Presidents' Highs and Lows: William Howard Taft
It is said that William Howard Taft never wanted to be President of the United States. The job he really wanted (and eventually got) was Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Taft came from a family with a legal pedigree and the law was in his blood. His father, Alphonso Taft, served as U.S. Attorney General and as Secretary of War. Taft attended Yale, like his father, and after becoming a lawyer he was appointed a judge while still in his twenties. His legal career continued its rapid rise. He served as United States Solicitor General and later as a judge of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. In 1901, President William McKinley appointed Taft civilian Governor of the Philippines and in 1904, Theodore Roosevelt made him Secretary of War. He became Roosevelt's hand-picked successor. Despite his personal ambition for the high court, Taft turned down at least offers of appointment to the Supreme Court. With Roosevelt's help, Taft had little opposition for the Republican nomination for president in 1908. He easily defeated William Jennings Bryan for the presidency that November.
Taft was sworn in as president on March 4, 1909. Many people believed that Taft would be Theodore Roosevelt's puppet in office, but in his inaugural address, Taft acknowledged that he had been honored to have been "one of the advisers of my distinguished predecessor" and to have had a part "in the reforms he has initiated". He said that he planned to "make the maintenance and enforcement of those reforms a most important feature of my administration". Roosevelt left office on the one hand happy that the man he chose as his successor had been elected, but on the other hand regretting his decision not to run for re-election. It is said that no one had enjoyed the Presidency as much as Roosevelt. Now that his term was over, he left for a year-long hunting trip to Africa.
There were some immediate noticeable changes in the way Taft ran things, as compared to his predecessor. Taft did not enjoy the easy relationship with the press that Roosevelt had. He did not make himself available for interviews or photo opportunities as often as his predecessor had. There was an overall change in leadership style from Roosevelt's high-energy pursuance of social reform to Taft's quieter and more conservative passion for the rule of law.
Taft made changes to the State Department, organizing it into geographical divisions, with desks for the Far East, Latin America and Western Europe. Taft had a good relationship with Secretary of State Philander Knox and listened to his advice on matters. The two agreed that the U.S. should not interfere in European affairs, and would use force if necessary to enforce the Monroe Doctrine in the Americas. The defense of the Panama Canal, which was under construction throughout Taft's term was an important issue. At the time of Taft's presidency, protectionism through the use of tariffs was a fundamental position of the Republican Party. The Dingley Tariff had been enacted to protect American industry from foreign competition. Taft called a special session of Congress to convene on March 15, 1909 to deal with the tariff issue. Sereno E. Payne, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, held hearings in late 1908, and sponsored the resulting draft legislation. The bill reduced tariffs slightly, but when it passed the House in April 1909 and reached the Senate, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Rhode Island Senator Nelson W. Aldrich, attached many amendments raising rates. This angered progressive Republicans such as Wisconsin's Robert M. La Follette, who urged Taft to veto the bill. Taft refused, angering this wing of his party. Among those progressives displeased was Theodore Roosevelt.
When opponents sought to modify the tariff bill to allow for an income tax, Taft opposed it on the ground that the Supreme Court would likely strike it down as unconstitutional. To meet this objection, these Democrats proposed a constitutional amendment, which passed both houses in early July, was sent to the states. By 1913 the amendment was ratified as the Sixteenth Amendment.
In Taft's annual message to Congress in December 1910, he urged a free trade agreement with Canada. Britain at that time still handled Canada's foreign relations. Many in Canada were opposed top this. Farm and fisheries lobbies in the United States were also opposed. After January 1911 talks with Canadian officials, Taft had the agreement introduced into Congress and it passed in late July. The Canadian Parliament, led by Prime Minister Sir Wilfrid Laurier, was deadlocked over the issue. In an election held on the issue, Canadians voted Laurier out of office in the September 1911 election and Robert Borden became the new prime minister. No cross-border agreement was concluded as a result.
Taft and his Secretary of State, Philander Knox, instituted a policy of Dollar Diplomacy towards Latin America. They used U.S. investment to diminishing European influence in the region. The policy was unpopular among Latin American states that did not wish to become financial protectorates of the United States, as well as in the U.S. Senate, many of whose members saw this as a form of U.S. interference in the affairs of a foreign nation.
Taft had to deal with a revolution in Mexico, which was increasingly restless under the rule of longtime dictator Porfirio Díaz. Many Mexicans backed his opponent, Francisco Madero, and their conflict spilled over the US border as Mexican rebels conducted raids into Texas to obtain horses and weapons. Taft ordered the US Army to go on maneuvers at the border. He showed his support for Díaz by meeting with him at El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, the first meeting between a U.S. and a Mexican president and also the first time an American president visited Mexico. On the day of the summit, a Texas Ranger named Frederick Russell Burnham prevented Taft's assassination by capturing and disarming a man holding a palm pistol only a few feet from the two presidents.
Díaz had opposition candidate Madero jailed before elections where held, prompting Madero's supporters to rebel. They were able to oust Díaz from office, and in the ensuing revolution, border raids into the Arizona Territory resulted in the death of two American citizens. A dozen more were injured from gunfire across the border. Despite this, Taft urged restraint and instructed the territorial governor not to launch retaliatory raids.
Taft recognized the potential for trade with China, an issue on which he and his Secretary of State did not on. Taft replaced Roosevelt's minister to China, William W. Rockhill, with William J. Calhoun. Knox would not follow Calhoun's advice on policy concerning China, and the two were often in conflict. Taft was also able to negotiate with the Prince Regent, Zaifeng, Prince Chun, to gain U.S. participation in railroad investment. When the Chinese Revolution of 1911 broke out, Sun Yat Sen became provisional president of what became the Republic of China, overthrowing the Manchu Dynasty. Taft was reluctant to recognize the new government, even though American public opinion was in favor of it. The U.S. House of Representatives in February 1912 passed a resolution supporting the new Chinese republic. Taft continued the policy against immigration from China and Japan as under Roosevelt.
Taft disliked the traditional practice of rewarding wealthy supporters with key ambassadorial posts. He dismissed a number of diplomats appointed by Roosevelt, including Henry White, Minister to France. White's firing caused other career State Department employees to fear that their jobs might be lost to politics. Taft also wanted to replace the Roosevelt-appointed ambassador in London, Whitelaw Reid, but Reid, owner of the New-York Tribune, had backed Taft during the campaign and Taft was reluctant to make an enemy of Reid.
Taft continued Roosevelt's efforts to break up business monopolies through lawsuits brought under the Sherman Antitrust Act, His Justice Department litigated 70 cases in four years (Roosevelt had prosecuted 40 in seven years). In June 1911, the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives began hearings into United States Steel (U.S. Steel), a company that Roosevelt had permitted to expand as a means of preventing the Panic of 1907 from worsening. In October 1911, Taft's Justice Department brought suit against U.S. Steel, demanding that over a hundred of its subsidiaries become independent companies. Taft alleged that Roosevelt "had been duped by clever industrialists". Roosevelt took offense to the aspersions cast on him and his administration.
Taft sent a special message to Congress on the need for a revamped antitrust statute in December 1911. Congress ignored his request. Taft continued to accuse Roosevelt of failing to take action against other monopolies. His antitrust case against the International Harvester Company, was one such case. Roosevelt's administration had investigated International Harvester, but had taken no action. Taft's suit became an issue when Roosevelt subsequently challenged Taft for the Republican presidential nomination in 1912. Supporters of Taft alleged that Roosevelt had acted improperly, while Roosevelt criticized Taft for waiting three and a half years to reverse a decision he had supported.
The real break between Roosevelt and Taft came to a head in what was known as the Ballinger–Pinchot affair. Roosevelt was an ardent conservationist. He had appointed like-minded appointees to pursue this policy, such as Interior Secretary James R. Garfield and Chief Forester Gifford Pinchot. Taft agreed with the need for conservation, but felt it should be accomplished by legislation rather than executive order. He did not retain Garfield in his cabinet, instead selecting former Seattle mayor Richard A. Ballinger as Interior Secretary. Roosevelt was surprised at the replacement, believing that Taft had promised to keep Garfield.
Roosevelt had withdrawn much land from the public domain, including some in Alaska thought rich in coal. In 1902, Clarence Cunningham, an Idaho entrepreneur, had found coal deposits in Alaska, and made mining claims on some of this land. The government investigated their legality, when Ballinger served as head of the General Land Office. A special agent for the Land Office, Louis Glavis, investigated the Cunningham claims, and in 1909 when Secretary Ballinger approved them, Glavis broke governmental protocol by going outside the Interior Department to seek help from Pinchot. Glavis made his allegations public in a magazine article, disclosing that Ballinger had acted as an attorney for Cunningham between his two periods of government service. He accused Ballinger of violating conflict of interest rules forbidding a former government official from advocacy on a matter he had been responsible for. On September 13, 1909 Taft dismissed Glavis from government service, choosing to support his Interior Secretary.
Pinchot was determined to publicize the issue by forcing his own dismissal. Taft tried to avoid this, fearing that it might cause a break with Roosevelt, but ultimately Taft followed advice to fire Pinchot. Pinchot had forced the issue by sending a letter to Iowa Senator Dolliver in January of 1910. Pinchot was dismissed, and he sailed for Europe to consult Roosevelt. A congressional investigation followed, which cleared Ballinger. The Ballinger–Pinchot affair caused progressives and Roosevelt loyalists to feel that Taft had turned his back on Roosevelt's agenda.
Roosevelt was receiving many letters from supporters urging him to run for the Republican nomination against Taft. In February of 1912, Roosevelt announced he would accept the Republican nomination if it was offered to him. The ideological division between Taft (a conservative) and Roosevelt (a progressive) became more apparent. As Roosevelt became more radical in his progressivism, Taft was more determined to hold on to the presidency. In the infancy of the primary system, the popular Roosevelt dominated the primaries, winning 278 of the 362 delegates to the Republican National Convention in Chicago. But Taft had control of the party machinery, and he was able to secure the bulk of the delegates decided at district or state conventions. Roosevelt challenged the election of these delegates, but the RNC overruled most objections. Taft followed custom and remained in Washington, but Roosevelt went to Chicago to run his campaign and told his supporters in a speech, "we stand at Armageddon, and we battle for the Lord".
Taft was able to win the convention fight for delegates. It was expected that Roosevelt would run as a third party candidate if not nominated. Some Republicans sought a compromise, but they were unsuccessful. Taft was nominated on the first ballot. Roosevelt accused Taft of having stolen the nomination, and he and his followers formed the Progressive Party. Taft knew he would almost certainly be defeated in the 1912 election and he was correct in this assertion. New Jersey Governor Woodrow Wilson was the Democratic nominee.
Taft followed the custom that presidents seeking re-election did not campaign. Taft spoke publicly only once, making his nomination acceptance speech on August 1. He had difficulty in financing his campaign. In the election Taft won only the states of Utah and Vermont, for a total of 8 electoral votes. Roosevelt won 88, and Wilson 435. Taft had achieved electoral popularity by the promise of continuing Roosevelt's legacy. His break with Roosevelt proved to be his popular undoing.
Taft was sworn in as president on March 4, 1909. Many people believed that Taft would be Theodore Roosevelt's puppet in office, but in his inaugural address, Taft acknowledged that he had been honored to have been "one of the advisers of my distinguished predecessor" and to have had a part "in the reforms he has initiated". He said that he planned to "make the maintenance and enforcement of those reforms a most important feature of my administration". Roosevelt left office on the one hand happy that the man he chose as his successor had been elected, but on the other hand regretting his decision not to run for re-election. It is said that no one had enjoyed the Presidency as much as Roosevelt. Now that his term was over, he left for a year-long hunting trip to Africa.
There were some immediate noticeable changes in the way Taft ran things, as compared to his predecessor. Taft did not enjoy the easy relationship with the press that Roosevelt had. He did not make himself available for interviews or photo opportunities as often as his predecessor had. There was an overall change in leadership style from Roosevelt's high-energy pursuance of social reform to Taft's quieter and more conservative passion for the rule of law.
Taft made changes to the State Department, organizing it into geographical divisions, with desks for the Far East, Latin America and Western Europe. Taft had a good relationship with Secretary of State Philander Knox and listened to his advice on matters. The two agreed that the U.S. should not interfere in European affairs, and would use force if necessary to enforce the Monroe Doctrine in the Americas. The defense of the Panama Canal, which was under construction throughout Taft's term was an important issue. At the time of Taft's presidency, protectionism through the use of tariffs was a fundamental position of the Republican Party. The Dingley Tariff had been enacted to protect American industry from foreign competition. Taft called a special session of Congress to convene on March 15, 1909 to deal with the tariff issue. Sereno E. Payne, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, held hearings in late 1908, and sponsored the resulting draft legislation. The bill reduced tariffs slightly, but when it passed the House in April 1909 and reached the Senate, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Rhode Island Senator Nelson W. Aldrich, attached many amendments raising rates. This angered progressive Republicans such as Wisconsin's Robert M. La Follette, who urged Taft to veto the bill. Taft refused, angering this wing of his party. Among those progressives displeased was Theodore Roosevelt.
When opponents sought to modify the tariff bill to allow for an income tax, Taft opposed it on the ground that the Supreme Court would likely strike it down as unconstitutional. To meet this objection, these Democrats proposed a constitutional amendment, which passed both houses in early July, was sent to the states. By 1913 the amendment was ratified as the Sixteenth Amendment.
In Taft's annual message to Congress in December 1910, he urged a free trade agreement with Canada. Britain at that time still handled Canada's foreign relations. Many in Canada were opposed top this. Farm and fisheries lobbies in the United States were also opposed. After January 1911 talks with Canadian officials, Taft had the agreement introduced into Congress and it passed in late July. The Canadian Parliament, led by Prime Minister Sir Wilfrid Laurier, was deadlocked over the issue. In an election held on the issue, Canadians voted Laurier out of office in the September 1911 election and Robert Borden became the new prime minister. No cross-border agreement was concluded as a result.
Taft and his Secretary of State, Philander Knox, instituted a policy of Dollar Diplomacy towards Latin America. They used U.S. investment to diminishing European influence in the region. The policy was unpopular among Latin American states that did not wish to become financial protectorates of the United States, as well as in the U.S. Senate, many of whose members saw this as a form of U.S. interference in the affairs of a foreign nation.
Taft had to deal with a revolution in Mexico, which was increasingly restless under the rule of longtime dictator Porfirio Díaz. Many Mexicans backed his opponent, Francisco Madero, and their conflict spilled over the US border as Mexican rebels conducted raids into Texas to obtain horses and weapons. Taft ordered the US Army to go on maneuvers at the border. He showed his support for Díaz by meeting with him at El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, the first meeting between a U.S. and a Mexican president and also the first time an American president visited Mexico. On the day of the summit, a Texas Ranger named Frederick Russell Burnham prevented Taft's assassination by capturing and disarming a man holding a palm pistol only a few feet from the two presidents.
Díaz had opposition candidate Madero jailed before elections where held, prompting Madero's supporters to rebel. They were able to oust Díaz from office, and in the ensuing revolution, border raids into the Arizona Territory resulted in the death of two American citizens. A dozen more were injured from gunfire across the border. Despite this, Taft urged restraint and instructed the territorial governor not to launch retaliatory raids.
Taft recognized the potential for trade with China, an issue on which he and his Secretary of State did not on. Taft replaced Roosevelt's minister to China, William W. Rockhill, with William J. Calhoun. Knox would not follow Calhoun's advice on policy concerning China, and the two were often in conflict. Taft was also able to negotiate with the Prince Regent, Zaifeng, Prince Chun, to gain U.S. participation in railroad investment. When the Chinese Revolution of 1911 broke out, Sun Yat Sen became provisional president of what became the Republic of China, overthrowing the Manchu Dynasty. Taft was reluctant to recognize the new government, even though American public opinion was in favor of it. The U.S. House of Representatives in February 1912 passed a resolution supporting the new Chinese republic. Taft continued the policy against immigration from China and Japan as under Roosevelt.
Taft disliked the traditional practice of rewarding wealthy supporters with key ambassadorial posts. He dismissed a number of diplomats appointed by Roosevelt, including Henry White, Minister to France. White's firing caused other career State Department employees to fear that their jobs might be lost to politics. Taft also wanted to replace the Roosevelt-appointed ambassador in London, Whitelaw Reid, but Reid, owner of the New-York Tribune, had backed Taft during the campaign and Taft was reluctant to make an enemy of Reid.
Taft continued Roosevelt's efforts to break up business monopolies through lawsuits brought under the Sherman Antitrust Act, His Justice Department litigated 70 cases in four years (Roosevelt had prosecuted 40 in seven years). In June 1911, the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives began hearings into United States Steel (U.S. Steel), a company that Roosevelt had permitted to expand as a means of preventing the Panic of 1907 from worsening. In October 1911, Taft's Justice Department brought suit against U.S. Steel, demanding that over a hundred of its subsidiaries become independent companies. Taft alleged that Roosevelt "had been duped by clever industrialists". Roosevelt took offense to the aspersions cast on him and his administration.
Taft sent a special message to Congress on the need for a revamped antitrust statute in December 1911. Congress ignored his request. Taft continued to accuse Roosevelt of failing to take action against other monopolies. His antitrust case against the International Harvester Company, was one such case. Roosevelt's administration had investigated International Harvester, but had taken no action. Taft's suit became an issue when Roosevelt subsequently challenged Taft for the Republican presidential nomination in 1912. Supporters of Taft alleged that Roosevelt had acted improperly, while Roosevelt criticized Taft for waiting three and a half years to reverse a decision he had supported.
The real break between Roosevelt and Taft came to a head in what was known as the Ballinger–Pinchot affair. Roosevelt was an ardent conservationist. He had appointed like-minded appointees to pursue this policy, such as Interior Secretary James R. Garfield and Chief Forester Gifford Pinchot. Taft agreed with the need for conservation, but felt it should be accomplished by legislation rather than executive order. He did not retain Garfield in his cabinet, instead selecting former Seattle mayor Richard A. Ballinger as Interior Secretary. Roosevelt was surprised at the replacement, believing that Taft had promised to keep Garfield.
Roosevelt had withdrawn much land from the public domain, including some in Alaska thought rich in coal. In 1902, Clarence Cunningham, an Idaho entrepreneur, had found coal deposits in Alaska, and made mining claims on some of this land. The government investigated their legality, when Ballinger served as head of the General Land Office. A special agent for the Land Office, Louis Glavis, investigated the Cunningham claims, and in 1909 when Secretary Ballinger approved them, Glavis broke governmental protocol by going outside the Interior Department to seek help from Pinchot. Glavis made his allegations public in a magazine article, disclosing that Ballinger had acted as an attorney for Cunningham between his two periods of government service. He accused Ballinger of violating conflict of interest rules forbidding a former government official from advocacy on a matter he had been responsible for. On September 13, 1909 Taft dismissed Glavis from government service, choosing to support his Interior Secretary.
Pinchot was determined to publicize the issue by forcing his own dismissal. Taft tried to avoid this, fearing that it might cause a break with Roosevelt, but ultimately Taft followed advice to fire Pinchot. Pinchot had forced the issue by sending a letter to Iowa Senator Dolliver in January of 1910. Pinchot was dismissed, and he sailed for Europe to consult Roosevelt. A congressional investigation followed, which cleared Ballinger. The Ballinger–Pinchot affair caused progressives and Roosevelt loyalists to feel that Taft had turned his back on Roosevelt's agenda.
Roosevelt was receiving many letters from supporters urging him to run for the Republican nomination against Taft. In February of 1912, Roosevelt announced he would accept the Republican nomination if it was offered to him. The ideological division between Taft (a conservative) and Roosevelt (a progressive) became more apparent. As Roosevelt became more radical in his progressivism, Taft was more determined to hold on to the presidency. In the infancy of the primary system, the popular Roosevelt dominated the primaries, winning 278 of the 362 delegates to the Republican National Convention in Chicago. But Taft had control of the party machinery, and he was able to secure the bulk of the delegates decided at district or state conventions. Roosevelt challenged the election of these delegates, but the RNC overruled most objections. Taft followed custom and remained in Washington, but Roosevelt went to Chicago to run his campaign and told his supporters in a speech, "we stand at Armageddon, and we battle for the Lord".
Taft was able to win the convention fight for delegates. It was expected that Roosevelt would run as a third party candidate if not nominated. Some Republicans sought a compromise, but they were unsuccessful. Taft was nominated on the first ballot. Roosevelt accused Taft of having stolen the nomination, and he and his followers formed the Progressive Party. Taft knew he would almost certainly be defeated in the 1912 election and he was correct in this assertion. New Jersey Governor Woodrow Wilson was the Democratic nominee.
Taft followed the custom that presidents seeking re-election did not campaign. Taft spoke publicly only once, making his nomination acceptance speech on August 1. He had difficulty in financing his campaign. In the election Taft won only the states of Utah and Vermont, for a total of 8 electoral votes. Roosevelt won 88, and Wilson 435. Taft had achieved electoral popularity by the promise of continuing Roosevelt's legacy. His break with Roosevelt proved to be his popular undoing.