The three progressive presidents were Teddy Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and Woodrow Wilson. Roosevelt became president in 1901 after McKinley's assassination. He believed in a strong and active federal government to protect people from big business abuse. His policies included trust busting, food and drug regulation, and establishing national parks. In 1908, Roosevelt chose Taft as his successor but was disappointed in Taft's more conservative policies. This led Roosevelt to run again in 1912 as a third party candidate, splitting the Republican vote and allowing Woodrow Wilson to win the election on his platform of "New Freedom," regulating trusts more aggressively than Roosevelt's preferred approach.
