William Howard Taft (No. 27) – Cincinnati, OH

September 30 – October 1

William Howard Taft
(source:  menu at Taft's Ale House)

Taft is most remembered for his weight, which reached as much as 350 pounds. That is unfortunate, because he had a long career serving the United States, culminating in the presidency and the Supreme Court. He is the only person to serve both as president and chief justice.

Consider: Taft was appointed a judge while still in his 20s, after graduating first in his class at Yale Law;  named solicitor general; a judge on the 6^th Circuit Court of Appeals; civilian governor of the Philippines, secretary of war under Roosevelt, and then vice president under Roosevelt. He also was in charge of the Lincoln Memorial Commission.

Taft throwing out the first pitch.

He was the first president to throw the first pitch at a baseball game, in 1910 at Griffith Stadium before a Washington Senators game. (Now he is one of the Washington Nationals’ Racing Presidents, with Washington, Lincoln, Jefferson, Teddy Roosevelt and Herbert Hoover.)  He was also the first president to have a primitive air conditioning system installed at the White House.

Taft’s legacy suffers because he followed Roosevelt, considered one of the four greatest presidents.

Unfortunately, his house doesn’t compare to Roosevelt’s, either.

So our tour there was disappointing. But that’s because of the history of the Taft residence itself. It was sold and turned into an apartment house. Then, the National Park Service turned the downstairs into classrooms when it bought it. The upstairs is a historical exhibit, which is full of information about the entire Taft family. Only two rooms are on exhibit – the library and the parlor - and they are full of reproductions. There isn’t even a display of White House china.  But Taft only lived the house through high school although he and his wife, Nellie, did live in the house for a month after marriage before they moved to a different part of Cincinnati.

Our tour.

The tour is free, though.

And our guide, Paula, was quirky.  “Been here since 2001—you wouldn’t believe the things I know,” she spouted as she rattled off the birth weight and length of Taft (9 lbs., 8 oz. and 21 inches).

* * *

Taft was not a natural politician.  It was his wife, Nellie—a strong, independent woman—who pushed him into politics.  If she couldn’t be a politician, she could be the next best thing—a politician’s wife.  (It’s ironic that she had a stroke not long after Taft won the presidency and was challenged fulfilling her role as first lady.  One thing she did manage to do was accept Japan’s friendship gift of cherry trees, which were planted along the Tidal Basin and still thrive today.)

A young Taft sits on the post
outside his boyhood home in the
mid-late 1800s.

Taft was more interested in contemplating questions of policy than in the political process (Gould, 2009).  He gravitated toward a judgeship with his appointment to the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals (Moore, 2007). 

The house today--same post.

Taft was appointed governor-general of the Philippines and enjoyed the work.  He worked hard to improve living conditions for the Filipinos.  He liked the work so much that he twice turned down TR’s offers to serve on the Supreme Court despite his judicial aspirations.  But he did eventually accept a position in TR’s administration as the secretary of war.  The War Department was in charge of the construction of the Panama Canal, so Taft spent much time in Panama.

* * *

As the election of 1908 loomed, TR knew he needed to be true to his word and not run for a third term.  He convinced his vice president and friend, Taft, to carry on his legacy.  TR advised Taft and campaigned hard for him. It was TR who advised Taft to overcome his objections and take political contributions.  In the end, Taft won the presidency with  twice as many electoral votes (321) as long-time presidential aspirant, William Jennings Bryan (162). 

But his presidency was not spectacular. 

Taft went against the Republican grain of high tariffs and wanted to lower them.  Congress passed a bill with moderate reductions in tariffs and Taft signed it. 

Taft promoted “dollar diplomacy” which combined diplomacy with economic considerations such as promoting trade (i.e., selling battleships to Argentina)—not dissimilar to what goes on today. 

Taft family.  His son Robert (right) became
a huge political figure in his own right
and was known as Mr. Republican.

Taft continued U.S. involvement in Central America when he dispatched 100 marines to quell an uprising in Nicaragua.  Our involvement in Central American politics would continue until the end of the century.

TR and Taft’s friendship frayed almost from the start of Taft’s presidency.  TR had assured his former Cabinet officers that Taft would surely keep all of them in place.  But Taft removed most of them including replacing the Secretary of the Interior with pro-business Robert Ballinger.  Roosevelt was miffed. 

And Taft moved in a more conservative direction than the progressive TR.  Philosophically, Taft believed in operating strictly within the limits of the Constitution (like Franklin Pierce).  Taft said:  “We have a government of limited power under the Constitution.”  (Gould, 2009)TR, on the other hand, believed that a president could do anything that was not explicitly prohibited by the Constitution (like Barack Obama or Donald Trump). 

By 1910, Roosevelt was convinced that Taft’s policies were not aligned with his.  TR sat on the sidelines and watched as Taft unraveled his legacy.  TR said of Taft, “He is a flubdub with a streak of the second-rate and the common in him, and he has not the slightest idea of what is necessary if this country is to make social and industrial progress.”  (Gould, 2009).  And much of the country agreed with TR—the Democrats won back the House in 1910 for the “first time since 1894.”  This majority would last until the administration of his cousin, FDR (Gould, 2009).

It was under the Taft administration that Congress proposed that a personal income tax be made part of the Constitution.  It was eventually ratified in 1913 as the Sixteenth Amendment.  (Up to that time the federal budget was made up of tariffs and excise taxes.)

The ongoing national debate about immigration continued during Taft’s administration.  Congress sent him a bill to impose a literacy test to potential immigrants but his secretary of commerce and labor, Charles Nagel, convinced Taft to veto the bill.  Nagel said, “we need labor in this country, and the natives are unwilling to do the work which the aliens come over to do.”  Congress almost overturned his veto but were unable to do so (Gould, 2009).

As the election of 2012 loomed, Taft began to play the race card to attract Southern voters.  He phased out black office holders including Roosevelt’s appointment of William Crum as collector of customs for Charleston, SC.  He also appointed southern Democrats as judges.  His logic was that blacks had nowhere else to go.  They surely wouldn’t vote for the former slavery supporting Democrats.  And he was right.

By this time, TR had decided to run against his former friend Taft for the Republican nomination.  But he was not successful.  So, he left the Republican Party and ran as the candidate of the progressive Bull Moose Party. Woodrow Wilson was the Democratic candidate.  Taft never had a chance.  He was soundly whipped and won only 8 electoral votes compared to Roosevelt with 88 and Woodrow Wilson—the runaway winner—with 435. 

* * *

Chief Justice
William Howard Taft

Taft followed his presidency with a teaching position at Yale University.  When he was 64, he finally achieved his dream of serving on the Supreme Court.  He was selected buy President Warren G. Harding to serve as the chief justice in 1921. 

As chief justice, he convinced Congress to let the Supreme Court choose the cases it would hear. He also reformed the lower court system, and got the ball rolling on a new home for the Supreme Court where it stands today. Until the new building was constructed, the high court had a small space on the Senate side of the Capitol – so small that the justices had to work at home.  In his eight years on the Court, he drafted 250 opinions. 

But his health declined and he retired from the Supreme Court in February 1930.  He died a month later. Nellie lived for another 13 years and is buried next to her husband at Arlington National Cemetery.  He was the first president to be buried at Arlington.

* * *

The Taft Ale House was
formerly St. Paul's church.

Inside the Ale House.  That's not an
altar in the background.

Before we visited the house, we stumbled upon Taft’s Ale House in downtown Cincinnati, a couple blocks from the residence. “You’ll love it,” said a short, bald, man outside the restaurant.  “The Germans built the Churches when they got off the Rhine.”  We were surprised to discover it was housed in a former church, apparently a nationwide trend. The 1840s-era architecture was beautiful, with high ceilings, vaulted windows, old chandeliers, stained glass and beautiful wood railings. Big vats of beer had replaced the church organ. The restaurant had long, dining hall-style tables downstairs and regular ones upstairs, with sofas and comfy chairs tucked away in the corners. The restaurant was a bit cavernous, though that probably helps it not feel so crowded when the bar and restaurant are packed.

After our visit to the house, we headed to a local B&B. We decided to take a quick nap before exploring. But after about five minutes, Tom awoke to the feel of something (many somethings) crawling on his arm.  Black dots.  Bedbugs?  “We’re leaving,” he said as he leapt off the bed. As he headed to the main house to find the hostess, Cathy moved our luggage out to the street. When the caretaker came by and asked her what happened, Cathy told him, “We found bedbugs.” Sight unseen, he corrected us, “Those aren’t bedbugs. They’re fleas.”  Then the caretaker said something about using mothballs to get rid of the sewage small.  Sewage smell?  The hostess told Tom something about fumigating the room because of squirrels.  Squirrels?  Is that how your get rid of squirrels?  (We knew something was up when we walked in earlier and smelled something like mothballs, or pesticides, or fumigants.  And there were these two large fans plugged in.  These were not cute little fans – they were industrial-sized “let’s blow that awful smell out of here before Cathy and Tom arrive” type fans.)  When we left, the hostess ran after us to offer us a bottle of wine.  But since we were flying we couldn’t take it.  We promised her we wouldn’t name the B&B.

When the John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge opened
in 1866, it was the longest suspension bridge i the world.

We then headed across the Ohio River to Covington, Ky., where we stayed at the Renaissance. Despite the large number of liquor stores nearby (including a drive-thru), it was a great location. We walked to dinner in the Mainstrasse Village, a cute area full of shops and restaurants along Main Street.

As on many of these trips, Cathy went running the next morning. She ran along the Covington waterfront, crossed the historic John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge, and then ran along the Cincinnati waterfront, before heading back over the bridge for a shower. Delightful! We then ate brunch in downtown Covington at cute Rima's Diner where we tried goetta. This is a Cincinnati staple created by German factory workers in the 19^th century, who added oats and other grains to their sausage to make the meat go farther.

Goetta at Rima's Diner.

Directions

The William Howard Taft National Historic Site is located at 2038 Auburn Avenue in Cincinnati.  It is open seven days a week. 

References

Current, Richard N., T.Harry Williams, and Frank Freidel.  1975.  American History:  A Survey.  Fourth Edition.  Volume II:  Since 1865.  Alfred A. Knopf.  New York, NY.

Gould, Lewis L.  2009.  The William Howard Taft Presidency.  University Press of Kansas. 

Moore, Katheryn.  2007.  The American President.  Fall River Press.  New York, New York.

Riccards, Michael P.  1995.  The Ferocious Engine of Democracy.  Madison Books.  Lanham, MD

Videos

History Channel.  2005.  The Presidents:  The Lives and Legacies of the 43 Leaders of the United States.

Websites

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Howard_Taft