to lead the Navy, in the beginning as a deputy secretary but later as a Colonel. In his capacity as a colonel, he successfully led his Rough Riders battalion to win a war in Cuba. This won him a lot of recognition and respect as a hero (Chafe, William Henry 2002, 98).[Chafe, William Henry. Modern American liberalism: the New Deal and its legacies (New York: Columbia University Press, 2002) 98]
Upon his return, Roosevelt sought to vie for the post of Governor. He won the New York’s gubernatorial seat. Through his leadership style, actions and decisions, he was opposed to oppressive party politics and he followed his intuition. This made his Republican Party seniors to conspire and ensure he was appointed to be Presidential candidate’s running mate. It is from this point that he was involved in spirited campaigns which saw him and Mckinley ascend to power. President Mckinley was assassinated and Roosevelt became president. He immediately began to reconcile conflicting forces in order to make America stable.
As a president he came up with development policies. He established a square rule. This policy was aimed at breaking the Industrial cartels that hindered trade. Through collaboration with individuals documented as James and Morgan, they formed a railroad. This facilitated transport and acted as a boost to industrialization. Through his negotiation skills, Roosevelt at one time intervened in a coal miners strike. He successfully managed to secure a pay rise for them. This shows that he had leadership qualities. His passion for conservation drove him to set aside very huge tracts of land so as to conserve Wildlife and forests. He also established countrywide irrigation projects through the popular Reclamation Act which turned out to be a big legislative success (United States. 1873, 13).
He also managed and succeeded in foreign policies. For instance, through his intervention, Panama managed to secede away from Colombia. This enabled the Panama Canal construction. During is presidency he developed the Navy which went on to become the best in the world. Through his negotiation skills, Roosevelt helped end the vicious Japan-Russia war. His success story earned him the internationally recognized Nobel Prize. After presidency, Roosevelt continued to advocate for good leadership of the United States. He indeed even tried to recapture presidency to continue with development but he failed. He also helped America declare its superiority in World War 1 since he supported America’s involvement in that war. Roosevelt therefore contributed immensely to the History of America through his actions and decisions before, during and after his presidency.[United States. Congressional record: proceedings and debates of the Congress. (Washington: G.P.O 1873), 13]
The US used Atomic bombs on Japan as their best alternative at that time. On date 6 of August the year 1945, United States of America under the leadership of President Truman decided to use Atomic bomb to destroy the city of Hiroshima in Japan. Three days later, they dropped a bomb of same power and effect in the city of Nagasaki. Hundreds of thousands of Japanese citizens died during these two attacks. A lot of property was destroyed in the process. After the Nagasaki attacks were carried out, Japan surrendered and conceded defeat to the US.
There were several reasons that triggered the use of nuclear bombs against Japan. To begin with, the US was so determined to end the war. President Roosevelt desperately wanted to bring the war to an end by causing minimum harm to American citizens. He also wanted to be economical by ensuring the war never prolonged beyond that period. Another major reason why the US used atomic bombs was to declare their superiority. President Truman was convinced that maximum fatalities that would be caused by the bombs would declare America as the winners. The other major reason why the US bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki using Atomic bombs was to revenge on the Pearl Harbor attack. The Japanese had caused America maximum damage by destroying their naval warships. The US then saw use of Atomic bombs as a revenge opportunity (Miscamble,Wilson 2007,34).[Miscamble From Roosevelt to Truman: Potsdam, Hiroshima, and the Cold War. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2007),34]
Atomic bombs were also used so as to justify the so called Manhattan Project. This was the project of making nuclear weapons and the best option according to the US was to put those weapons to test on an enemy. The US also wanted to prove to the Soviets that indeed they were powerful partners worth aligning with. This was referred to as the purpose of impressing the USSR. Finally, America launched these nuclear bombings because they were no incentives on why the attacks wouldn’t take place. All these factors combined triggered the use of Atomic weapons against Japan.
There were few alternatives that America would use other than use of nuclear bombs. The first alternative was that Japan would be persuaded to surrender unconditionally. This would be a better option considering that they would retain their Emperor Hirohito whom they regarded as a deity. The next available option was to continue with the conventional strikes. This alternative was dropped as it was thought to prolong the war. They also considered allowing the Soviets to end the war themselves. This was not pursued since USSR Manchuria attack was seen as not an instant cause of Japanese surrender. Basically these are the major reasons which prompted US to use Atomic weapons as the best alternative according to them at that particular time.
Cold war is the strained relationship that developed after world war two between the Soviets and the USA. It was more of an ideological supremacy battle than an actual war as witnessed during World War 1 and 2. It was also a time where rival countries underwent arms race whereby they tried to outdo each other in establishing warfare equipments. The Soviet Union was much aligned to the Communism ideology where else the Western allies in this case Britain, France and the US inclined towards capitalism. Though Cold War is perceived to have begun around 1945, suspicions actually began before then. During World War 2, the Soviets occasionally disagreed with the Western Allies on war conferences. The Soviet Union also signed the Soviet-German pact which was a treaty to keep off aggression upon each other. This raised suspicions among the Western Allies and as a result they withdrew from Marshall Plan which was aimed at rebuilding Germany to make it recover from war effects.[Gaddis, John Lewis. We now know: rethinking Cold War history.( Oxford: Clarendon Press 1997) ,48]
In 1946 upon election, Soviet Union President delivered a speech that remarked Communism was indeed superior to capitalism. He argued that communist policies would facilitate development and that capitalism ideologies created an atmosphere for another war. In the same year, US president Winston Churchill stated that an iron curtain would spread across Europe. The term iron curtain r...