The Square Deal was a domestic policy of U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt from 1901 to 1909. It was based on three basic ideas: protection of the consumer, control of large corporations, and conservation of natural resources. The Square Deal reflected Roosevelts three major goals, which were conservation of natural resources, control of corporations, and consumer protection. The term "Square Deal" was first used by Roosevelt in 1899, when he was quoted in The New York Times as saying, "I gave each man a square deal on his own account. That is what I mean by Americanism".
The Square Deal concept was largely incorporated into the platform of the Progressive (Bull Moose) Party when Roosevelt was its candidate in the 1912 presidential election. Although Roosevelt was known as a trust buster, his ultimate goal was not the destruction of big business but its regulation. For Roosevelt, the concentration of industry in ever fewer hands represented not just a threat to fair markets but also to democracy as wealthy industrialists consolidated power in their own hands. He turned to the Sherman Anti-Trust Act to challenge business monopolies, bringing suit against the Northern Securities Company (a railroad trust) in 1902. The Justice Department initiated forty-two additional anti-trust cases during his presidency. During Roosevelts second term, regulating business became increasingly important. Roosevelt had always believed big business was an inevitable economic development; regulation was a means to level the playing field and provide the "square deal" to citizens, as Roosevelt had promised.
