William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857 – March 8, 1930) was the 27th President of the United States (1909–1913) and the tenth Chief Justice of the United States, the only person to have held both offices. he was the chosen successor of Theodore Roosevelt. He was elected with the help of Roosevelt. His administration was filled with problems between the conservative wing of the Republican Party, which Taft often sympathized, and the progressive wing, toward which Roosevelt moved to. After leaving the office he became a professor at Yale. He continued to be politically active.
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Despite sometimes being drawn towards more conservative actions, Taft did continue the reforms program started by Roosevelt. He extended the amount of land preserved for national parks and continued to limit the power of big corporations. Nonetheless, Taft raised tariffs in 1909 even though he campaigned for president on a low tariff platform, which was preferred by the progressive party. This action tarnished Taft's progressive image.
The way he is described as being "chosen as Roosevelt's successor," not just in this but in slide shows and texts, is almost like Roosevelt was some kind of monarch or autocratic leader. I think there is evidence to suggest that, while I agree with most of what he fought for, I do think president Roosevelt often sidestepped democracy to get what he wanted. Do you think Taft was like that too? Or was he not like Roosevelt at all, they just happened to be friends?
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