Howard Taft Personality

Great Essays
Show More
William Howard Taft was the 27th president of the United States of America. Taft was a kind and humble man from Ohio. He excelled at being a judicial figure which ultimately propelled him to becoming president. Taft managed to accomplish many things while he was president, but had a hard time living up to the presidency of his predecessor. His ability to see virtually every issue from each side made him very unbiased which was a very unique trait rarely seen in any president before him. Taft overall was a one of the progressive presidents and brought a wave of change to America that still has an effect today. Taft was viewed as a kind man who viewed every issue from every angle. This made him a very good lawyer and judge. Since he was unbiased …show more content…
Taft was then facing William Jennings Bryan as his opponent who was running for the Democratic party. Bryan was a populist and argued that he was better fit to continue progressive policies than Taft. The support from Roosevelt and Taft’s promises to keep continuing Roosevelt’s policies helped him win the election. Taft won by a considerable margin getting 321 electoral votes and beating Bryan by 9 percent in the popular vote. Taft then served as president for one term from 1909 to 1913 after losing reelection to Democrat Woodrow Wilson due to Theodore Roosevelt running and splitting the vote among …show more content…
Taft only kept one of Roosevelt’s cabinet members after he became president in 1909. He even replaced the Secretary of War that Roosevelt had chosen to replace Taft a few months before. This upsetted Roosevelt because Taft had promised Roosevelt that he would at least keep him. Taft decided to not keep Secretary of the Interior James R. Garfield as well, who was the son of former president James A. Garfield as secretary and replaced him when he took office. He chose not keep him due to his use of previous executive orders to promote conservation instead of following legislation. Taft also fired Chief Forester Gifford Pinchot who was one of Roosevelt’s closest friends and advisors, for his radical ways of promoting conservation. These two replacements angered Roosevelt even more as Pinchot and Garfield were some of Roosevelt’s closest advisors and friends, and was a major reason why Roosevelt decided to run against Taft in the 1912 presidential election. Taft had more luck making Supreme Court appointments where he carefully chose judges who he had known for years and had lots of experience. Taft, however, did have a controversial appointment when he appointed Edward D. White as Chief Justice in 1910. White was very old for the position and many thought that Taft nominated him just so that after his presidency he could take White’s place after he would die or resign. Coincidently

Related Documents

  • Great Essays

    Abraham Lincoln: The Great Emancipator
    • 1526 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Abraham Lincoln: The Great Emancipator

    For many times, he had changed the general commanders because they couldn’t win in many battles. In addition to operating Cabinet duties, he had to control the Army, Navy and the governance of the country. President Abraham Lincoln had to worry about the thousands of political positions and military, prepared speeches, wrote letters, read the books on military science and identified talented generals, which could bring victory. At the beginning of the Civil War, there were some extremists in the North against slavery. If they prevail, the North would lose power in favor of states such as Kentucky, Missouri, Delaware and Maryland, and the defeat of the Southern faction could not be done without the support…

    • 1526 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
    Read More
  • Superior Essays

    Wilson And Roosevelt's Three Progressives
    • 1046 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Wilson And Roosevelt's Three Progressives

    In a move that was initially intended to lower excessive tariffs, Taft urged the House of Representatives to pass a bill to slightly lower some tariffs, but the Senate made major revisions to the statute, which in turn, caused tariffs to go up on many products. Progressives obviously were outraged by this decision, and Taft began to lose support from that group. This deviation from the progressivism of old caused a split in the Republican Party, which allowed Democrats to have the majority in the House of Representatives. Roosevelt came back to attempt to become the Republican candidate for the 1912 election. After failing at that attempt, he formed his own “Bull-Moose” Party and became a third-party candidate.…

    • 1046 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
    Read More
  • Great Essays

    Woodrow Wilson's Foreign Policy
    • 2119 Words
    • 9 Pages

    Woodrow Wilson's Foreign Policy

    The falling out he experienced with House paled in comparison to the in-fighting in the Democratic Party, as well as the opposition he faced in Henry Cabot Lodge. A Republican with significant political sway, Lodge was incensed that Wilson had embarked on a European “crusade” without advice from or participation by a significant number of Republicans. He was not one to shy away from attacking the incumbent President, saying Wilson was “prone to ‘enticing generalities’ and ‘shrill shrieks.’” Lodge attacked the President’s famous oration skills, his time spent abroad working on a treaty rather than addressing domestic issues, his idealistic desires for a new, democratic world, but perhaps most notoriously Wilson’s 14 points. Led by Lodge, a majority Republican “reservationist” movement emerged in opposition to the 14 points. Knock points out that the reservationists consolidated “forty-six amendments… to a total of, curiously, fourteen.,” perhaps in a bizarre sense of irony.…

    • 2119 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Great Essays
    Read More
  • Superior Essays

    Judicial Indecisiveness
    • 1903 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Judicial Indecisiveness

    Many historians agree that Taft’s judicial indecisiveness led him to be a poor administrator. Living up to the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt was a hard task. Taft was expected to continue roosevelt’s policies and then some, and though he had many progressive accomplishments like breaking up more monopolies than other president, he lacked in proposing progressive legislation and alienated progressives in his party when he proposed lowering tariffs. Taft liked to enforce legislation rather than propose new legislation which has made many people today to think of him as an inactive president. However, the legislation that he did propose and passed is viewed very favorably.…

    • 1903 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Superior Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    The Pros And Cons Of Roosevelt's New Deal
    • 1552 Words
    • 7 Pages

    The Pros And Cons Of Roosevelt's New Deal

    This was because Republicans were dominating the American Supreme Court who were opposed to the New Deal and denied democracy by throwing out laws that Roosevelt had been elected to pass. Also it was not that he took over the power and used it for his own, he used it to settle down the US depression as soon as…

    • 1552 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Superior Essays

    Flaws Of Franklin D Roosevelt
    • 986 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Flaws Of Franklin D Roosevelt

    Roosevelt long rule as president and his decisions, he shaped the future role of the presidency in an unacceptable way. The Supreme Court repeatedly rejected a lot of FDR’s New Deal policies so he decided to pack the court. The idea known as the “court-packing plan”, was a proposal set by FDR that gave him the power to select as many new judges as he wants. This was because FDR wanted judges that would agree with the New Deal programs that he wanted to put out. Many of FDR’s own supporters and people of his own party believed what he did caused an unbalance of power (Levy).…

    • 986 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Teddy Roosevelt: Who's The Best President?
    • 1469 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Teddy Roosevelt: Who's The Best President?

    Many foreign countries had threatened to ban American imports by throwing out both the good and bad meat. Meanwhile, Americans had longed for safer canned products. The novel written by Upton Sinclair, called The Jungle, had only excited more Americans for a reform. This novel showed the public how unsanitary the product packing industry was. The American population, including Roosevelt, was so appalled that an investigation occurred.…

    • 1469 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Why Was Warren G Harding Considered The Worst President
    • 699 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Why Was Warren G Harding Considered The Worst President

    Harding had been answered through the articles, but as a result of the those articles, even more questions branched off. The ultimate question is whether or not Warren G. Harding was the worst president ever elected, this is a very interesting argument because it could leads to the causes and effects of his presidency, and how and why he fostered some pro-conservative policies, while at the same time neglecting other important issues. Another question that takes a hit at Harding is what did he do? When people think of a president, they often think of a law enacted under their administration, or something on that track, but with Harding, he was only a puppet to his administration, almost Raegan-esc. This also leads to another question, how was American society under Harding’s administration, and how did he directly influence the roaring-twenties?…

    • 699 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation: Summary
    • 1116 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation: Summary

    Due to the way he left, and did not act as a monarch, it taught many that presidents were replaceable, and that the country did not need to fret because he was resigning from office. Furthermore, whenever Washington left office the country was in turmoil over who would lead them next. Due to the recent war affairs, the citizens based their votes more on the revolutionary credits rather than political standpoints. John Adams and Thomas Jefferson were, without a doubt, two of the best candidates for the role of president. These two men were friends and collaborators who worked together to shape the country in the beginning stages, and not they were running against each other to lead the country.…

    • 1116 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Superior Essays

    John F Kennedy's Domestic Image
    • 1241 Words
    • 5 Pages

    John F Kennedy's Domestic Image

    . Johnson 's rough-edged, even crude, personality could hardly have been more different from Kennedy 's. But like Kennedy, Johnson was a man who believed in the active use of power” (698). Both presidents’ use of personality resulted in an array of reactions and consequences to happen during their terms in office. For example, Kennedy’s personality did not aid in congress’ belief in his reform programs because they did not pass, but it did help with the nation’s perceptions of him because of how genuine he was.…

    • 1241 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
    Read More

Related Topics

Ready To Get Started?
Discover
Company
Follow
©2023 Cram.com
Privacy Policy |  CA Privacy Policy |  Site Map |  Advertise  | 
  • Cookie Settings