The Presidency of William Taft

William Howard Taft was the twenty-seventh president of the United States. He was born in 1857 and his father was a distinguished judge during the time. William Taft held many positions of leadership within the government and even was a professor at Yale Law School for some time. When Taft had completed law school he was given the title as Assistant Prosecutor of Hamilton County. Taft served as United States Solicitor General from 1890 to 1892 and then as Judge on the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court. It was from 1896 to 1900 that Taft was also a professor of law and then dean of the Cincinnati Law School.

In 1900, Taft was appointed Commissioner of the Philippines. It was his job to secure the establishment of civil administration in the Philippines, which the United States had just acquired in the Spanish-American War. It was from 1901 to 1904 that Taft served as the Governor General of the Philippines and 1904 to 1908, that he was Secretary of War in the Roosevelt administration. Taft later would take the role as president after Roosevelt.

"Theodore Roosevelt selected William Howard Taft to be his successor and gave him vital support during the presidential campaign of 1908."(Paolo,xii) In being that Taft was in office after one of the most popular presidents, Taft had much to live up to compared to the Roosevelt presidency. Taft agreed with much of the policies established by the Roosevelt administration, but also felt that the power of the Presidency had been extended too far by the Roosevelt administration. "As Taft saw it, his function as president was to establish a legal basis for the reforms undertaken by Roosevelt, not to enlarge the degree of federal intervention in the economic and social life of the nation."(Paolo,xii) Roosevelt chose Taft to take the role as president thinking he would broaden executive power, but Taft had his own ideas and he would eventually narrow the executive power.

Though Taft was not ultimately favored as a better president than Roosevelt he did have quite a number of accomplishments while in the presidential position. In his inaugural address Taft stated "complete and perfect the advancements Roosevelt had made".(William Taft) Taft sought to assert U.S. influence in foreign lands through investment and trade. A 1911 free-trade agreement between the U.S. and Canada would have gone far toward lowering tariffs between the neighboring countries had it not been rejected by the Canadian parliament. Taft did not shy away from displaying American military strength to protect U.S. business interests, especially in Latin America. When revolution threatened in Honduras and Nicaragua, Taft dispatched troops to safeguard U.S. citizens and property. Equally noteworthy were his decisions not to interfere with revolutions taking place in Mexico and China.

It is ironic in the fact that Taft had a greater number of progressive reforms within his four years as president than Roosevelt did in his seven. Taft undertook the first tariff revision since 1897. He also improved upon Roosevelt's conservation work, made advances in railroad regulation, and launched an antitrust crusade with which Roosevelt's was weak in comparison. Taft successfully avoided American military involvement in various international disputes during his term as President. While in office, Taft also succeeded in creating the postal savings and parcel post systems, he added two states to the Union, two amendments to the constitution, established a Department of Labor seperate from Commerce, practically completed the Panama Canal, regulated corporate campaign contributions, and strengthened the Pure Food Drugs Act. As far as foreign affairs go, Taft approached the idea of a termed Dollar Diplomacy and wanted to confirm an U.S. influence in foreign lands through investment and trade.

It was in 1911 that a free-trade agreement between the U.S. and Canada would have gone far toward lowering tariffs between the neighboring countries, but it was rejected by the Canadian parliament. Taft did not pull back in displaying American military might to protect U.S. business interests, especially in Latin America. "When revolution threatened in Honduras and Nicaragua, Taft dispatched troops to safeguard U.S. citizens and property. Equally noteworthy were his decisions not to interfere with revolutions taking place in Mexico and China."(The American Experience-William Taft) "William Howard Taft-the one man to be both president and chief justice-has a secure palce in American history. His heritage, education, and early experiences were of the law, his inclinations and ambitions were judicial, and his learning was the offspring of these kindred elements."(Burton,89)


Burton, H. David. The Learned Presidency Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, Woodrow Wilson. London:Questia Media America, Inc. 1988

Coletta, E. Paolo. The Presidency of William Howard Taft. Kansas: University Press of Kansas, 1973