![[Abridged] Presidential Histories - 27.) William Howard Taft 1909-1913](https://storage.googleapis.com/goodpods-images-bucket/episode_images/6525cc0e1e417ed39f762f8124d08715bf80d60045828e7dbdde538ee5b7f9b9.avif)
27.) William Howard Taft 1909-1913
[Abridged] Presidential Histories
05/16/22
•44m
About
Comments
Featured In
In 1908, Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft were such great friends, TR personally campaigned for Taft to succeed him to the presidency. Four years later, that relationship was so irrevocably damaged that TR split the GOP in half to deny Taft's reelection.
There's no way around, Taft's presidency was made by Roosevelt, and then it was unmade by Roosevelt. But there's far more to Taft's legacy than just his four years in the White House.
Follow along as Taft pursues a career in the judiciary, gets dragged into politics by President William McKinley, is tasked with rebuilding the Philippines in the midst of a bloody and horrific insurgency, gets put in the White House by his bff Theodore Roosevelt, gets kicked out of the White House by his former bff Theodore Roosevelt, and then becomes the only person in U.S. history to serve as both president of the United States and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.
Bibliography
1. William Howard Taft – Jeffrey Rosen
2. T.R. the last Romantic – H.R. Brands
3. The Moralist: Woodrow Wilson and the World He Made – Patricia O’Toole
4. The President and the Assassin: McKinley, Terror, and Empire at the Dawn of the American Century – Scott Miller
5. Warren G Harding – John W. Dean
Previous Episode
Theodore Roosevelt is the youngest American to become president. He's also the youngest American to become a former president, which means the hyper-energetic TR had plenty of time to do whatever he wanted with the rest of his life. In Roosevelt's case, that meant going on a bunch of suicidally dangerous adventures in search of death or glory.
Join me as I interview presidential historian David Pietrusza, author of TR's Last War: Theodore Roosevelt, the Great War, and a Journey of Triumph and Tragedy, to discuss Roosevelt's African safari, near-miss assassination attempt, near-death experience exploring the amazon, and his multiple attempts to get deployed to the battlefields of World War 1.
Next Episode
To hear William Howard Taft tell it, all he ever wanted to do is be a federal judge. But people don't just accidentally become president.
Join me as I talk with Peri Arnold, a professor Emeritus in the Department of Political Science at the University of Notre Dame, a consultant to New York Times in Education, and author of several books, including Remaking the Presidency: Roosevelt, Taft, and Wilson; about the role ambition, luck, and family played in Taft's rise to the nation's highest office.
If you like this episode you’ll love
Promoted