Title: Searching for the American Dream | HuffPost
Headings: Searching for the American Dream
Searching for the American Dream
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Content: Work hard, live by the rules, and you will achieve the new American Dream. By the early 20th century, as Americans struggled with the consequences of industrialism and urbanization, there emerged the third phase of the Dream: The Roosevelt phase. The new urban and industrial America presented new challenges that could not be overcome by individual initiative. Cities were filthy and congested. Poor working conditions, long hours, and low wages often defined the urban workplace. Beginning at the turn of the century, progressive reforms on the local, state, and, eventually, the federal level, pushed for new regulations to provide for safe water and food, limit child labor, regulate hours, and improve work conditions. Teddy Roosevelt first articulated this new view of the American Dream during his unsuccessful 1912 campaign for the presidency. He claimed that the concentration of wealth and power in the hands of big business required the federal government to assume the responsibility to guarantee the promise of “life, liberty and happiness.” While T.R. offered rhetorical support to the new view of the Dream, it was his cousin Franklin who institutionalized it as a part of American life.