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William Howard Taft
Taft appeared to enter his term as president with every intention of carrying on the progressive policies introduced by Theodore Roosevelt. Roosevelt had endorsed Taft (the 2 were friends at the time), and the public loved Roosevelt, so it looked like Taft would transition well into the Oval Office.
Taft followed through on Roosevelt's trustbusting efforts by actually breaking up nearly twice as many trusts as Roosevelt, including Standard Oil and American Tobacco, and placing strict regulations on others that were still in existence to ensure fair competition.
Taft didn't follow through on many of Roosevelt's other actions. He wasn't a believer in the government getting involved with labor negotiations between unions and management, which angered many workers. In addition, he believed in having land developed in rural areas that Teddy Roosevelt wanted to protect/conserve for future generations.
Taft was nowhere near as outgoing or interested in media attention as Roosevelt. Some of that most likely stemmed from his physical appearance. Weighing in at over 330 lbs and needing a special bathtub installed in the White House, the media was constantly poking fun at him.
Roosevelt was pretty ticked off that Taft didn't follow through with furthering his agenda, and decided to run for President again in 1912. With Taft and Roosevelt (running as a 3rd party candidate) both in the election, the conservative vote was split and it paved the way for Woodrow Wilson to get elected president, the 1st Democrat to do so in 20 years. In retirement, Taft went back to his first love... being a judge. Taft eventually became the only person to be both the President of the U.S. and a Supreme Court Judge at some point in their life.
Taft followed through on Roosevelt's trustbusting efforts by actually breaking up nearly twice as many trusts as Roosevelt, including Standard Oil and American Tobacco, and placing strict regulations on others that were still in existence to ensure fair competition.
Taft didn't follow through on many of Roosevelt's other actions. He wasn't a believer in the government getting involved with labor negotiations between unions and management, which angered many workers. In addition, he believed in having land developed in rural areas that Teddy Roosevelt wanted to protect/conserve for future generations.
Taft was nowhere near as outgoing or interested in media attention as Roosevelt. Some of that most likely stemmed from his physical appearance. Weighing in at over 330 lbs and needing a special bathtub installed in the White House, the media was constantly poking fun at him.
Roosevelt was pretty ticked off that Taft didn't follow through with furthering his agenda, and decided to run for President again in 1912. With Taft and Roosevelt (running as a 3rd party candidate) both in the election, the conservative vote was split and it paved the way for Woodrow Wilson to get elected president, the 1st Democrat to do so in 20 years. In retirement, Taft went back to his first love... being a judge. Taft eventually became the only person to be both the President of the U.S. and a Supreme Court Judge at some point in their life.
Summary of how Taft got to be president and his time in office.
1912 Election
4 Main Candidates:
Debs - (Socalist)
Pros - many unions supported him.
Cons - didn't have the name recognition nationally or organization of a major political party candidate.
Summary - wanted Capitalism eliminated and Govt. involvement in peoples lives reduced dramatically. He was
considered a radical by many and received a smallest % of the vote. He ended up running for President 5
separate times.
Taft - (Republican)
Pros - was the incumbent (already in office) and had name recognition.
Cons - unpopular with many of the people that originally elected him who thought they were getting another version of
Teddy Roosevelt.
Summary - believed trusts should be busted if they got that way illegally. Didn't think govt. should be as interested
with conserving land. Most tariffs rose while he was President. Didn't actively campaign like Roosevelt or
Wilson.
Roosevelt - (Progressive or Bull Moose)
Pros - popular with the press and a lot of the public... good speaker.
Cons - didn't have the organization of a major political party candidate.
Summary - believed trusts should be busted if they got that way illegally, that land should be conserved, and tariffs
should be lowered. Did not think all trusts should be busted (legal ones were fine in his mind)
Wilson - (Democrat)
Pros - had Taft/Roosevelt fighting with each other.
Cons - wasn't as well known as Roosevelt or Taft originally.
Summary - believed all trusts should be busted and that monopolies were wrong. Supported small businesses.
Wanted tariffs lowered and total change to the banking system of the U.S. This will be discussed in detail in
Sect. 5.
To see a chart showing the election results (and how Roosevelt/Taft took votes away from each other... allowing Wilson to win) click here
Debs - (Socalist)
Pros - many unions supported him.
Cons - didn't have the name recognition nationally or organization of a major political party candidate.
Summary - wanted Capitalism eliminated and Govt. involvement in peoples lives reduced dramatically. He was
considered a radical by many and received a smallest % of the vote. He ended up running for President 5
separate times.
Taft - (Republican)
Pros - was the incumbent (already in office) and had name recognition.
Cons - unpopular with many of the people that originally elected him who thought they were getting another version of
Teddy Roosevelt.
Summary - believed trusts should be busted if they got that way illegally. Didn't think govt. should be as interested
with conserving land. Most tariffs rose while he was President. Didn't actively campaign like Roosevelt or
Wilson.
Roosevelt - (Progressive or Bull Moose)
Pros - popular with the press and a lot of the public... good speaker.
Cons - didn't have the organization of a major political party candidate.
Summary - believed trusts should be busted if they got that way illegally, that land should be conserved, and tariffs
should be lowered. Did not think all trusts should be busted (legal ones were fine in his mind)
Wilson - (Democrat)
Pros - had Taft/Roosevelt fighting with each other.
Cons - wasn't as well known as Roosevelt or Taft originally.
Summary - believed all trusts should be busted and that monopolies were wrong. Supported small businesses.
Wanted tariffs lowered and total change to the banking system of the U.S. This will be discussed in detail in
Sect. 5.
To see a chart showing the election results (and how Roosevelt/Taft took votes away from each other... allowing Wilson to win) click here
You will hear the story of Teddy Roosevelt getting shot and then giving a speech!