In the 1980s, Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft met for the first time, an interaction Roosevelt described as “one loves him at first sight”. From there, the public servants’ friendship sprouted. Taft became Roosevelt’s war secretary while Roosevelt was president, where they worked together in harmony for years. After Roosevelt said he wouldn’t run a third term, he chose Taft as his successor for the 1908 election. Theodore Roosevelt even described his friendship with Taft as one of “close and sweet intimacy”.
However, this special relationship between two public servants would soon come to a close. When Taft took office in 1909, Roosevelt quickly became disappointed in his long-time friend and predecessor. Whereas Roosevelt thought Taft’s presidency would be an extension of his own progressive policies, Taft soon strayed from this notion as he began to more towards conservative republican views. Although some of his policies did support Roosevelt’s progressive views, Taft’s choice of cabinet members, his rollback of conservation policies, and position on tariffs all contradicted Roosevelt’s beliefs. By 1911, their friendship had deteriorated a considerable amount as Roosevelt would routinely criticize Taft in public until finally, he decided to run against Taft in the 1912 election. The former brothers’ bad blood grew as the convention approached and turned even uglier as the two began to throw insults at not only their contrasting political views but also their characters as people. In the end, the split of the Republican party led to their defeat and a victory for the Democratic candidate Woodrow Wilson. The tale of Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft is a tragic one in which an intimate, loving friendship turned into an ugly feud.
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I think Roosevelt's decision to run with his own party really demonstrated his determination, especially when he had to go against a very close friend. His Bull Moose Party, or Progressive Party, challenged conservative republican ideas and proposed implementing a minimum wage, the vote for women, the abolition of child labor, and old age pension. Like you said in your post, it's unfortunate that their clashing opinions destroyed such a good friendship.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the blog. I wanted to learn more about what either of them had to say about each other years later. I found out that in 1922, William H. Taft actually wrote a letter where he claimed that Theodore Roosevelt's acquaintances have treated Taft unfairly. However, he also claimed that he did not feel animosity towards Roosevelt anymore. He admitted there were times before where he did, but now he did not and did not want to bring up the discussion anymore. So, while Taft may have tried to distance himself from talk about Roosevelt, the relationship in Taft's viewpoint did not end with complete animosity.
ReplyDeleteSource: https://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-now/spotlight-primary-source/william-h-taft-recalls-dispute-theodore-roosevelt-1922
I think this blog is really well written. I like how you provided examples of how they viewed each to show the contrast between their relationship before and later. I think it is interesting how he was the person who helped and wanted Taft to become President but once Taft's presidency began he became extremely disappointed and hostile toward Taft. One of the main outcomes of Roosevelt deciding to run for President again in 1912 was that it eventually split the Republican party and allowed the a Democratic President to take take power for the first time in 16 years.
ReplyDeleteSource:
https://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h887.html