The Taft Presidency
The Reluctant President
“Even the elements do protest”
Taft’s Inaugural Address
Dingley Tariff of 1897
 Prices
advanced more rapidly than
wages.
 High cost of living blamed on unduly
high tariff rates.
 Many including Taft believe that high
rates encourage monopoly.
Congressman Sereno Payne’s Bill
 Called
for reductions in the tariff.
 Does not abandon the principle of
protection.
Senator Nelson Aldrich’s Amendments
Over
800 Amendments
Many were designed to conceal higher
tariff rates.
Who were the insurgents?
 Several
Republican Senators that
opposed the “Old Guard.”
 They want progressive reform.
 Use a filibuster to reveal how Aldrich
and the high-tariff lobbyists were
deceiving the people.
 Taft tries to persuade the Old Guard to
reduce the rates.
Why does Taft approve the
Payne-Aldrich Tariff?

High duties on iron ore, coal, hides, and
increases on other products.
 Bill allowed for a corporation tax which Taft
wanted.
 Bill allowed for the establishment of a tariff
commission to study tariff rates scientifically.
 Taft feared a split in his party between the
Insurgents and the Old Guard.
Ballinger-Pinchot Controversy
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Secretary of the Interior Ballinger reopens land for
private purchase in Montana, Wyoming, and Alaska
that Roosevelt had set aside.
Chief Forester Pinchot a conservationist loudly
challenged these actions and accused Ballinger of
fraud.
Taft fires Pinchot for insubordination.
Taft’s siding with Ballinger seems to the public as a
blow to conservation that Roosevelt started.
Taft’s popularity plummets and even though Ballinger
had done no wrong he eventually resigns his post.
Joe G. Cannon: Speaker of the House
 Speaker’s
Power had grown!
 Appointed
all committees.
 Decided which bill went to which
committees.
 Control of debate on the floor of the House.
 Some measures pass without discussion.
 Some never reach the floor.
Uncle Joe Cannon:Speaker of the House
“Not one cent for scenery”
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Speaker of the House
Insurgents want to get
rid of him.
He used the power of
his office to hold up
progressive legislation.
Cooperated with Aldrich
during the tariff debacle
in 1909.
Opponent of
conservation.
Once someone asked Cannon how he killed time. He
answered, "Raising the tariff in the daytime and the ante
at night."
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Taft tried to keep party
harmony by backing
Cannon.
Taft’s support of the PayneAldrich Tariff, Ballinger over
Pinchot, and backing
Cannon lost him the backing
of the people.
Congressional Elections of
1910 was a Democratic
Sweep!
Why did Roosevelt return to
the political arena?

He was
disappointed in
Taft’s performance
in the White House.
 He observed that
public opinion of
Taft had grown
worse.
Who did Roosevelt align himself with
inside the Republican party?

Roosevelt and Taft at the Inauguration
The Insurgents: now
known as the
Progressive
Republicans or just
Progressives.
What is the New Nationalism
“The man who wrongly holds
that every human right is
secondary to his profit must
now give way to the
advocate of human welfare,
who rightly maintains that
every man holds his property
subject to the general rights
of the community to regulate
its use to whatever degree
the public welfare may
require it.”
Teddy Roosevelt
What parts of Roosevelt’s New
Nationalism were radical?
 State
and Federal legislation to actively
promote human welfare including child
labor laws, and laws to protect women
in the workplace.
 Workers compensation.
 State judges be subject to recall.
 Supreme Court decisions to be
reversible through popular vote.
What was the 16th amendment?
 Gave
Congress the power to collect
income taxes.
 Becomes the law of the land in 1913.
What was the 17th amendment?
Allowed
for the direct election of Senators
Becomes
law of the land in 1913.
What two new states were added to
the Union during Taft’s presidency?
 New
Mexico
 Arizona
Differences between
Roosevelt and Taft
 Taft
supported the Square Deal
 Taft believed he could only use the
powers expressly authorized by law.
 Roosevelt believed he could do
anything not forbidden.
 Taft was not effective in dramatizing an
issue or enlisting public support for his
ideas.