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William Howard Taft
Historical figureUnited States1857-1930

William Howard Taft

27th President of the United States (1909-1913) · 10th Chief Justice of the United States

Republican president from 1909 to 1913, then chief justice. He brought antitrust cases and backed the income tax amendment, but lost Theodore Roosevelt's support over tariffs and conservation.

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Profile on 12 axes8 of 12 documented
ECONOMYSTATESOCIETYWORLDOwnershipMarketsWelfareAuthoritySecurityStructureMoralityReligionTechnologyCultureTradeForeign
Where they stood

William Howard Taft, axis by axis

  1. 01Ownership+30
    PublicPrivate

    He favoured private business but offered a postal savings system run by the government instead of bank deposit guarantees.

  2. 02Markets-20
    PlannedFree

    He filed more antitrust suits than Roosevelt did, including one against U.S. Steel, and signed the Mann-Elkins Act to strengthen railroad regulation.

  3. 03Welfare+20
    SharedSelf-reliant

    He pushed the Sixteenth Amendment for an income tax, yet resisted the wider social programs of the progressives. He leans mildly toward self-reliance.

  4. 04Authority0
    DemocraticStrong leader

    He had a strictly legal view of the presidency and opposed recalling judges, vetoing Arizona's statehood until that clause was dropped. The score is at the middle.

  5. 05SecurityNo clear record
    LibertyOrder

    The sources used here show no position on civil liberties or policing, so it is left empty.

  6. 06Structure+15
    LocalCentral

    He built up federal regulatory and administrative capacity, though less boldly than Roosevelt, so he leans mildly toward central power.

  7. 07MoralityNo clear record
    ProgressiveTraditional

    Beyond the norms of his time, no position on family or social customs is documented, so it is left empty.

  8. 08ReligionNo clear record
    SecularReligious

    The sources used here show no position on religion in public life, so it is left empty.

  9. 09TechnologyNo clear record
    EmbraceCaution

    No view on technology policy is documented, and the early 20th-century setting gives no basis for one.

  10. 10Culture+25
    MulticulturalNational identity

    He kept the limits on immigration from China and Japan that he inherited from Roosevelt, which gives a mild lean toward national identity.

  11. 11Trade+15
    GlobalProtected

    He signed the protective Payne-Aldrich Tariff, which cut rates only modestly, yet in 1910 he pressed for a free trade agreement with Canada.

  12. 12Foreign policy+15
    CooperationStrength

    He promoted dollar diplomacy and sent marines to Nicaragua, but also pushed for arbitration treaties with Britain and France. The score tilts slightly toward strength.

4 axes have no clear record, so matching leaves them out.

Who was William Howard Taft?

William Howard Taft came from a well-known Cincinnati family. His jobs included judge, solicitor general, secretary of war under Theodore Roosevelt, and head of the Philippines, where he was the first civilian governor-general. Roosevelt picked him as heir, and Taft won the 1908 election. As president he pressed antitrust suits, supported the income tax amendment and tightened railroad oversight. But he accepted a high tariff and fired the chief forester, Gifford Pinchot, and that turned progressives against him. In 1912 Roosevelt ran against him, the Republican vote split, and Woodrow Wilson won. Warren Harding named Taft chief justice in 1921. It was the job he had long wanted, and he held it until 1930.

Political views

  • Pressed for the Sixteenth Amendment, which let Congress tax incomes.Source: millercenter.org
  • Took the sugar trust and U.S. Steel to court under antitrust law. This upset Roosevelt, who had approved the steel merger.Source: millercenter.org
  • Signed the Mann-Elkins Act in 1910, which gave the Interstate Commerce Commission power to suspend increases in railroad rates.Source: millercenter.org
  • Signed the Payne-Aldrich Tariff, which trimmed rates only slightly, and described it as the party's best tariff bill.Source: millercenter.org
  • Called for a free trade agreement with Canada in 1910. He also negotiated arbitration treaties with Britain and France, but the Senate weakened them.Source: en.wikipedia.org
  • Practised dollar diplomacy, using American investment to extend influence in Latin America, and in 1912 he sent 2,700 marines to Nicaragua.Source: millercenter.org

Legacy

Historians often see Taft as a skilled administrator and judge who did not suit the political side of the presidency. Admirers point to his antitrust cases, the income tax amendment, rail regulation and a reorganised executive branch. They also praise his long term as chief justice, when he updated the federal courts. In his own day, progressives led by Roosevelt said he sided with business over the tariff and conservation, and the quarrel helped put Wilson in the White House. Critics in Latin America and in the United States called dollar diplomacy and the Nicaragua landing economic imperialism. His earlier years in the Philippines also tie him to the colonial government that followed the Philippine-American War.

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William Howard Taft: questions

Which party was William Howard Taft in?

He was a Republican. In 1912 the party split when Theodore Roosevelt ran against him as a Progressive, and that let Democrat Woodrow Wilson win.

Was Taft on the Supreme Court?

Yes. President Harding made him chief justice in 1921, and he held the post until 1930. He remains the only person to have been both president and chief justice.

What was dollar diplomacy?

It was Taft's policy of using American money and business deals, rather than armies, to build influence abroad, especially in Latin America. It still involved force at times, such as the marines sent to Nicaragua in 1912.

Sources