William Howard Taft's Presidency

Question 1

The 1908 Election

Answer 1

• Roosevelt was very popular in 1908, would have won if he had stood for presidency again
• He respected the two-term tradition established by George Washington and refused to run
• Successor was William Taft, fought against Democrat, William Jennings Bryan
• Taft polled 321 electoral votes and 7,678,900 popular votes to the 162 and 6,409,104 of Bryan

Question 2

Taft’s Progressive Policies

Answer 2

• Taft’s administration initiated 80 anti-trust suits under the Sherman Anti-Trust Act
• Introduced an 8-hour day for government employees as well as mine safety legislation
• Gave power to the Interstate Commission to set railroad rates
• Introduced a federal income tax and corporation tax, later had significance in covering increased gov spending
• Brought in the direct election of senators by the people rather than them being appointed by state legislatures

Question 3

Taft’s Conservative Policies

Answer 3

• Taft was concerned with Roosevelt’s ‘overuse’ of presidential authority
• Respected the rights of Congress to oppose his ideas, determined to act within the limits of the Constitution
• Failed to handle the Progressive and Conservative divisions amongst Republicans
• Earned the opposition of many Progressives by sacking Gifford Pinchot, the great conservationist, originally appointed by Roosevelt
• Taft increasingly began to align himself with the conservative right-wing, especially on the issue of tariff reform
• 1909: Taft’s session with Congress to debate tariff reform legislation spurred the Republican protectionist majority to action, passage of Payne-Aldrich Act, did little to lower tariffs
• Many Progressive Republicans (like Roosevelt) expected Taft to veto the bill
• Taft signed it into law, strongly publicly defended it

Question 4

The Roosevelt-Taft Republican Split

Answer 4

• Roosevelt returned from Africa to America to act as an opponent to Taft, concerned about Taft’s reluctance to carry out further reform
• Roosevelt made an important speech at Osawatomie, attacked trusts, urged need for social reform, supported even greater federal power, launched new policy of New Nationalism
• 1911: determined to run against Taft for presidential election nomination, Taft controlled Party Machine, able to dominate convention
• Roosevelt claimed Republican Party no longer wanted to represent the people and left
• Formed his own party, ‘Progressive Party’, nicknamed the ‘Bull-Moose’ Party
• Republican split contributed heavily towards their loss in the 1912 election