The Presidency of William Taft

After William Howard Taft (1857-1930) won the 1908 election against three-time losing candidate William Jennings Bryan (321 electoral votes to 162), he took over the Presidency from Theodore Roosevelt, fully intent on continuing his predecessors "progressive" agenda.

Reform Legislation

William Taft was not primarily focused on creating legislation while in office. As a former (and future) judge, he interpreted the office of the Presidency as much more of an administrator than a legislator.

As an administrator, Taft did much to reform the civil service, and acted to increase the size and scope of government nationally. He added more than fifty thousand jobs to the civil service (including post masters and naval workers), he increased the scope of the ICC (Interstate Commerce Commission) in order to allow them to set rates for railroads, and he ushered through the passage of the 16th Constitutional amendment, which allowed for the institution of a national income tax.

Antitrust Suits

While Presidents Roosevelt and McKinley had both spoken out against the rise of trusts in the United States and the harm that they appeared to be doing to employees and smaller businesses, Taft actually took action against them.

In fact, Taft's action against Trusts could be summed up by Roosevelt's famous statement regarding foreign policy - "Speak softly and carry a big stick." He did rail against the evils of big business, but rather used his vast knowledge of the law to his benefit, filing 90 antitrust suits against various companies, including the largest company of them all - U.S. Steel.

While progressives should have been pleased by this action against the evils of corporate trusts, this is not so. Many in the progressive wing of the republican party saw Taft as having stepped on the toes of others by taking such action - in effect, he had made other progressives look bad.

Lowering Tariffs

Perhaps the greatest rift between the President and his party arose as a result of the protective tariff (a major tenant of the Republican party since its earliest days). Progressives tended to favor the lowering of the tariff in order to benefit American agriculture, and Taft had agreed with them in the beginning.

When the Payne-Aldrich Act passed through congress in 1909 passed congress, promising only limited reductions in the tariff, Taft signed the bill and defended its content, despite the fact that his own party wanted him to veto the bill and urge a greater reduction.

While both sponsors of this tariff bill had been Republicans, they were of the conservative faction. The fact that the progressives so adamantly opposed the bill goes to show just how dramatic this rift forming in the Republican party truly was.

The 1912 Election

Despite doing a great deal to pass progressive agenda, Taft had effectively alienated himself from both sides of his party. As the election of 1912 approached, Taft decided to run again, though he found himself opposed by none other than his former friend and mentor, Theodore Roosevelt.

Taft squeaked by to win the party's nomination (though there were certainly some corrupt methods being practiced at the convention), but the opposition by Roosevelt as a third party, running as a "Progressive," helped deliver an easy victory to their democratic opponent, Woodrow Wilson.

Leaving office in 1913, then, William Howard Taft returned home and then served as a law professor at Yale. Fortunately for him, the Presidency was not the ultimate goal of his career. That goal, and the high point of his career, was still to come.

For More Information:

William Taft on the Supreme Court

The Rise of William Howard Taft.

References:

"William Howard Taft." American Presidents: An Online Reference Resource.

"Ohio Presidents." About.com.

"Biography of Willim Howard Taft." The White House.

President Taft

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