When he first arrived on the political scene in 1881 at the age of 23, Theodore Roosevelt gave no hint of the Progressive he would later become. In the various elective and appointive positions he held at the municipal, state, and federal levels during the 1880s and 1890s, Roosevelt considered himself nothing more (and nothing less) than an independent Republican reformer, following in the tradition of national-minded statesmen such as George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, Henry Clay, and, of course, Abraham Lincoln.
From the time he stepped into politics at the age of 23, he sought to change the way things were being handled. He exposed bribery that was taking place, and stood up to the the "special interests" that were taking place. Roosevelt wanted to put an end to the waste, inefficiency, corruption, and spoils system that ran rampant in government. As President he increased inspection laws for food, drug and meat processes, he investigated child labor conditions, inactef employer liability laws, and laid the foundation for the modern administration state. Roosevelt also enacted graduated income and inheritance taxes, expanded the national park system, made wildlife refuges, he brought an end to the Russo-Kapanese war, and was the first American to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize
