Presidency of William Howard Taft

Historical Context Essay

Lucas Paul Richert (University of Saskatchewan)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 3.2.3: American (US) Writing and Culture: The Early Twentieth-century , 1900-1945.
Vol. editors: Patrick Chura (University of Akron), J. Michael Duvall (College of Charleston), Emory Elliott (University of California, Riverside), Dale Enggass (University of Utah), Matthew Hofer (University of New Mexico), Stephen E. Meats (Pittsburg State University), Tony Papanikolas (San Jose State University), Justin Parks (UiT - The Arctic University of Norway), Nick Selby (University of East Anglia)

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Changes of government, elections and reigns

Dates

Date of occurrence 1909-03-04-1913-03-04

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United States (Location)

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In 1900, William Howard Taft began his political career serving on a commission that oversaw the Philippines and thereafter Taft was appointed the first (civilian) governor of that country. In 1904, Taft was named Secretary of War and was subsequently Theodore Roosevelt's hand-picked successor and served as President of the United States for one term. He won the 1908 election against Democratic opponent William Jennings Bryan (321 electoral college votes to 162). Unfortunately, Taft failed to live up to the expectations of Progressive Republicans, who rightly or wrongly regarded him as an ineffectual leader and a half-hearted progressive. One piece of legislation, the Payne-Aldrich Tariff, typified the acrimonious rupture amongst Republicans. Payne-Aldrich was a protectionist measure, and one that deeply offended progressives and Taft, in an act of political compromise, signed the bill. Yet Taft,...

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311 words

Citation: Richert, Lucas Paul. "Presidency of William Howard Taft". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 01 October 2008 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=586, accessed 10 June 2026.]

Presidency of William Howard Taft

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