William Howard Taft

B

Circuit Judge

Taft was an able solicitor general, winning 18 out of 20 cases. He gained a thorough grounding in constitutional law and “a pretty general knowledge of the persons who run things.” However, after a year he was back in Cincinnati as a circuit court judge. His wife regretted he would no longer be “thrown with the bigwigs,” but Taft welcomed his return to the bench as the beginning of the career he wanted. He remained on the circuit court for eight years. During this time he issued a series of injunctions against labor unions and labor leaders that earned him a reputation as an enemy of workers.

C

Governor of the Philippines

In 1900 a fellow Ohioan, President William McKinley, asked Taft to head a commission to bring peace and order to the Philippines. The United States had captured the islands from Spain in the Spanish-American War of 1898, but rebels led by Emilio Aguinaldo resisted American occupation until 1901, when Aguinaldo was captured. Taft had been opposed to U.S. seizure of the islands and was unwilling to undertake the job, but McKinley persuaded him it was his duty. In Manila, Taft was soon involved in a conflict of power and policy with the military governor, General Arthur MacArthur, whose harsh treatment of the Filipinos contradicted Taft's objective: “to hold the Philippines for the benefit of the Filipinos.” Taft won, MacArthur was replaced, and in 1901, Taft was made civil governor of the islands. He then launched a sweeping reorganization of central and local government on the islands. He revised the educational and judicial systems, tax structure, and civil service. He purchased 161,880 hectares (400,000 acres) from the Roman Catholic church to redistribute among Filipinos (see Philippines: United States Rule).

Although a skillful administrator, Taft disliked politics and continued to declare his ambition to become a justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. On the other hand, his wife wanted him to become president. In 1902 Theodore Roosevelt, McKinley's successor, offered to elevate Taft to the Supreme Court. Taft declined, pleading that he wanted to finish the job in the Philippines properly, but late in 1903 he returned to Washington as Roosevelt's secretary of war.

D

Secretary of War

Roosevelt considered Taft one of the country's most valuable assets, and even Taft admitted that “the president seems really to take much comfort that I am in his Cabinet.” So able was he that Roosevelt felt free to leave the capital whenever he wished, because he had “left Taft sitting on the lid.” As Roosevelt's personal ambassador Taft was sent on many diplomatic missions. Taft helped to suppress a revolt in Cuba, supported a newly formed Panamanian government to hasten the construction of the Panama Canal, and took part in peace negotiations between Russia and Japan following the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905).

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E

Presidential Candidate

In 1906 Taft was again offered a place on the Supreme Court. When asked if his father would accept, one of Taft's sons replied, “Nope. Ma wants him to wait and be president.” After the 1904 election, Roosevelt had vowed not to run again. Taft was closely identified with Roosevelt and his policies, and many Roosevelt supporters considered him an ideal successor. Because Roosevelt himself was satisfied that Taft's election would ensure that his reform programs were continued, he used his influence with each state's Republican Party to get Taft the nomination. As a result, Taft became the Republican candidate on the first ballot. He was elected president in 1908 with a popular vote of 7,675,320 to 6,412,294 for Nebraska editor and Democratic candidate William Jennings Bryan, and an electoral vote of 321 to Bryan's 162. Although decisive, Taft's margin of victory was not as great as Roosevelt's had been in the previous election.

IV

President of the United States

In succeeding a president as colorful and popular as Roosevelt, Taft was at a disadvantage. Taft had a judicial, not a political, personality. Although Roosevelt said of Taft that “there cannot be found in the whole country a man so well fitted to be president,” Taft was a procrastinator and a poor public speaker, and he altogether lacked Roosevelt's flair for dramatizing the issues and his intentions.

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