Theodore Roosevelt was known as the "Accidental President" because he took office when President William McKinley suddenly died in September 1901. At forty-two years old, he was at that time the youngest man to ever assume the presidency.
During the 1904 campaign, Roosevelt boasted that he had worked in the anthracite coal strike to provide everyone with a "square deal." In his second term, he set out to extend this square deal further. One of his first targets was the powerful railroad industry. The Interstate Commerce Act of 1887, establishing the Interstate Commerce commission (ICC),…
