Transcript AP 12-13 Unit I

Taft Administration (1909-1913)
Republican
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Major Political Aspects
Election of 1908: Republican Convention
Roosevelt nominates the Sec. of War &
good friend William H. Taft
Promise: to continue Roosevelt programs
Defeated William Jennings Bryan (Dems) –
3rd & last time he gets the nomination
Main Issue – Bank Panic of 1907
Election of 1908
Election of 1908
Election of 1908
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William Howard Taft - Republican
James Sherman (VP)
Electoral vote: 321
States carried: 29
Popular vote: 7,678,395 Percentage: 51.6%
William Jennings Bryan - Democratic
John Kern (VP)
Electoral vote: 162
States carried: 17
Popular vote: 6,408,984 Percentage: 43.0%
Taft: Background and Personality
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Federal judge; governor of the Philippines;
Secretary of War
Appointments - not elected office
Little experience dealing with legislators &
voters
Taft wants to be a Supreme Court justice
Ambitious wife Helen pushed him towards
the Presidency
Taft: Limited view of the president’s role
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Attitude of passivity towards Congress
Political handicaps: TR had held the factions
of the Republican Party together with the
force of his personality
Taft had none of the arts of a political
leader; poor judge of public opinion; “footin-mouth disease”
A mild progressive (recognize need for
reform) but favored the status quo over
change  conservative
Did not have a single “insurgent” in his
cabinet
Taft Antagonizes the Progressives
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(1) Tariff Issue:
Taft calls Congress into a special session
to lower tariff rates (election pledge)
Problem: tariffs protect American products
from foreign competition; manufacturer
charge high prices (unfair to consumers)
Sereno Payne (Rep. NY) tariff reduction
bill passes the House
Taft Antagonizes the Progressives
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Trouble in the Senate; Nelson Aldrich (S-RI)
added so many amendments it actually
raised tariffs on over 500 frequently used
items
Taft drifts into agreement with the Aldrich
Amendments
Payne-Aldrich Tariff Act (1909)
Main effect: raised tariffs & more protection
Taft: “The best bill that the Republican Party
ever passed.”
Progressive Republicans  insurgents
Taft Antagonizes the Progressives
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(2) Issue of Reform in the House of
Representatives:
Speaker: “Uncle Joe” Cannon (IL)
Conservative Republican; made all committee
appointments; also could appoint a majority of
members to the Rules Committee (schedule bills);
often blocked reform measures
Taft disliked Cannon personally & didn’t approve of
his “stand-pat” conservatism
House progressives propose to strip Cannon of
some of his power, Taft pledged to support them
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Joseph Gurney
Cannon
Speaker Cannon presides over the House of Representatives during
the 59th Congress, 1906
Taft Antagonizes the Progressives
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Taft soon goes back on his word
Conservative Republicans (Old Guard) six
times as numerous as “insurgents”
Conservatives promised to cooperate w/ Taft
on other issues if he supports Cannon
Outcome: Cannon’s power still limited
Coalition between Republican insurgents &
progressive Democrats
Taft Antagonizes the Progressives
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(3) Conservation Issue:
Disappoints many progressives on this
issue; BUT set aside more national park &
forest land than Roosevelt
Richard Ballinger (Sec. of Interior) some
wilderness lands in MT & WY sold to
corporations
Gifford Pinchot (Forestry Service) charges
Ballinger  enriching corporations &
exploiting the environment
Taft Antagonizes the Progressives
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Taft responds angrily by firing …
Pinchot
Public outrage causes Taft to have
Ballinger resign
The Ballinger-Pinchot controversy a
disaster for Taft
Progressive Achievements of Taft
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1) Twice the “trust-buster”: attorney
general filed 90 anti-trust suits (TR’s 44)
Standard Oil & the American Tobacco
Company reorganized
2) Taft pushed for a constitutional
amendment permitting a federal income
tax (Congress proposed in 1909);
graduated income tax fairer; ratification
comes in 1913  Sixteenth Amendment
Progressive Achievements of Taft
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3) Supported the Mann-Elkins Act (1910):
gave the ICC more power to regulate RRs &
telegraph companies
4) Increased the number of federal
employees under the civil service
5) Labor: Children’s Bureau established in the
Labor Dept.; approved new safety regulations
for mines & RRs; Congress established an 8hour workday for govt. employees
6) Congress proposed the Seventeenth
Amendment (direct election of Senators)
The Return of Theodore Roosevelt
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1910 Congressional Elections; progressive
Republicans feel Taft trying to crush
progressivism in the party
TR convinced Taft was “utterly hopeless as a
leader.”
Osawatomie, Kansas (Aug. 31, 1910) TR
called for a New Nationalism
New Nationalism
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(1) strict business regulation
(2) social welfare laws
(3) curb on courts which nullified regulatory
legislation
(4) championed a “strong national
government” which would destroy privilege
Splits the Republican Party; Old Guard (Taft)
refer to TR’s “crime” @ Osawatomie;
Progressive Republicans (TR); Democrats win
control of the House (1st time in 20 yrs.) &
many governorships
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William Howard
Taft and Teddy
Roosevelt fight as
Uncle Sam looks
on. 1912, scanned
editorial cartoon
Taft Foreign Policy (Review)
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Encouraged Americans to invest in Latin
America; especially Honduras, Haiti, &
Nicaragua
Dollar Diplomacy
American forces intervene in:
Cuba, Honduras, Dominican Republic
1912: 2500 Marines land in Nicaragua
Taft as Chief Justice
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Taft considered this
appointment the
high point of his
career
“I don’t remember
that I was ever
President.”
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The U.S. Supreme
Court in 1925. Taft is
seated in the bottom
row, middle.