Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs

A Foundation for Sustainable Rural Community Development

William Howard Taft

• CLC home page
• Introduction
• Report

Summary

• Purpose
• Commissioners
• Survey & Hearings
• Prominent Deficiencies
• Underlying Problem
• Migration
• Agriculture Challenges
• Public Health
• Role of Farm Women
• Conservation & Land Use
• General Corrective Forces
• Commission Recommendations
• Legislative Recommendations
• Remedies
• The Call for Leadership

Legacy

• American Country Life Association
• Rural Sociology
• American Farm Bureau Federation
• Highways
• Agricultural Economics

Resources

• Bibliography
• Web Resources
• Timeline

William Howard Taft (1857-1930) was twenty-seventh President of the United States (1909-1913). He was born in Cincinnati, OH, into a family with a long political history. He graduated from Yale University in 1878. In 1880, he graduated from Cincinnati Law School. He established legal career that led him to the United States Supreme Court.

Before his election to the presidency, Taft served on several state and federal courts. He was appointed governor of the Philippines under President William McKinley (1897-1901), who was assassinated in 1901. McKinley’s successor, President Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909), named his friend Taft as Secretary of War (1904-1908). After completing McKinley’s term and being elected in his own right in 1904, Roosevelt decided that he had served the traditional two terms and would not seek nomination in 1908. He hand picked Taft as his presidential successor to carry out his policies.

As President, Taft backed away from many of Roosevelt’s policies and programs, including conservation and the Country Life Commission. Their friendship was permanently damaged as a result, and the Republican Party broke into factions, the traditional GOP and the Progressive Party (Bull Moose) led by Roosevelt. Taft sought re-election in 1912, facing Democratic nominee Woodrow Wilson, Progressive Party Leader Roosevelt, and Eugene V. Debs of the Socialist Party. Wilson won the election.

Taft’s political career ended in 1912 after Wilson won the presidency. He returned to Yale University, working as a law professor until 1921, when President Warren G. Harding appointed him Chief Justice of the United States. He held this position until his death in 1930.