William Howard Taft: The Listless Progressive, or More is Less 573
of conservatism, he lost all chance of obtaining fur-
ther reform legislation. As he said himself, during his
last months in office “stagnation continued to rage
with uninterrupted violence.”
More Is Less William Howard Taft: The Listless Progressive, or
Progressive, or More Is Less
But Roosevelt remained popular and politically power-
ful; before his term ended, he chose William Howard
Taft, his secretary of war, to succeed him and easily
obtained Taft’s nomination. William Jennings Bryan
was again the Democratic candidate. Campaigning on
Roosevelt’s record, Taft carried the country by well
over a million votes, defeating Bryan 321 to 162 in the
Electoral College.
Taft was intelligent, experienced, and public spir-
ited; he seemed ideally suited to carry out
Roosevelt’s policies. Born in Cincinnati in 1857,
educated at Yale, he had served as an Ohio judge, as
solicitor general of the United States under Benjamin
Harrison, and then as a federal circuit court judge
before accepting McKinley’s assignment to head the
Philippine Commission in 1900. His success as civil
governor of the Philippines led Roosevelt to make
him secretary of war in 1904.
Taft supported the Square Deal loyally. This,
together with his mentor’s ardent endorsement, won
him the backing of most progressive Republicans. Yet
the Old Guard liked him too; although outgoing, he
had none of the Roosevelt impetuosity and aggres-
siveness. His genial personality and his obvious desire
to avoid conflict appealed to moderates.
However, Taft lacked the physical and mental
stamina required of a modern chief executive.
Although not lazy, he weighed over 300 pounds and
needed to rest this vast bulk more than the job
allowed. He liked to eat in leisurely fashion, to idle
away mornings on the golf course, to take an after-
noon nap. Campaigning bored him; speech making
seemed a useless chore. The judicial life was his real
love; intense partisanship dismayed and confused
him. He was too reasonable to control a coalition and
not ambitious enough to impose his will on others.
He found extremists irritating and persistent people
(including his wife) difficult to resist. He supported
many progressive measures, but he never absorbed
the progressive spirit.
A hapless Taft is entangled in governmental yarn, while a disapproving Roosevelt looks on. “Goodness gracious! I must have been dozing,” reads
the caption, a reference to Taft’s penchant for naps.
