From Teddy Roosevelt to Reagan to Trump, presidents have warned of power-hungry public-sector unions

President Donald Trump canceled federal worker union contracts using national security exemptions, continuing a century-long presidential battle over public-sector unions.

Tevi Troy is a senior fellow at the Ronald Reagan Institute and a former senior White House aide. He is the author of five books on the presidency, including "The Power and the Money: The Epic Clashes Between Commanders in Chief and Titans of Industry." 

In 1902, President Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt issued an order barring federal workers and postal employees from lobbying Congress. His successor, William Howard Taft, took a similar action in 1909 with Executive Order 1142, which focused on preventing lobbying by members of the military. Congress overturned these orders in 1912 with the Lloyd-La Follette Act, but the move did not lead to widespread public-sector unionism.

In 1919, Massachusetts Gov. Calvin Coolidge put himself on the political map when he fired striking Boston police officers. When he made this decision, Coolidge famously declared: "There is no right to strike against the public safety, anywhere, anytime." Coolidge’s action was an important factor in Warren Harding choosing Coolidge as his vice presidential nominee in 1920.