Taft William


William Taft TLS on the Socialistic Fight



Single page TLS with an extensive autographed postscript on William Taft's personal letterhead, 6.75" x 9.25". Dated "May 1, 1913" and signed by William Howard Taft as "Wm H Taft". Near fine with single center fold.



A revealing letter written by Taft shortly after the presidential election of 1912. For years, the tensions within the Grand Old Party had been building over the issue of government regulation. During the prior Presidential administration, Theodore Roosevelt had advocated a “Square Deal” between capital and labor in American society. By the time he left the White House in March 1909, Roosevelt believed that the federal government must do more to supervise large corporations, improve the lot of women and children who worked long hours for low wages in industry, and conserve natural resources. “When I say that I am for the square deal, I mean not merely that I stand for fair play under the present rules of the game, but that I stand for having those rules changed so as to work for a more substantial equality of opportunity and of reward for equally good service,” he said in August 1910. Roosevelt was especially critical of the state and federal courts for overturning reform legislation as unconstitutional, and he said that such decisions were “fundamentally hostile to every species of real popular government.”



Roosevelt’s burgeoning crusade for more active government reflected his loss of faith in William Howard Taft, whom the former Rough Rider had chosen as his successor. As president, Taft had sided with the conservative wing of the party, which had opposed Roosevelt’s reforms at every turn. For his part, Taft believed Roosevelt had stretched the power of the executive branch too far. As a lawyer and former federal judge, Taft had nothing but disdain for his predecessor’s jaundiced view of the judiciary. “The regret which he certainly expressed that the courts had the power to set aside statutes,” wrote the president, “was an attack upon our system at the very point where I think it is the strongest.”

Tensions deepened in 1912, when Roosevelt began advocating the recall of judicial decisions through popular vote. With the courts tamed as an enemy to reform, Roosevelt then would press forward “to see that the wage-worker, the small producer, the ordinary consumer, shall get their fair share of the benefit of business prosperity.” To enact his program, Roosevelt signaled that he would accept another term as president and seek the nomination of the Republican Party.



These ambitions revealed, Taft and his fellow conservatives deemed Roosevelt a dangerous radical. Once in power for a third term, they said, Roosevelt would be a perpetual chief executive. Roosevelt had become the most dangerous man in American history, said Taft, “because of his hold upon the less intelligent voters and the discontented.” The social justice that Roosevelt sought involved, in Taft’s opinion, “a forced division of property, and that means socialism.”



The election of 1912 was bitterly contested by three individuals, Wilson, Roosevelt, and Taft, who all had or would serve as president. Roosevelt's "New Nationalism" platform called for social insurance programs, an eight-hour workday, and a strong federal role in regulating the economy. Wilson's "New Freedom" platform called for tariff reform, banking reform, and a new antitrust law. Knowing that he had little chance of victory, Taft conducted a subdued campaign based on his own platform of "progressive conservatism."



His letter is shown below:



"I have yours of April 30th, and it seems like a breeze from the past. I am with you in your socialistic fight, and if I could I would be glad to send you the arguments you suggest, but I have to hunt them up myself.



Sincerely yours

William H Taft

I am very busy trying to prepare lectures in May. I am afraid they'll be failures, I know so little when subjected to inquiry - …


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