Executive Reorganization, Theodore Roosevelt and the Keep Commission

Abstract

In 1905, President Theodore Roosevelt established the Keep Commission to "place the conduct of the Government on the most economical and effective basis in the light of the best modern business practice." Congress at first angrily refused to act on the Keep Commission's recommendations and saw Roosevelt's administrative reforms as executive encroachment into congressional authority. Over the long run, however, Congress adopted Roosevelt's recommendations and created a pension system, a modern personnel classification scheme, the General Service Administration, and the National Archives. While administrative histories devote scant attention to the Keep Commission's findings, the Commission established a positive legacy for future reorganization commissions, such as the Taft Committee on Economy and Efficiency, as well as early reorganizations by state and local governments. The Keep Commission also signaled a shift of administrative leadership from the legislative to the executive and deserves credit as the forerunner of a pattern of self introspection by the federal executive.

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