Sparks Commentary: William Howard Taft: Made and un-made by Theodore Roosevelt

William Howard Taft has now become little more than a footnote to the larger story of Theodore Roosevelt. When we hear Taft’s name today, it tends to be in connection either with Theodore Roosevelt, or with their mutual enemy Woodrow Wilson. But, in the early twentieth century, William Howard Taft was more than just an intervening figure between these two political giants. Taft was a reform-minded candidate, who was much more similar to Roosevelt … than Roosevelt himself would later give him credit for. William Howard Taft is known in part for his rotundity, and for being the only person to become both president and Chief Justice of the U. S. Supreme Court. Thus, an examination of Mr. Taft’s story might be in order here. This will provide us some insight into the United States, and into the twentieth century more generally.

William Howard Taft

Early life and career, including his working for President Theodore Roosevelt

William Howard Taft was born in 1857 in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Taft family was not wealthy, but it still became politically prominent during the young Taft’s lifetime. That is, Taft’s father served as a judge and ambassador. The father also served as U. S. Secretary of War, and later as Attorney General, under President Ulysses S. Grant. Thus, William Howard Taft had the “name factor” going for him when he later entered politics. Taft served as an Ohio lawyer and judge, and had an early interest in the judiciary. Taft wanted to enter the United States Supreme Court when he was only 32. But President Benjamin Harrison instead appointed Taft as his Solicitor General – quite a feat for a young thirty-something. Taft won most of the cases that he argued before the Supreme Court in this position. But, in 1892, the young Taft resigned to further pursue his judicial career. He became a federal appeals court judge, and served in that position until 1900. Only two years earlier, the United States had just won the Spanish-American War of 1898. This had resulted in the acquisition of both Cuba and the Philippines for the United States. In July 1901, President William McKinley thus appointed Taft as the new Governor-General of the Philippines. But in September 1901, President William McKinley was assassinated, and Theodore Roosevelt became the new president. Roosevelt would arguably exert a massive influence upon Taft’s political career for some time afterward. The Philippine-American War ended in 1902. And, in 1903, Taft resigned as Governor-General of the Philippines. However, the Moro Rebellion would continue in the Philippines for roughly a decade after that. In 1904, Theodore Roosevelt appointed Taft as his new Secretary of War. Taft helped to implement the Roosevelt military policy. For two weeks in 1906, this included Taft’s serving as the first Provisional Governor of Cuba. But in June 1908, Taft resigned from being the United States Secretary of War. He now had his eyes on becoming President of the United States instead.

Theodore Roosevelt

Theodore Roosevelt handpicks Taft as his successor, and Taft is elected president in 1908

Theodore Roosevelt had promised not to seek a third term in 1908. In fact, he had promised not to seek a third term at all – something that he would later regret saying. Thus, Roosevelt handpicked his reliable Secretary of War, William Howard Taft, as his successor. Roosevelt even went so far as to run Taft’s campaign for him, which Taft gladly allowed him to do. Roosevelt was popular, and Taft knew that Roosevelt’s 1908 involvement would help him to win the White House that year. On the other side of that election was William Jennings Bryan, who had campaigned against President William McKinley in both 1896 and 1900. (He had not been a serious presidential candidate in 1904.) Therefore, this was Bryan’s third time as the Democratic presidential nominee. In 1908, Roosevelt was now out of the race, so Bryan thought that there was an opportunity here. But Mr. Bryan lost by the biggest margin of his presidential-candidate career. William Howard Taft won 51.6% of the popular vote (an actual majority), and 66% of the electoral vote. Thus, William Howard Taft soon became the 27th President of the United States. The involvement of Theodore Roosevelt had catapulted William Howard Taft into the White House, and Taft knew just how much he owed this victory to Theodore Roosevelt. William Howard Taft’s foreign policy focused on East Asia more than on European affairs. Taft also intervened to prop up (or even remove) various Latin American governments, much like Theodore Roosevelt before him. In many ways, Taft was quite similar to Roosevelt. Taft also sought reductions to trade tariffs, which were then a major source of governmental income. But many Republicans, including Roosevelt, felt that the tariff bill still gave too much power to various special interests. Taft also continued Roosevelt’s policy of prosecuting antitrust cases, and was arguably even more successful than Roosevelt in this area. Despite the fact that Taft would only serve one term, he broke up more monopolies than the nearly-two-term Roosevelt. But Taft believed that Congressional support was needed for any conservation efforts – a major break with Theodore Roosevelt in this regard, who had done these things by executive order. William Howard Taft also did not pursue civil rights as much as Theodore Roosevelt had, since Taft was willing to compromise with the South on these issues. These things all led to a rupture between the two men by 1912.

William Howard Taft

Theodore Roosevelt runs against Taft in 1912, handing the election to Woodrow Wilson

Thus, Theodore Roosevelt initially ran against Taft for the Republican nomination in 1912. But William Howard Taft used his control of the party’s machinery to secure the coveted nomination. Nonetheless, Taft had only been nominated by a bare majority, so Roosevelt decided to run as a third-party candidate in 1912. Roosevelt’s party was officially known as the “Progressive” Party, but it would be remembered by its popular nickname of the “Bull-Moose” Party. There was a Socialist Party candidate named Eugene V. Debs, who would eventually win 6% of the popular vote (although no electoral votes). This was the highest showing for a Socialist Party candidate in American history. Taft won 23.2% of the popular vote. Roosevelt won 27.4%, meaning that the two candidates together would have had a majority. The Democratic challenger Woodrow Wilson had only 41.8% of the popular vote. But Woodrow Wilson gained 81% of the electoral vote – a landslide. Taft had won only Vermont and Utah. By running as a third-party candidate, Roosevelt had handed the election to Wilson, whom he considered to be far worse than Taft (and Wilson really was rather bad).

Chief Justice Taft

Taft’s post-presidency career, including his being the Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court

Taft later returned to being a professor at Yale, and opposed World War One through a “League to Enforce Peace.” His successor Woodrow Wilson was elected to two terms. World War One was the major issue of Woodrow Wilson’s presidency. In 1921, Wilson was succeeded by Warren G. Harding, long considered one of the worst presidents in American history. But Warren G. Harding may have performed at least one good act. That is, he appointed William Howard Taft as the next Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court. Again, this makes Taft the only person to have served both as president and as the federal Chief Justice. Taft served for more than eight years in that position. But Taft eventually resigned due to poor health in February 1930, and died a month later in March 1930.

William Howard Taft

Conclusion: Taft may be a better president than he’s remembered

William Howard Taft isn’t exactly remembered as one of the greatest presidents in American history, but nor is he remembered as one of the worst. Taft was certainly better than his successor Woodrow Wilson. Theodore Roosevelt may have been a better president, but Roosevelt was wrong to oppose Taft in 1912, because Roosevelt instead handed the election to Woodrow Wilson – a worse president in every respect. Again, William Howard Taft became little more than a footnote to history – and, in particular, to the story of Theodore Roosevelt. But William Howard Taft may deserve to be remembered with more fondness, as a reform-minded candidate who followed in Roosevelt’s footsteps. Taft is buried at Arlington National Cemetery, “the first president and first Supreme Court justice to be interred there” (in the words of Wikipedia).

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The Presidents