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Article: Square Deal
- Article from:
- Dictionary of American History
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CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 The Gale Group Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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SQUARE DEAL
SQUARE DEAL,
the phrase coined by Theodore Roosevelt during his first term as president to highlight his position on the "labor problem." Its first public utterance appears to have been in the peroration of a Labor Day address given at the New York State Fair in Syracuse on 7 September 1903. In this speech Roosevelt spoke forcefully of the community of interests binding capital to labor and of the danger to this community in allowing either side to pursue overly selfish ends. In order to ensure continued national prosperity, both property owners and the laboring classes must share in the wealth produced. To maintain this balance, labor and capital must remain on an equal ...