A VINTAGE ORIGINAL PHOTO FROM 1923 MEASURING 6 1/2 X 8 1/2 INCHESW FEATURING CHIEF JUSTICE TAFT AND ASSOCIATE JUSTICE EDWARD T. SANFORD OF THE U. SUPREME COURT AT INAUGRATION CEREMONIES AT GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY. William Howard Taft was the 27th president of the United States and the tenth Chief Justice of the United States, the only person to have held both offices. William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857 March 8, 1930) was the 27th president of the United States (19091913) and the tenth Chief Justice of the United States (19211930), the only person to have held both offices. Taft was elected president in 1908, the chosen successor of Theodore Roosevelt, but was defeated for re-election by Woodrow Wilson in 1912 after Roosevelt split the Republican vote by running as a third-party candidate. In 1921, President Warren G. Harding appointed Taft to be chief justice, a position in which he served until a month before his death. Taft was born in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1857. His father, Alphonso Taft, was a U. Attorney General and Secretary of War. Taft attended Yale and joined the Skull and Bones, of which his father was a founding member. After becoming a lawyer, Taft was appointed a judge while still in his twenties. He continued a rapid rise, being named Solicitor General and as a judge of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. In 1901, President William McKinley appointed Taft civilian governor of the Philippines. In 1904, Roosevelt made him Secretary of War, and he became Roosevelt’s hand-picked successor. Despite his personal ambition to become chief justice, Taft declined repeated offers of appointment to the Supreme Court of the United States, believing his political work to be more important. With Roosevelt’s help, Taft had little opposition for the Republican nomination for president in 1908 and easily defeated William Jennings Bryan for the presidency in that November’s election. In the White House, he focused on East Asia more than European affairs and repeatedly intervened to prop up or remove Latin American governments. Taft sought reductions to trade tariffs, then a major source of governmental income, but the resulting bill was heavily influenced by special interests. His administration was filled with conflict between the conservative wing of the Republican Party, with which Taft often sympathized, and the progressive wing, toward which Roosevelt moved more and more. Controversies over conservation and antitrust cases filed by the Taft administration served to further separate the two men. Roosevelt challenged Taft for renomination in 1912. Taft used his control of the party machinery to gain a bare majority of delegates and Roosevelt bolted the party. The split left Taft with little chance of re-election and he took only Utah and Vermont in Wilson’s victory. In 1921, President Harding appointed Taft as chief justice, an office he had long sought. Chief Justice Taft was a conservative on business issues and under him there were advances in individual rights. In poor health, he resigned in February 1930, and died the following month. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery, the first president and first Supreme Court justice to be interred there. Taft is generally listed near the middle in historians’ rankings of U. Early life and education. Rise in government (18801908). Ohio lawyer and judge. Presidential election of 1908. Domestic policies and politics. 1912 presidential campaign and election. Moving apart from Roosevelt. Return to Yale (19131921). Taft Court membership timeline. Administration and political influence. Declining health and death. Legacy and historical view. Yale College photograph of Taft. William Howard Taft was born September 15, 1857 in Cincinnati, Ohio, to Alphonso Taft and Louise Torrey. [2] The Taft family was not wealthy, living in a modest home in the suburb of Mount Auburn. Alphonso served as a judge, ambassador and in the cabinet, as War Secretary and Attorney General under Ulysses S. William Taft was not seen as brilliant as a child, but was a hard worker; Taft’s demanding parents pushed him and his four brothers toward success, tolerating nothing less. He attended Woodward High School in Cincinnati. At Yale College, which he entered in 1874, the heavyset, jovial Taft was popular, and was an intramural heavyweight wrestling champion. One classmate described him succeeding through hard work rather than being the smartest, and as having integrity. [4][5] In 1878, Taft graduated, second in his class out of 121. [6] He attended Cincinnati Law School, [7] and graduated with a Bachelor of Laws in 1880. While in law school, he worked on The Cincinnati Commercial newspaper, [6] edited by Murat Halstead. Taft was assigned to cover the local courts, and also spent time reading law in his father’s office; both activities gave him practical knowledge of the law that was not taught in class. Shortly before graduating from law school, Taft went to the state capital of Columbus to take the bar examination and easily passed. After admission to the Ohio bar, Taft devoted himself to his job at the Commercial full-time. Halstead was willing to take him on permanently at an increased salary if he would give up the law, but Taft declined. In October 1880, Taft was appointed assistant prosecutor for Hamilton County (where Cincinnati is located), and took office the following January. Taft served for a year as assistant prosecutor, trying his share of routine cases. [9] He resigned in January 1882 after President Chester A. Arthur appointed him Collector of Internal Revenue for Ohio’s First District, an area centered on Cincinnati. [10] Taft refused to dismiss competent employees who were politically out of favor, and resigned effective in March 1883, writing to Arthur that he wished to begin private practice in Cincinnati. [11] In 1884, Taft campaigned for the Republican candidate for president, Maine Senator James G. Blaine, who lost to New York Governor Grover Cleveland. In 1887, Taft, then aged 29, was appointed to a vacancy on the Superior Court of Cincinnati by Governor Joseph B. The appointment was good for just over a year, after which he would have to face the voters, and in April 1888, he sought election for the first of three times in his lifetime, the other two being for the presidency. He was elected to a full five-year term. Some two dozen of Taft’s opinions as a state judge survive, the most significant being Moores & Co. 1[b] (1889) if only because it was used against him when he ran for president in 1908. The case involved bricklayers who refused to work for any firm that dealt with a company called Parker Brothers, with which they were in dispute. Taft ruled that the union’s action amounted to a secondary boycott, which was illegal. It is not clear when Taft met Helen Herron (often called Nellie), but it was no later than 1880, when she mentioned in her diary receiving an invitation to a party from him. By 1884, they were meeting regularly, and in 1885, after an initial rejection, she agreed to marry him. The wedding took place at the Herron home on June 19, 1886. William Taft remained devoted to his wife throughout their almost 44 years of marriage. Nellie Taft pushed her husband much as his parents had, and she could be very frank with her criticisms. [14][15] The couple had three children, of whom the eldest, Robert, became a U. There was a seat vacant on the U. Supreme Court in 1889, and Governor Foraker suggested President Harrison appoint Taft to fill it. Taft was 32 and his professional goal was always a seat on the Supreme Court. He actively sought the appointment, writing to Foraker to urge the governor to press his case, while stating to others it was unlikely he would get it. Instead, in 1890, Harrison appointed him Solicitor General of the United States. When Taft arrived in Washington in February 1890, the office had been vacant two months, with the work piling up. He worked to eliminate the backlog, while simultaneously educating himself on federal law and procedure he had not needed as an Ohio state judge. New York Senator William M. Evarts, a former Secretary of State, had been a classmate of Alphonso Taft at Yale. [c] Evarts called to see his friend’s son as soon as Taft took office, and William and Nellie Taft were launched into Washington society. Nellie Taft was ambitious for herself and her husband, and was annoyed when the people he socialized with most were mainly Supreme Court justices, rather than the arbiters of Washington society such as Theodore Roosevelt, John Hay, Henry Cabot Lodge and their wives. Although Taft was successful as Solicitor General, winning 15 of the 18 cases he argued before the Supreme Court, [2] he was glad when in March 1891, the United States Congress created a new judgeship for each of the United States Courts of Appeal and Harrison appointed him to the Sixth Circuit, based in Cincinnati. In March 1892, Taft resigned as Solicitor General to resume his judicial career. Taft’s federal judgeship was a lifetime appointment, and one from which promotion to the Supreme Court might come. Taft’s older half-brother Charles, successful in business, supplemented Taft’s government salary, allowing William and Nellie Taft and their family to live in comfort. Taft spent these years, from 1892 to 1900, in personal and professional contentment. According to historian Louis L. Gould, while Taft shared the fears about social unrest that dominated the middle classes during the 1890s, he was not as conservative as his critics believed. He supported the right of labor to organize and strike, and he ruled against employers in several negligence cases. [2] Among these was Voight v. Baltimore & Ohio Southwestern Railway Co. [d] Taft’s decision for a worker injured in a railway accident violated the contemporary doctrine of liberty of contract, and he was reversed by the Supreme Court. [e] On the other hand, Taft’s opinion in United States v. Addyston Pipe and Steel Co. [f] was upheld unanimously by the high court. [g] Taft’s opinion, in which he held that a pipe manufacturers’ association had violated the Sherman Antitrust Act, [20] was described by Henry Pringle, his biographer, as having “definitely and specifically revived” that legislation. In 1896, Taft became dean and Professor of Property at his alma mater, the Cincinnati Law School, a post that required him to prepare and give two hour-long lectures each week. [22] He was devoted to his law school, and was deeply committed to legal education, introducing the case method to the curriculum. [23] As a federal judge, Taft could not involve himself with politics, but followed it closely, remaining a Republican supporter. He watched with some disbelief as the campaign of Ohio Governor William McKinley developed in 1894 and 1895, writing “I cannot find anybody in Washington who wants him”. [23] By March 1896, Taft realized that McKinley would likely be nominated, and was lukewarm in his support. He landed solidly in McKinley’s camp after former Nebraska representative William Jennings Bryan in July stampeded the 1896 Democratic National Convention with his Cross of Gold speech. Bryan, both in that address and in his campaign, strongly advocated free silver, a policy that Taft saw as economic radicalism. Taft feared that people would hoard gold in anticipation of a Bryan victory, but he could do nothing but worry. McKinley was elected; when a place on the Supreme Court opened in 1898, the only one under McKinley, the president named Joseph McKenna. From the 1890s until his death, Taft played a major role in the international legal community. He was active in many organizations, was a leader in the worldwide arbitration movement, and taught international law at the Yale Law School. [25] One of the reasons for his bitter break with Roosevelt in 191012 was Roosevelt’s insistence that arbitration was naïve and that only war could decide major international disputes. Sultan Jamalul Kiram II with William Howard Taft of the Philippine Commission in Jolo, Sulu (March 27, 1901). In January 1900, Taft was called to Washington to meet with McKinley. Taft hoped a Supreme Court appointment was in the works, but instead McKinley wanted to place Taft on the commission to organize a civilian government in the Philippines. The appointment would require Taft’s resignation from the bench; the president assured him that if he fulfilled this task, McKinley would appoint him to the next vacancy on the high court. Taft accepted on condition he was made head of the commission, with responsibility for success or failure; McKinley agreed, and Taft sailed for the islands in April 1900. The American takeover meant the Philippine Revolution bled into the PhilippineAmerican War, as Filipinos fought for their independence, but U. Forces, led by military governor General Arthur MacArthur Jr. [h] had the upper hand by 1900. MacArthur felt the commission was a nuisance, and their mission a quixotic attempt to impose self-government on a people unready for it. The general was forced to co-operate with Taft, as McKinley had given the commission control over the islands’ military budget. [28] The commission took executive power in the Philippines on September 1, 1900; on July 4, 1901, Taft became civilian governor. MacArthur, until then the military governor, was relieved by General Adna Chaffee, who was designated only as commander of American forces. Taft sought to make the Filipinos partners in a venture that would lead to their self-government; he saw independence as something decades off. Many Americans in the Philippines viewed the locals as racial inferiors, but Taft wrote soon before his arrival, “we propose to banish this idea from their minds”. [30] Taft did not impose racial segregation at official events, and treated the Filipinos as social equals. [31] Nellie Taft recalled that “neither politics nor race should influence our hospitality in any way”. McKinley was assassinated in September 1901, and was succeeded by Theodore Roosevelt. Taft and Roosevelt had first become friends around 1890 while Taft was Solicitor General and Roosevelt a member of the Civil Service Commission. Taft had, after McKinley’s election, urged the appointment of Roosevelt as Assistant Secretary of the Navy, and watched as Roosevelt became a war hero, Governor of New York, and Vice President of the United States. They met again when Taft went to Washington in January 1902 to recuperate after two operations caused by an infection. [33] There, Taft testified before the Senate Committee on the Philippines. Taft wanted Filipino farmers to have a stake in the new government through land ownership, but much of the arable land was held by Catholic religious orders of mostly Spanish priests, which were often resented by the Filipinos. Taft did not succeed in resolving these issues on his visit to Rome, but an agreement on both points was made in 1903. In late 1902, Taft had heard from Roosevelt that a seat on the Supreme Court would soon fall vacant on the resignation of Justice George Shiras, and Roosevelt desired that Taft fill it. Although this was Taft’s professional goal, he refused as he felt his work as governor was not yet done. [35] The following year, Roosevelt asked Taft to become Secretary of War. As the War Department administered the Philippines, Taft would remain responsible for the islands, and Elihu Root, the incumbent, was willing to postpone his departure until 1904, allowing Taft time to wrap up his work in Manila. After consulting with his family, Taft agreed, and sailed for the United States in December 1903. Roosevelt introduces Taft as his crown prince: Puck magazine cover, 1906. When Taft took office as Secretary of War in January 1904, he was not called upon to spend much time administering the army, which the president was content to do himselfRoosevelt wanted Taft as a troubleshooter in difficult situations, as a legal adviser, and to be able to give campaign speeches as he sought election in his own right. Taft strongly defended Roosevelt’s record in his addresses, and wrote of the president’s successful but strenuous efforts to gain election, I would not run for president if you guaranteed the office. It is awful to be afraid of one’s shadow. Between 1905 and 1907, Taft came to terms with the likelihood he would be the next Republican nominee for president, though he did not plan to actively campaign for it. When Justice Henry B. Brown resigned in 1905, Taft would not accept the seat although Roosevelt offered it, a position Taft held to when another seat opened in 1906. [39] Edith Roosevelt, the First Lady, disliked the growing closeness between the two men, feeling that they were too much alike and that the president did not gain much from the advice of someone who rarely contradicted him. Alternatively, Taft wanted to be chief justice, and kept a close eye on the health of the aging incumbent, Melville Fuller, who turned 75 in 1908. Taft believed Fuller likely to live many years. Roosevelt had indicated he was likely to appoint Taft if the opportunity came to fill the court’s center seat, but some considered Attorney General Philander Knox a better candidate. In any event, Fuller remained chief justice throughout Roosevelt’s presidency. Through the 1903 separation of Panama from Colombia and the Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty, the United States had secured rights to build a canal in the Isthmus of Panama. Legislation authorizing construction did not specify which government department would be responsible, and Roosevelt designated the Department of War. Taft journeyed to Panama in 1904, viewing the canal site and meeting with Panamanian officials. The Isthmian Canal Commission had trouble keeping a chief engineer, and when in February 1907 John D. Stevens submitted his resignation, Taft recommended an army engineer, George W. Under Goethals, the project moved ahead smoothly. Another colony lost by Spain in 1898 was Cuba, but as freedom for Cuba had been a major purpose of the war, it was not annexed by the U. But was, after a period of occupation, given independence in 1902. Election fraud and corruption followed, as did factional conflict. In September 1906, President Tomás Estrada Palma asked for U. Taft traveled to Cuba with a small American force, and on September 29, 1906, under the terms of the CubanAmerican Treaty of Relations of 1903, declared himself Provisional Governor of Cuba, a post he held for two weeks before being succeeded by Charles Edward Magoon. In his time in Cuba, Taft worked to persuade Cubans that the U. Intended stability, not occupation. Taft remained involved in Philippine affairs. During Roosevelt’s election campaign in 1904, he urged that Philippine agricultural products be admitted to the U. This caused growers of U. Sugar and tobacco to complain to Roosevelt, who remonstrated with his Secretary of War. Taft expressed unwillingness to change his position, and threatened to resign;[44] Roosevelt hastily dropped the matter. On both of his Philippine trips as Secretary of War, Taft went to Japan, and met with officials there. [47] The meeting in July 1905 came a month before the conference which would end the Russo-Japanese War with the Treaty of Portsmouth. Taft met with Japanese Prime Minister Katsura Tar. After that meeting, the two signed a memorandum. It contained nothing new but instead reaffirmed official positions: Japan had no intention to invade the Philippines, and the U. That it did not object to Japanese control of Korea. [48] There were U. Concerns about the number of Japanese laborers coming to the American West Coast, and during Taft’s second visit, in September 1907, Tadasu Hayashi, the foreign minister, informally agreed to issue fewer passports to them. See also: 1908 United States presidential election. One of a series of candid photographs known as the Evolution of a Smile, taken just after a formal portrait session, as Taft learns by telephone from Roosevelt of his nomination for president. Roosevelt had served almost three and a half years of McKinley’s term. On the night of his own election in 1904, Roosevelt publicly declared he would not run for re-election in 1908, a pledge he quickly regretted. But he felt bound by his word. Roosevelt believed Taft was his logical successor, although the War Secretary was initially reluctant to run. [50] Roosevelt used his control of the party machinery to aid his heir apparent. [50] On pain of loss of their jobs, political appointees were required to support Taft or remain silent. A number of Republican politicians, such as Treasury Secretary George Cortelyou, tested the waters for a run but chose to stay out. New York Governor Charles Evans Hughes ran, but when he made a major policy speech, Roosevelt the same day sent a special message to Congress warning in strong terms against corporate corruption. The resulting coverage of the presidential message relegated Hughes to the back pages. [52] Roosevelt reluctantly deterred repeated attempts to draft him for another term. Assistant Postmaster General Frank H. Hitchcock resigned from his office in February 1908 to lead the Taft effort. [54] In April, Taft made a speaking tour, traveling as far west as Omaha before being recalled to go to Panama and straighten out a contested election. At the 1908 Republican National Convention in Chicago in June, there was no serious opposition to him, and he gained a first-ballot victory. Yet Taft did not have things his own way: he had hoped his running mate would be a midwestern progressive like Iowa Senator Jonathan Dolliver, but instead the convention named Congressman James S. Sherman of New York, a conservative. Taft resigned as Secretary of War on June 30 to devote himself full-time to the campaign. Taft’s opponent in the general election was Bryan, the Democratic nominee for the third time in four presidential elections. As many of Roosevelt’s reforms stemmed from proposals by Bryan, the Democrat argued that he was the true heir to Roosevelt’s mantle. Corporate contributions to federal political campaigns had been outlawed by the 1907 Tillman Act, and Bryan proposed that contributions by officers and directors of corporations be similarly banned, or at least disclosed when made. Taft was only willing to see the contributions disclosed after the election, and tried to ensure that officers and directors of corporations litigating with the government were not among his contributors. Taft began the campaign on the wrong foot, fueling the arguments of those who said he was not his own man by traveling to Roosevelt’s home at Sagamore Hill for advice on his acceptance speech, saying that he needed “the President’s judgment and criticism”. [58] Taft supported most of Roosevelt’s policies. He argued that labor had a right to organize, but not boycott, and that corporations and the wealthy must also obey the law. Bryan wanted the railroads to be owned by the government, but Taft preferred that they remain in the private sector, with their maximum rates set by the Interstate Commerce Commission, subject to judicial review. Taft attributed blame for the recent recession, the Panic of 1907, to stock speculation and other abuses, and felt some reform of the currency the U. Roosevelt’s expansive use of executive power had been controversial; Taft proposed to continue his policies, but place them on more solid legal underpinnings through the passage of legislation. Taft upset some progressives by choosing Hitchcock as Chairman of the Republican National Committee (RNC), placing him in charge of the presidential campaign. Hitchcock was quick to bring in men closely allied with big business. [60] Taft took an August vacation in Hot Springs, Virginia, where he irritated political advisors by spending more time on golf than strategy. After seeing a newspaper photo of Taft taking a large swing at a golf ball, Roosevelt warned him against candid shots. 1908 electoral vote results. Roosevelt, frustrated by his own relative inaction, showered Taft with advice, fearing that the electorate would not appreciate Taft’s qualities, and that Bryan would win. Roosevelt’s supporters spread rumors that the president was in effect running Taft’s campaign. This annoyed Nellie Taft, who never trusted the Roosevelts. [62] Nevertheless, Roosevelt supported the Republican nominee with such enthusiasm that humorists suggested “TAFT” stood for “Take advice from Theodore”. Bryan urged a system of bank guarantees, so that depositors could be repaid if banks failed, but Taft opposed this, offering a postal savings system instead. [57] The issue of prohibition of alcohol entered the campaign when in mid-September, Carrie Nation called on Taft and demanded to know his views. Taft and Roosevelt had agreed the party platform would take no position on the matter, and Nation left indignant, to allege that Taft was irreligious and against temperance. Taft, at Roosevelt’s advice, ignored the issue. In the end, Taft won by a comfortable margin. Taft defeated Bryan by 321 electoral votes to 162; however, he garnered just 51.6 percent of the popular vote. [65] Nellie Taft said regarding the campaign, There was nothing to criticize, except his not knowing or caring about the way the game of politics is played. [66] Longtime White House usher Ike Hoover recalled that Taft came often to see Roosevelt during the campaign, but seldom between the election and Inauguration Day, March 4, 1909. Main article: Presidency of William Howard Taft. Further information: Inauguration of William Howard Taft. Taft was sworn in as president on March 4, 1909. Due to a winter storm that coated Washington with ice, Taft was inaugurated within the Senate Chamber rather than outside the Capitol as is customary. The new president stated in his inaugural address that he had been honored to have been “one of the advisers of my distinguished predecessor” and to have had a part in the reforms he has initiated. I should be untrue to myself, to my promises, and to the declarations of the party platform on which I was elected if I did not make the maintenance and enforcement of those reforms a most important feature of my administration. [68] He pledged to make those reforms long-lasting, ensuring that honest businessmen did not suffer uncertainty through change of policy. He spoke of the need for reduction of the 1897 Dingley Tariff, for antitrust reform, and for continued advancement of the Philippines toward full self-government. [69] Roosevelt left office with regret that his tenure in the position he enjoyed so much was over and, to keep out of Taft’s way, arranged for a year-long hunting trip to Africa. Soon after the Republican convention, Taft and Roosevelt had discussed which cabinet officers would stay on. Taft kept only Agriculture Secretary James Wilson and Postmaster General George von Lengerke Meyer (who was shifted to the Navy Department). Others appointed to the Taft cabinet included Philander Knox, who had served under McKinley and Roosevelt as Attorney General, as the new Secretary of State, and Franklin MacVeagh as Treasury Secretary. Taft did not enjoy the easy relationship with the press that Roosevelt had, choosing not to offer himself for interviews or photo opportunities as often as his predecessor had. [73] His administration marked a change in style from the charismatic leadership of Roosevelt to Taft’s quieter passion for the rule of law. Secretary of the Treasury. Secretary of the Navy. Secretary of the Interior. Secretary of Commerce and Labor. Taft’s first cabinet, 1910. Taft’s second cabinet, 1912. BEP engraved portrait of Taft as President. Taft made it a priority to restructure the State Department, noting, it is organized on the basis of the needs of the government in 1800 instead of 1900. [75] The Department was for the first time organized into geographical divisions, including desks for the Far East, Latin America and Western Europe. [76] The department’s first in-service training program was established, and appointees spent a month in Washington before going to their posts. [77] Taft and Secretary of State Knox had a strong relationship, and the president listened to his counsel on matters foreign and domestic. According to historian Paolo E. Coletta, Knox was not a good diplomat, and had poor relations with the Senate, press, and many foreign leaders, especially those from Latin America. There was broad agreement between Taft and Knox on major foreign policy goals; the U. Would not interfere in European affairs, and would use force if necessary to enforce the Monroe Doctrine in the Americas. The defense of the Panama Canal, which was under construction throughout Taft’s term (it opened in 1914), guided United States foreign policy in the Caribbean and Central America. Previous administrations had made efforts to promote American business interests overseas, but Taft went a step further and used the web of American diplomats and consuls abroad to further trade. Such ties, Taft hoped, would promote world peace. [78] Taft pushed for arbitration treaties with Great Britain and France, but the Senate was not willing to yield to arbitrators its constitutional prerogative to approve treaties. At the time of Taft’s presidency, protectionism through the use of tariffs was a fundamental position of the Republican Party. [80] The Dingley Tariff had been enacted to protect American industry from foreign competition. The 1908 party platform had supported unspecified revisions to the Dingley Act, and Taft interpreted this to mean reductions. Taft called a special session of Congress to convene on March 15, 1909 to deal with the tariff question. Payne, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, had held hearings in late 1908, and sponsored the resulting draft legislation. On balance, the bill reduced tariffs slightly, but when it passed the House in April 1909 and reached the Senate, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Rhode Island Senator Nelson W. Aldrich, attached many amendments raising rates. This outraged progressives such as Wisconsin’s Robert M. La Follette, who urged Taft to say that the bill was not in accord with the party platform. Taft refused, angering them. [82] Taft insisted that most imports from the Philippines be free of duty, and according to Anderson, showed effective leadership on a subject he was knowledgeable on and cared about. Instead, they proposed a constitutional amendment, which passed both houses in early July, was sent to the states, and by 1913 was ratified as the Sixteenth Amendment. The conference report passed both houses, and Taft signed it on August 6, 1909. The Payne-Aldrich tariff was immediately controversial. According to Coletta, “Taft had lost the initiative, and the wounds inflicted in the acrid tariff debate never healed”. Newton McConnell cartoon showing Canadian suspicions that Taft and others were only interested in Canada when prosperous. In Taft’s annual message sent to Congress in December 1910, he urged a free trade accord with Canada. Britain at that time still handled Canada’s foreign relations, and Taft found the British and Canadian governments willing. Many in Canada opposed an accord, fearing the U. Would dump it when convenient as it had the 1854 Elgin-Marcy Treaty in 1866, and farm and fisheries interests in the United States were also opposed. After January 1911 talks with Canadian officials, Taft had the agreement, which was not a treaty, introduced into Congress and it passed in late July. The Parliament of Canada, led by Prime Minister Sir Wilfrid Laurier, had deadlocked over the issue. Canadians turned Laurier out of office in the September 1911 election and Robert Borden became the new prime minister. No cross-border agreement was concluded, and the debate deepened divisions in the Republican Party. See also: Dollar Diplomacy. Taft and his Secretary of State, Philander Knox, instituted a policy of Dollar Diplomacy towards Latin America, believing U. Investment would benefit all involved, while diminishing European influence in regions where the Monroe Doctrine applied. The policy was unpopular among Latin American states that did not wish to become financial protectorates of the United States, as well as in the U. Senate, many of whose members believed the U. Should not interfere abroad. [87] No foreign affairs controversy tested Taft’s policy more than the collapse of the Mexican regime and subsequent turmoil of the Mexican Revolution. Taft and Porfirio Díaz, Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, 1909. When Taft entered office, Mexico was increasingly restless under the grip of longtime dictator Porfirio Díaz. Many Mexicans backed his opponent, Francisco Madero. [89] There were a number of incidents in which Mexican rebels crossed the U. Border to obtain horses and weapons; Taft sought to prevent this by ordering the US Army to the border areas for maneuvers. [90] He showed his support for Díaz by meeting with him at El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, the first meeting between a U. And a Mexican president and also the first time an American president visited Mexico. [91] The day of the summit, Frederick Russell Burnham and a Texas Ranger captured and disarmed an assassin holding a palm pistol only a few feet from the two presidents. [91] Before the election in Mexico, Díaz jailed opposition candidate Madero, whose supporters took up arms. This resulted in both the ousting of Díaz and a revolution that would continue for another ten years. S Arizona Territory, two citizens were killed and almost a dozen injured, some as a result of gunfire across the border. Taft was against an aggressive response and so instructed the territorial governor. Nicaragua’s president, José Santos Zelaya, wanted to revoke commercial concessions granted to American companies, [j] and American diplomats quietly favored rebel forces under Juan Estrada. [92] Nicaragua was in debt to foreign powers, and the U. Was unwilling that an alternate canal route fall into the hands of Europeans. Zelaya’s elected successor, José Madriz, could not put down the rebellion as U. Forces interfered, and in August 1910, the Estrada forces took Managua, the capital. Compelled Nicaragua to accept a loan, and sent officials to ensure it was repaid from government revenues. The country remained unstable, and after another coup in 1911 and more disturbances in 1912, Taft sent troops to begin the United States occupation of Nicaragua, which lasted until 1933. Treaties among Panama, Colombia, and the United States to resolve disputes arising from the Panamanian Revolution of 1903 had been signed by the lame-duck Roosevelt administration in early 1909, and were approved by the Senate and also ratified by Panama. The Colombians felt the amount inadequate, and requested arbitration; the matter was not settled under the Taft administration. Due to his years in the Philippines, Taft was keenly interested as president in East Asian affairs. [96] Taft considered relations with Europe relatively unimportant, but because of the potential for trade and investment, Taft ranked the post of minister to China as most important in the Foreign Service. Knox did not agree, and declined a suggestion that he go to Peking to view the facts on the ground. Taft considered Roosevelt’s minister there, William W. Rockhill, as uninterested in the China trade, and replaced him with William J. Calhoun, whom McKinley and Roosevelt had sent on several foreign missions. Knox did not listen to Calhoun on policy, and there were often conflicts. [97] Taft and Knox tried unsuccessfully to extend John Hay’s Open Door Policy to Manchuria. [99] This came to Knox’s attention in May of that year, and he demanded that U. Banks be allowed to participate. Taft appealed personally to the Prince Regent, Zaifeng, Prince Chun, and was successful in gaining U. Participation, though agreements were not signed until May 1911. [100] However, the Chinese decree authorizing the agreement also required the nationalization of local railroad companies in the affected provinces. Inadequate compensation was paid to the shareholders, and these grievances were among those which touched off the Chinese Revolution of 1911. After the revolution broke out, the revolt’s leaders chose Sun Yat-sen as provisional president of what became the Republic of China, overthrowing the Manchu dynasty, Taft was reluctant to recognize the new government, although American public opinion was in favor of it. House of Representatives in February 1912 passed a resolution supporting a Chinese republic, but Taft and Knox felt recognition should come as a concerted action by Western powers. Taft in his final annual message to Congress in December 1912 indicated that he was moving towards recognition once the republic was fully established, but by then he had been defeated for re-election and he did not follow through. [103] Taft continued the policy against immigration from China and Japan as under Roosevelt. A revised treaty of friendship and navigation entered into by the U. And Japan in 1911 granted broad reciprocal rights to Japanese people in America and Americans in Japan, but were premised on the continuation of the Gentlemen’s Agreement. There was objection on the West Coast when the treaty was submitted to the Senate, but Taft informed politicians that there was no change in immigration policy. Taft was opposed to the traditional practice of rewarding wealthy supporters with key ambassadorial posts, preferring that diplomats not live in a lavish lifestyle and selecting men who, as Taft put it, would recognize an American when they saw one. High on his list for dismissal was the ambassador to France, Henry White, whom Taft knew and disliked from his visits to Europe. White’s ousting caused other career State Department employees to fear that their jobs might be lost to politics. Taft also wanted to replace the Roosevelt-appointed ambassador in London, Whitelaw Reid, but Reid, owner of the New-York Tribune, had backed Taft during the campaign, and both William and Nellie Taft enjoyed his gossipy reports. Reid remained in place until his 1912 death. Taft was a supporter of settling international disputes by arbitration, and he negotiated treaties with Great Britain and with France providing that differences be arbitrated. These were signed in August 1911. Neither Taft nor Knox (a former senator) consulted with members of the Senate during the negotiating process. By then many Republicans were opposed to Taft and the president felt that lobbying too hard for the treaties might cause their defeat. He made some speeches supporting the treaties in October, but the Senate added amendments Taft could not accept, killing the agreements. Although no general arbitration treaty was entered into, Taft’s administration settled several disputes with Great Britain by peaceful means, often involving arbitration. These included a settlement of the boundary between Maine and New Brunswick, a long-running dispute over seal hunting in the Bering Sea that also involved Japan, and a similar disagreement regarding fishing off Newfoundland. The sealing convention remained in force until abrogated by Japan in 1940. Official White House portrait of Taft by Anders Zorn. Taft continued and expanded Roosevelt’s efforts to break up business combinations through lawsuits brought under the Sherman Antitrust Act, bringing 70 cases in four years (Roosevelt had brought 40 in seven years). Suits brought against the Standard Oil Company and the American Tobacco Company, initiated under Roosevelt, were decided in favor of the government by the Supreme Court in 1911. [108] In June 1911, the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives began hearings into United States Steel U. That company had been expanded under Roosevelt, who had supported its acquisition of the Tennessee Coal, Iron, and Railroad Company as a means of preventing the deepening of the Panic of 1907, a decision the former president defended when testifying at the hearings. Taft, as Secretary of War, had praised the acquisitions. [109] Historian Louis L. Gould suggested that Roosevelt was likely deceived into believing that U. For Roosevelt, questioning the matter went to his personal honesty. In October 1911, Taft’s Justice Department brought suit against U. Steel, demanding that over a hundred of its subsidiaries be granted corporate independence, and naming as defendants many prominent business executives and financiers. The pleadings in the case had not been reviewed by Taft, and alleged that Roosevelt “had fostered monopoly, and had been duped by clever industrialists”. [109] Roosevelt was offended by the references to him and his administration in the pleadings, and felt that Taft could not evade command responsibility by saying he did not know of them. Taft sent a special message to Congress on the need for a revamped antitrust statute when it convened its regular session in December 1911, but it took no action. As Roosevelt’s administration had investigated International Harvester, but had taken no action (a decision Taft had supported), the suit became caught up in Roosevelt’s challenge for the Republican presidential nomination. Supporters of Taft alleged that Roosevelt had acted improperly; the former president blasted Taft for waiting three and a half years, and until he was under challenge, to reverse a decision he had supported. Roosevelt was an ardent conservationist, assisted in this by like-minded appointees, including Interior Secretary James R. Garfield[k] and Chief Forester Gifford Pinchot. Taft agreed with the need for conservation, but felt it should be accomplished by legislation rather than executive order. He did not retain Garfield, an Ohioan, as secretary, choosing instead a westerner, former Seattle mayor Richard A. Roosevelt was surprised at the replacement, believing that Taft had promised to keep Garfield, and this change was one of the events that caused Roosevelt to realize that Taft would choose different policies. This dragged on for the remainder of the Roosevelt administration, including during the year (19071908) when Ballinger served as head of the General Land Office. [114] A special agent for the Land Office, Louis Glavis, investigated the Cunningham claims, and when Secretary Ballinger in 1909 approved them, Glavis broke governmental protocol by going outside the Interior Department to seek help from Pinchot. In September 1909, Glavis made his allegations public in a magazine article, disclosing that Ballinger had acted as an attorney for Cunningham between his two periods of government service. This violated conflict of interest rules forbidding a former government official from advocacy on a matter he had been responsible for. [116] On September 13, 1909 Taft dismissed Glavis from government service, relying on a report from Attorney General George W. Wickersham dated two days previously. [117] Pinchot was determined to dramatize the issue by forcing his own dismissal, which Taft tried to avoid, fearing that it might cause a break with Roosevelt (still overseas). Taft asked Elihu Root (by then a senator) to look into the matter, and Root urged the firing of Pinchot. Taft had ordered government officials not to comment on the fracas. [118] In January 1910, Pinchot forced the issue by sending a letter to Iowa Senator Dolliver alleging that but for the actions of the Forestry Service, Taft would have approved a fraudulent claim on public lands. According to Pringle, this “was an utterly improper appeal from an executive subordinate to the legislative branch of the government and an unhappy president prepared to separate Pinchot from public office”. [119] Pinchot was dismissed, much to his delight, and he sailed for Europe to lay his case before Roosevelt. [120] A congressional investigation followed, which cleared Ballinger by majority vote, but the administration was embarrassed when Glavis’ attorney, Louis D. Brandeis, proved that the Wickersham report had been backdated, which Taft belatedly admitted. The BallingerPinchot affair caused progressives and Roosevelt loyalists to feel that Taft had turned his back on Roosevelt’s agenda. Taft announced in his inaugural address that he would not appoint African Americans to federal jobs, such as postmaster, where this would cause racial friction. This differed from Roosevelt, who would not remove or replace black officeholders with whom local whites would not deal. Termed Taft’s “Southern Policy”, this stance effectively invited white protests against black appointees. Taft followed through, removing most black office holders in the South, and made few appointments of African Americans in the North. At the time Taft was inaugurated, the way forward for African Americans was debated by their leaders. Washington felt that most blacks should be trained for industrial work, with only a few seeking higher education; W. DuBois took a more militant stand for equality. Taft tended towards Washington’s approach. According to Coletta, Taft let the African-American be’kept in his place’… He thus failed to see or follow the humanitarian mission historically associated with the Republican party, with the result that Negroes both North and South began to drift toward the Democratic party. Taft, a Unitarian, was a leader in the early 20th century of the favorable reappraisal of Catholicism’s historic role. It tended to neutralize anti-Catholic sentiments, especially in the Far West where Protestantism was a weak force. In the Philippines, American government officials, journalists, and popular writers celebrated the Catholic missionary efforts that had transformed a “pagan” land, arguing that Filipino Catholic faith and clerical authority could aid in economic and cultural development. Taft, a top American official in Manila, was a spokesman for the reappraisals. He gave a speech at the Catholic University of Notre Dame in Indiana in 1904, praising the, enterprise, courage, and fidelity to duty that distinguished those heroes of Spain who braved the then frightful dangers of the deep to carry Christianity and European civilization into the far-off Orient. A second approach looked at Catholic missions in California, where local boosters celebrated the history of Spanish Franciscan missions. They not only restored and preserved old missions (which had been inactive since the 1830s) but began appealing to tourists with a romantic mission story. The mission style became popular for public buildings, schools and colleges. As President Taft in 1909 went to California to praise Father Junípero Serra as an “apostle, legislator, [and] builder” who advanced the beginning of civilization in California. A supporter of free immigration, Taft vetoed a bill passed by Congress and supported by labor unions that would have restricted unskilled laborers by imposing a literacy test. Main article: William Howard Taft judicial appointments. Taft promoted Associate Justice Edward Douglass White to be Chief Justice of the United States. Taft made six appointments to the Supreme Court; only George Washington and Franklin D. Roosevelt have made more. [126] The death of Justice Rufus Peckham in October 1909 gave Taft his first opportunity. He chose an old friend and colleague from the Sixth Circuit, Horace H. Lurton of Georgia; he had in vain urged Theodore Roosevelt to appoint Lurton to the high court. Attorney General Wickersham objected that Lurton, a former Confederate soldier and a Democrat, was aged 65. Taft named Lurton anyway on December 13, 1909, and the Senate confirmed him by voice vote a week later. Lurton is still the oldest person to be made an associate justice. [l] Lurie suggested that Taft, already beset by the tariff and conservation controversies, desired to perform an official act which gave him pleasure, especially since he thought Lurton deserved it. Justice David Josiah Brewer’s death on March 28, 1910 gave Taft a second opportunity to fill a seat on the high court; he chose New York Governor Charles Evans Hughes. Taft told Hughes that should the chief justiceship fall vacant during his term, Hughes would be his likely choice for the center seat. The Senate quickly confirmed Hughes, but then Chief Justice Fuller died on July 4, 1910. Taft took five months to replace Fuller, and when he did, it was with Justice Edward Douglass White, who became the first associate justice to be promoted to chief justice. [m] According to Lurie, Taft, who still had hopes of being chief justice, may have been more willing to appoint an older man than he (White) than a younger one (Hughes), who might outlive him, as indeed Hughes did. To fill White’s seat as associate justice, Taft appointed Willis Van Devanter of Wyoming, a federal appeals judge. By the time Taft nominated White and Van Devanter in December 1910, he had another seat to fill due to William Henry Moody’s retirement because of illness; he named a Louisiana Democrat, Joseph R. Lamar, whom he had met while playing golf, and had subsequently learned had a good reputation as a judge. With the death of Justice Harlan in October 1911, Taft got to fill a sixth seat on the Supreme Court. After Secretary Knox declined appointment, Taft named Chancellor of New Jersey Mahlon Pitney, the last person appointed to the Supreme Court who did not attend law school. [129] Pitney had a stronger anti-labor record than Taft’s other appointments, and was the only one to meet opposition, winning confirmation by a Senate vote of 5026. Taft appointed 13 judges to the federal courts of appeal and 38 to the United States district courts. [131] The Commerce Court, created in 1910, stemmed from a Taft proposal for a specialized court to hear appeals from the Interstate Commerce Commission. There was considerable opposition to its establishment, which only grew when one of its judges, Robert W. Archbald, was in 1912 impeached for corruption and removed by the Senate the following January. Taft vetoed a bill to abolish the court, but the respite was short-lived as Woodrow Wilson signed similar legislation in October 1913. Further information: 1912 United States presidential election. 1909 Puck magazine cover: Roosevelt departs, entrusting his policies to Taft. During Roosevelt’s fifteen months beyond the Atlantic, from March 1909 to June 1910, neither man wrote much to the other. Taft biographer Lurie suggested that each expected the other to make the first move to re-establish their relationship on a new footing. Upon Roosevelt’s triumphant return, Taft invited him to stay at the White House. The former president declined, and in private letters to friends expressed dissatisfaction at Taft’s performance. Nevertheless, he wrote that he expected Taft to be renominated by the Republicans in 1912, and did not speak of himself as a candidate. Taft and Roosevelt met twice in 1910; the meetings, though outwardly cordial, did not display their former closeness. [134] Roosevelt gave a series of speeches in the West in the late summer and early fall of 1910. Roosevelt not only attacked the Supreme Court’s 1905 decision in Lochner v. New York, [n] he accused the federal courts of undermining democracy, and called for them to be deprived of the power to rule legislation unconstitutional. This attack horrified Taft, who privately agreed that Lochner had been wrongly decided. [135] According to John Murphy in his journal article on the breach between the two presidents, As Roosevelt began to move to the left, Taft veered to the right. During the 1910 midterm election campaign, Roosevelt involved himself in New York politics, while Taft with donations and influence tried to secure the election of the Republican gubernatorial candidate in Ohio, former lieutenant governor Warren G. The Republicans suffered losses in the 1910 elections as the Democrats took control of the House and slashed the Republican majority in the Senate. In New Jersey, Democrat Woodrow Wilson was elected governor, and Harding lost his race in Ohio. After the election, Roosevelt continued to promote progressive ideals, a New Nationalism, much to Taft’s dismay. Roosevelt attacked his successor’s administration, arguing that its guiding principles were not that of the party of Lincoln, but those of the Gilded Age. [136] The feud continued on and off through 1911, a year in which there were few elections of significance. Wisconsin Senator La Follette announced a presidential run as a Republican, and was backed by a convention of progressives. Roosevelt began to move into a position for a run in late 1911, writing that the tradition that presidents not run for a third term only applied to consecutive terms. Roosevelt was receiving many letters from supporters urging him to run, and Republican office-holders were organizing on his behalf. Balked on many policies by an unwilling Congress and courts in his full term in the White House, he saw manifestations of public support he believed would sweep him to the White House with a mandate for progressive policies that would brook no opposition. [138] In February, Roosevelt announced he would accept the Republican nomination if it was offered to him. Taft felt that if he lost in November, it would be a repudiation of the party, but if he lost renomination, it would be a rejection of himself. [139] He was reluctant to oppose Roosevelt, who helped make him president, but having become president, he was determined to be president, and that meant not standing aside to allow Roosevelt to gain another term. Further information: 1912 Republican National Convention. Taft with Archibald Butt (second from right). As Roosevelt became more radical in his progressivism, Taft was hardened in his resolve to achieve re-nomination, as he was convinced that the progressives threatened the very foundation of the government. [141] One blow to Taft was the loss of Archibald Butt, one of the last links between the previous and present presidents, as Butt had formerly served Roosevelt. Ambivalent between his loyalties, Butt went to Europe on vacation in early 1912. He sailed for home in April on the RMS Titanic and died in its sinking, a death Taft found hard to accept as his body was not recovered. Taft and Roosevelt political enemies in 1912. Roosevelt dominated the primaries, winning 278 of the 362 delegates to the Republican National Convention in Chicago decided in that manner. Taft had control of the party machinery, and it came as no surprise that he gained the bulk of the delegates decided at district or state conventions. [143] Taft did not have a majority, but was likely to have one once southern delegations committed to him. Roosevelt challenged the election of these delegates, but the RNC overruled most objections. Roosevelt’s sole remaining chance was with a friendly convention chairman, who might make rulings on the seating of delegates that favored his side. Taft followed custom and remained in Washington, but Roosevelt went to Chicago to run his campaign[144] and told his supporters in a speech, “we stand at Armageddon, and we battle for the Lord”. Taft had won over Root, who agreed to run for temporary chairman of the convention, and the delegates elected Root over Roosevelt’s candidate. [145] The Roosevelt forces moved to substitute the delegates they supported for the ones they argued should not be seated. Root made a crucial ruling, that although the contested delegates could not vote on their own seating, they could vote on the other contested delegates, a ruling that assured Taft’s nomination, as the motion offered by the Roosevelt forces failed, 567507. [146] As it became clear Roosevelt would bolt the party if not nominated, some Republicans sought a compromise candidate to avert the electoral disaster to come; they were unsuccessful. [147] Taft’s name was placed in nomination by Warren Harding, whose attempts to praise Taft and unify the party were met with angry interruptions from progressives. [148] Taft was nominated on the first ballot, though most Roosevelt delegates refused to vote. Campaign advertisement arguing Taft deserved a second term. Alleging Taft had stolen the nomination, Roosevelt and his followers formed the Progressive Party. [o][149] Taft knew he would almost certainly be defeated, but concluded that through Roosevelt’s loss at Chicago the party had been preserved as the defender of conservative government and conservative institutions. [150] He made his doomed run to preserve the Republican Party. [151] Governor Woodrow Wilson was the Democratic nominee. Seeing Roosevelt as the greater electoral threat, Wilson spent little time attacking Taft, arguing that Roosevelt had been lukewarm in opposing the trusts during his presidency, and that Wilson was the true reformer. [152] Taft contrasted what he called his “progressive conservatism” with Roosevelt’s Progressive democracy, which to Taft represented the establishment of a benevolent despotism. Electoral vote by state, 1912. States won by Taft are in red. Reverting to the pre-Roosevelt custom that presidents seeking re-election did not campaign, Taft spoke publicly only once, making his nomination acceptance speech on August 1. He had difficulty in financing the campaign, as many industrialists had concluded he could not win, and would support Wilson to block Roosevelt. The president issued a confident statement in September after the Republicans narrowly won Vermont’s state elections in a three-way fight, but had no illusions he would win his race. [154] He had hoped to send his cabinet officers out on the campaign trail, but found them reluctant to go. Senator Root agreed to give a single speech for him. Vice President Sherman had been renominated at Chicago; seriously ill during the campaign, he died six days before the election, [p] and was replaced on the ticket by the president of Columbia University, Nicholas Murray Butler. But few electors chose Taft and Butler, who won only Utah and Vermont, for a total of eight electoral votes. [q] Roosevelt won 88, and Wilson 435. Wilson won though he had only a plurality of the popular vote and less of it than Taft and Roosevelt combined. Taft had hoped to better Roosevelt in the popular vote, but finished with just under 3.5 million, over 600,000 less than the former president. [156] Taft was not on the ballot in California, due to the actions of local Progressives, nor in South Dakota. With no pension or other compensation to expect from the government after leaving the White House, Taft contemplated a return to the practice of law, from which he had long been absent. Given that Taft had appointed many federal judges, including a majority of the Supreme Court, this would raise questions of conflict of interest at every federal court appearance and he was saved from this by an offer for him to become Kent Professor of Law and Legal History at Yale Law School. He accepted, and after a month’s vacation in Georgia, arrived in New Haven on April 1, 1913 to a rapturous reception. As it was too late in the semester for him to give an academic course, he instead prepared eight lectures on “Questions of Modern Government”, which he delivered in May. [159] While at Yale, he wrote the treatise, Our Chief Magistrate and His Powers (1916). Taft (left) with President Warren G. Harding and Robert Lincoln at the dedication of the Lincoln Memorial, May 30, 1922. Taft had been made president of the Lincoln Memorial Commission while still in office; when Democrats proposed removing him for one of their party, he quipped that unlike losing the presidency, such a removal would hurt. The architect, Henry Bacon, wanted to use Colorado-Yule marble, while southern Democrats urged using Georgia marble. Taft lobbied for the western stone, and the matter was submitted to the Commission of Fine Arts, which supported Taft and Bacon. The project went forward; Taft would dedicate the Lincoln Memorial as chief justice in 1922. [161] In 1913, Taft was elected to a one-year term as president of the American Bar Association (ABA), a trade group of lawyers. He removed opponents, such as Louis Brandeis and University of Pennsylvania Law School dean William Draper Lewis (a supporter of the Progressive Party) from committees. Taft maintained a cordial relationship with Wilson. The former president privately criticized his successor on a number of issues, but made his views known publicly only on Philippine policy. Taft was appalled when, after Justice Lamar’s death in January 1916, Wilson nominated Brandeis, whom the former president had never forgiven for his role in the BallingerPinchot affair. When hearings led to nothing discreditable about Brandeis, Taft intervened with a letter signed by himself and other former ABA presidents, stating that Brandeis was not fit to serve on the Supreme Court. Nevertheless, the Democratic-controlled Senate confirmed Brandeis. [163] Taft and Roosevelt remained embittered; they met only once in the first three years of the Wilson presidency, at a funeral at Yale. They spoke only for a moment, politely but formally. As president of the League to Enforce Peace, Taft hoped to prevent war through an international association of nations. With World War I raging in Europe, Taft sent Wilson a note of support for his foreign policy in 1915. [165] President Wilson accepted Taft’s invitation to address the league, and spoke in May 1916 of a postwar international organization that could prevent a repetition. [166] Taft supported the effort to get Justice Hughes to resign from the bench and accept the Republican presidential nomination. Once this was done, Hughes tried to get Roosevelt and Taft to reconcile, as a united effort was needed to defeat Wilson. This occurred on October 3 in New York, but Roosevelt allowed only a handshake, and no words were exchanged. This was one of many difficulties for the Republicans in the campaign, and Wilson narrowly won re-election. [168] When Wilson asked Congress to declare war on Germany in April 1917, Taft was an enthusiastic supporter; he was chairman of the American Red Cross’ executive committee, which occupied much of the former president’s time. [169] In August 1917, Wilson conferred military titles on executives of the Red Cross as a way to provide them with additional authority to use in carrying out their wartime responsibilities, and Taft was appointed a major general. During the war, Taft took leave from Yale to be co-chairman of the National War Labor Board, tasked with assuring good relations between industry owners and their workers. [171] In February 1918, the new RNC chairman, Will H. Hays, approached Taft seeking his reconciliation with Roosevelt. In May, Taft was in Chicago at the Blackstone Hotel, and when he heard that Roosevelt and his party were dining there, walked in on them. The two men embraced to the applause of the room, but the renewed relationship did not progress past outward friendliness before Roosevelt’s death in January 1919. [172] Taft later wrote, Had he died in a hostile state of mind toward me, I would have mourned the fact all my life. I loved him always and cherish his memory. When Wilson proposed establishment of a League of Nations, with the League’s charter part of the Treaty of Versailles, Taft expressed public support. He was out of step with his party, whose senators were not inclined to ratify the treaty. Taft’s subsequent flip-flop on the issue of whether reservations to the treaty were necessary angered both sides, destroying any remaining influence he had with the Wilson administration, and causing some Republicans to call him a Wilson supporter and a traitor to his party. The Senate refused to ratify the Versailles pact. Chief Justice Taft, c. During the 1920 election campaign, Taft supported the Republican ticket, Harding (by then a senator) and Massachusetts Governor Calvin Coolidge; they were elected. [175] Taft was among those asked to come to the president-elect’s home in Marion, Ohio to advise him on appointments, and the two men conferred there on December 24, 1920. By Taft’s later account, after some conversation, Harding casually asked if Taft would accept appointment to the Supreme Court; if Taft would, Harding would appoint him. Taft had a condition for Hardinghaving served as president, and having appointed two of the present associate justices and opposed Brandeis, he could accept only the chief justice position. Harding made no response, and Taft in a thank-you note reiterated the condition and stated that Chief Justice White had often told him he was keeping the position for Taft until a Republican held the White House. In January 1921, Taft heard through intermediaries that Harding planned to appoint him, if given the chance. White by then was in failing health, but made no move to resign when Harding was sworn in on March 4, 1921. [177] Taft called on the chief justice on March 26, and found White ill, but still carrying on his work and not talking of retiring. [178] White did not retire, dying in office on May 19, 1921. Taft issued a tribute to the man he had appointed to the center seat, and waited and worried if he would be White’s successor. Despite widespread speculation Taft would be the pick, Harding made no quick announcement. [179] Taft was lobbying for himself behind the scenes, especially with the Ohio politicians who formed Harding’s inner circle. It later emerged that Harding had also promised former Utah senator George Sutherland a seat on the Supreme Court, and was waiting in the expectation that another place would become vacant. [r][181] Harding was also considering a proposal by Justice William R. Day to crown his career by being chief justice for six months before retiring. Taft felt, when he learned of this plan, that a short-term appointment would not serve the office well, and that once confirmed by the Senate, the memory of Day would grow dim. After Harding rejected Day’s plan, Attorney General Harry Daugherty, who supported Taft’s candidacy, urged him to fill the vacancy, and he named Taft on June 30, 1921. [179] The Senate confirmed Taft the same day, 614, without any committee hearings and after a brief debate in executive session. Taft drew the objections of three progressive Republicans and one southern Democrat. [s][182] When he was sworn in on July 11, he became the first and to date only person to serve both as president and chief justice. Roosevelt appointment Taft appointment Wilson appointment Harding appointment Coolidge appointment. Further information: List of United States Supreme Court cases by the Taft Court. The Supreme Court under Taft compiled a conservative record in Commerce Clause jurisprudence. This had the practical effect of making it difficult for the federal government to regulate industry, and the Taft Court also scuttled many state laws. The few liberals on the courtBrandeis, Holmes, and (from 1925) Harlan Fiske Stonesometimes protested, believing orderly progress essential, but often joined in the majority opinion. The White Court had, in 1918, struck down an attempt by Congress to regulate child labor in Hammer v. That law was overturned by the Supreme Court in 1922 in Bailey v. With Taft writing the court’s opinion for an 81 majority. [2] One case in which Taft and his court upheld federal regulation was Stafford v. Taft ruled for a 71 majority[v] that the processing of animals in stockyards was so closely tied to interstate commerce as to bring it within the ambit of Congress’s power to regulate. A case in which the Taft Court struck down regulation that generated a dissent from the chief justice was Adkins v. [w] Congress had decreed a minimum wage for women in the District of Columbia. A 53 majority of the Supreme Court struck it down. Justice Sutherland wrote for the majority that the recently ratified Nineteenth Amendment, guaranteeing women the vote, meant that the sexes were equal when it came to bargaining power over working conditions; Taft, in dissent, deemed this unrealistic. [187] Taft’s dissent in Adkins was rare both because he authored few dissents, and because it was one of the few times he took an expansive view of the police power of the government. In 1922, Taft ruled for a unanimous court in Balzac v. Supreme Court in 1925. Taft is seated in the bottom row, middle. In 1926, Taft wrote for a 63 majority in Myers v. United States[y] that Congress could not require the president to get Senate approval before removing an appointee. Taft noted that there is no restriction of the president’s power to remove officials in the constitution. Although Myers involved the removal of a postmaster, [190] Taft in his opinion found invalid the repealed Tenure of Office Act, for violation of which his presidential predecessor, Andrew Johnson, had been impeached, though acquitted by the Senate. [191] Taft valued Myers as his most important opinion. The following year, the court decided McGrain v. [z] A congressional committee investigating possible complicity of former Attorney General Daugherty in the Teapot Dome scandal subpoenaed records from his brother, Mally, who refused to provide them, alleging Congress had no power to obtain documents from him. Van Devanter ruled for a unanimous court against him, finding that Congress had the authority to conduct investigations as an auxiliary to its legislative function. In 1925, the Taft Court laid the groundwork for the incorporation of many of the guarantees of the Bill of Rights to be applied against the states through the Fourteenth Amendment. New York, [aa] the court by a 62 vote with Taft in the majority, upheld Gitlow’s conviction on criminal anarchy charges for advocating the overthrow of the government; his defense was freedom of speech. Sanford wrote the court’s opinion, and both majority and minority (Holmes, joined by Brandeis) assumed that the First Amendment’s Free Speech and Free Press clauses were protected against infringement by the states. Society of Sisters[ab] was a 1925 decision by the Taft Court striking down an Oregon law banning private schools. In a decision written by Justice James C. McReynolds, a unanimous court held that Oregon could regulate private schools, but could not eliminate them. The outcome supported the right of parents to control the education of their children, but also, since the lead plaintiff (the society) ran Catholic schools, struck a blow for religious freedom. Lanza[ac] was one of a series of cases involving Prohibition. Lanza committed acts allegedly in violation of both state and federal law, and was first convicted in Washington state court, then prosecuted in federal district court. He alleged the second prosecution in violation of the Double Jeopardy Clause of the Fifth Amendment. Taft, for a unanimous court, allowed the second prosecution, holding that the state and federal governments were dual sovereigns, each empowered to prosecute the conduct in question. Time cover, 30 Jun 1924. Taft exercised the power of his position to influence the decisions of his colleagues, urging unanimity and discouraging dissents. Alpheus Mason, in his article on Chief Justice Taft for the American Bar Association Journal, contrasted Taft’s expansive view of the role of the chief justice with the narrow view of presidential power he took while in that office. [196] Taft saw nothing wrong with making his views on possible appointments to the court known to the White House, and was annoyed to be criticized in the press. He was initially a firm supporter of President Coolidge after Harding’s death in 1923, but became disillusioned with Coolidge’s appointments to office and to the bench; he had similar misgivings about Coolidge’s successor, Herbert Hoover. [197] Taft advised the Republican presidents in office while he was chief justice to avoid “offside” appointments like Brandeis and Holmes. [183] Nevertheless, by 1923, Taft was writing of his liking for Brandeis, whom he deemed a hard worker, and Holmes walked to work with him until age and infirmity required an automobile. Believing that the chief justice should be responsible for the federal courts, Taft felt that he should have an administrative staff to assist him, and the chief justice should be empowered to temporarily reassign judges. [199] He also believed the federal courts had been ill-run. Many of the lower courts had lengthy backlogs, as did the Supreme Court. [200] Immediately on taking office, Taft made it a priority to confer with Attorney General Daugherty as to new legislation, [201] and made his case before congressional hearings, in legal periodicals and in speeches across the country. [202] When Congress convened in December 1921, a bill was introduced for 24 new judges, to empower the chief justice to move judges temporarily to eliminate the delays, and to have him chair a body consisting of the senior appellate judge of each circuit. Congress objected to some aspects, requiring Taft to get the agreement of the senior judge of each involved circuit before assigning a judge, but it in September 1922 passed the bill, and the Judicial Conference of Senior Circuit Judges held its first meeting that December. The Supreme Court’s docket was congested, swelled by war litigation and laws that allowed a party defeated in the circuit court of appeals to have the case decided by the Supreme Court if a constitutional question was involved. Taft believed an appeal should usually be settled by the circuit court, with only cases of major import decided by the justices. He and other Supreme Court members proposed legislation to make most of the court’s docket discretionary, with a case getting full consideration by the justices only if they granted a writ of certiorari. To Taft’s frustration, Congress took three years to consider the matter. Taft and other members of the court lobbied for the bill in Congress, and the Judges’ Bill became law in February 1925. By late the following year, Taft was able to show that the backlog was shrinking. When Taft became chief justice, the court did not have its own building and met in the Capitol. Its offices were cluttered and overcrowded, but Fuller and White had been opposed to proposals to move the court to its own building. Cass Gilbert had prepared plans for the building, and was hired by the government as architect. Taft had hoped to live to see the court move into the new building, but it did not do so until 1935, after Taft’s death. Taft is remembered as the heaviest president; he was 5 feet 11 inches (1.80 m) tall and his weight peaked at 335340 pounds (152154 kg) toward the end of his presidency, [206] although this later decreased, and by 1929 he weighed just 244 pounds (111 kg). By the time Taft became chief justice, his health was starting to decline, and he carefully planned a fitness regimen, walking 3 miles (4.8 km) from his home to the Capitol each day. When he walked home after work, he would usually go by way of Connecticut Avenue and use a particular crossing over Rock Creek. After his death, the crossing was named the Taft Bridge. Taft followed a weight loss program and hired the British doctor N. Yorke-Davies as a dietary advisor. The two men corresponded regularly for over twenty years, and Taft kept a daily record of his weight, food intake, and physical activity. Taft insisted that Charles Evans Hughes succeed him as chief justice. At Hoover’s inauguration on March 4, 1929, Taft recited part of the oath incorrectly, later writing, “my memory is not always accurate and one sometimes becomes a little uncertain”, misquoting again in that letter, differently. [209] His health gradually declined over the near-decade of his chief justiceship. Taft insisted on going to Cincinnati to attend the funeral of his brother Charles, who died on December 31, 1929; the strain did not improve his own health. Taft went to Asheville, North Carolina, for a rest, but by the end of January, he could barely speak and was suffering from hallucinations. [211] Taft was afraid that Stone would be made chief justice; he did not resign until he had secured assurances from Hoover that Hughes would be the choice. [ad][212] Returning to Washington after his resignation on February 3, Taft had barely enough strength to sign a reply to a letter of tribute from the eight associate justices. He died at his home in Washington on March 8, 1930. Taft lay in state at the United States Capitol rotunda. [213] Three days following his death, on March 11, he became the first president and first member of the Supreme Court to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery. [214][215] James Earle Fraser sculpted his grave marker out of Stony Creek granite. Taft’s headstone at Arlington National Cemetery. Lurie argued that Taft did not receive the public credit for his policies that he should have. Few trusts had been broken up under Roosevelt (although the lawsuits received much publicity). Taft, more quietly than his predecessor, filed many more cases than did Roosevelt, and rejected his predecessor’s contention that there was such a thing as a “good” trust. This lack of flair marred Taft’s presidency; according to Lurie, Taft “was boringhonest, likable, but boring”. [216] Scott Bomboy for the National Constitution Center wrote that despite being one of the most interesting, intellectual, and versatile presidents… A chief justice of the United States, a wrestler at Yale, a reformer, a peace activist, and a baseball fan… Today, Taft is best remembered as the president who was so large that he got stuck in the White House bathtub, a story that is not true. [151][217] Taft similarly remains known for another physical characteristicas the last president with facial hair to date. Mason called Taft’s years in the White House “undistinguished”. [199] Coletta deemed Taft to have had a solid record of bills passed by Congress, but felt he could have accomplished more with political skill. [219] Anderson noted that Taft’s prepresidential federal service was entirely in appointed posts, and that he had never run for an important executive or legislative position, which would have allowed him to develop the skills to manipulate public opinion, “the presidency is no place for on-the-job training”. [160] According to Coletta, in troubled times in which the people demanded progressive change, he saw the existing order as good. Inevitably linked with Roosevelt, Taft generally falls in the shadow of the flamboyant Rough Rider, who chose him to be president, and who took it away. [221] Yet, a portrait of Taft as a victim of betrayal by his best friend is incomplete: as Coletta put it, Was he a poor politician because he was victimized or because he lacked the foresight and imagination to notice the storm brewing in the political sky until it broke and swamped him? [222] Adept at using the levers of power in a way his successor could not, Roosevelt generally got what was politically possible out of a situation. Taft was generally slow to act, and when he did, his actions often generated enemies, as in the BallingerPinchot affair. Roosevelt was able to secure positive coverage in the newspapers; Taft had a judge’s reticence in talking to reporters, and, with no comment from the White House, hostile journalists would supply the want with a quote from a Taft opponent. [223] And it was Roosevelt who engraved in public memory the image of Taft as a Buchanan-like figure, with a narrow view of the presidency which made him unwilling to act for the public good. Anderson pointed out that Roosevelt’s Autobiography (which placed this view in enduring form) was published after both men had left the presidency (in 1913), was intended in part to justify Roosevelt’s splitting of the Republican Party, and contains not a single positive reference to the man Roosevelt had admired and hand-picked as his successor. While Roosevelt was biased, [224] he was not alone: every major newspaper reporter of that time who left reminiscences of Taft’s presidency was critical of him. [225] Taft replied to his predecessor’s criticism with his constitutional treatise on the powers of the presidency. Four-cent stamp issued for Taft (1930). Taft was convinced he would be vindicated by history. After he left office, he was estimated to be about in the middle of U. Presidents by greatness, and subsequent rankings by historians have by and large sustained that verdict. Coletta noted that this places Taft in good company, with James Madison, John Quincy Adams and McKinley. [226] Lurie catalogued progressive innovations that took place under Taft, and argued that historians have overlooked them because Taft was not an effective political writer or speaker. [227] According to Gould, the clichés about Taft’s weight, his maladroitness in the White House, and his conservatism of thought and doctrine have an element of truth, but they fail to do justice to a shrewd commentator on the political scene, a man of consummate ambition, and a resourceful practitioner of the internal politics of his party. “[228] Anderson deemed Taft’s success in becoming both president and chief justice “an astounding feat of inside judicial and Republican party politics, played out over years, the likes of which we are not likely to see again in American history. Taft has been rated among the greatest of the chief justices;[229] later Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia noted that this was “not so much on the basis of his opinions, perhaps because many of them ran counter to the ultimate sweep of history”. [230] A successor as chief justice, Earl Warren, concurred: In Taft’s case, the symbol, the tag, the label usually attached to him is’conservative. It is certainly not of itself a term of opprobrium even when bandied by the critics, but its use is too often confused with’reactionary. [173] Most commentators agree that as chief justice, Taft’s most significant contribution was his advocacy for reform of the high court, urging and ultimately gaining improvement in the court’s procedures and facilities. [173][184][231] Mason cited enactment of the Judges’ Bill of 1925 as Taft’s major achievement on the court. [184] According to Anderson, Taft as chief justice “was as aggressive in the pursuit of his agenda in the judicial realm as Theodore Roosevelt was in the presidential”. The house in Cincinnati where Taft was born and lived as a boy is now the William Howard Taft National Historic Site. [233] Taft was named one of the first Gold Medal Honorees of the National Institute of Social Sciences. [234] Taft’s son Robert was a significant political figure, becoming Senate Majority Leader and three times a major contender for the Republican nomination for president. A conservative, each time he was defeated by a candidate backed by the more liberal Eastern Establishment wing of the party. Lurie concluded his account of William Taft’s career. While the fabled cherry trees in Washington represent a suitable monument for Nellie Taft, there is no memorial to her husband, except perhaps the magnificent home for his Courtone for which he eagerly planned. But he died even before ground was broken for the structure. As he reacted to his overwhelming defeat for reelection in 1912, Taft had written that I must wait for years if I would be vindicated by the people… Perhaps he has waited long enough. Distinguished jurist, effective administrator, but poor politician, William Howard Taft spent four uncomfortable years in the White House. Large, jovial, conscientious, he was caught in the intense battles between Progressives and conservatives, and got scant credit for the achievements of his administration. He rose in politics through Republican judiciary appointments, through his own competence and availability, and because, as he once wrote facetiously, he always had his plate the right side up when offices were falling. But Taft much preferred law to politics. He was appointed a Federal circuit judge at 34. He aspired to be a member of the Supreme Court, but his wife, Helen Herron Taft, held other ambitions for him. His route to the White House was via administrative posts. President McKinley sent him to the Philippines in 1900 as chief civil administrator. Sympathetic toward the Filipinos, he improved the economy, built roads and schools, and gave the people at least some participation in government. President Roosevelt made him Secretary of War, and by 1907 had decided that Taft should be his successor. The Republican Convention nominated him the next year. Taft disliked the campaignone of the most uncomfortable four months of my life. But he pledged his loyalty to the Roosevelt program, popular in the West, while his brother Charles reassured eastern Republicans. William Jennings Bryan, running on the Democratic ticket for a third time, complained that he was having to oppose two candidates, a western progressive Taft and an eastern conservative Taft. Progressives were pleased with Tafts election. Roosevelt has cut enough hay, they said; Taft is the man to put it into the barn. Conservatives were delighted to be rid of Rooseveltthe mad messiah. Taft recognized that his techniques would differ from those of his predecessor. Unlike Roosevelt, Taft did not believe in the stretching of Presidential powers. He once commented that Roosevelt ought more often to have admitted the legal way of reaching the same ends. Taft alienated many liberal Republicans who later formed the Progressive Party, by defending the Payne-Aldrich Act which unexpectedly continued high tariff rates. A trade agreement with Canada, which Taft pushed through Congress, would have pleased eastern advocates of a low tariff, but the Canadians rejected it. He further antagonized Progressives by upholding his Secretary of the Interior, accused of failing to carry out Roosevelts conservation policies. A postal savings system was established, and the Interstate Commerce Commission was directed to set railroad rates. In 1912, when the Republicans renominated Taft, Roosevelt bolted the party to lead the Progressives, thus guaranteeing the election of Woodrow Wilson. Taft, free of the Presidency, served as Professor of Law at Yale until President Harding made him Chief Justice of the United States, a position he held until just before his death in 1930. To Taft, the appointment was his greatest honor; he wrote: I dont remember that I ever was President. Edward Terry Sanford (July 23, 1865 March 8, 1930) was an American jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court from 1923 until his death in 1930. Prior to his nomination to the high court, Sanford served as a United States Assistant Attorney General under President Theodore Roosevelt from 1905 to 1907, and as a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee and the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee from 1908 to 1923. Sanford is typically viewed as a conservative justice, favoring strict adherence to antitrust laws, and often voted with his mentor, Chief Justice William Howard Taft. A graduate of Harvard Law School, Sanford practiced law in his hometown of Knoxville, Tennessee, during the 1890s and early 1900s (decade). [1] As Assistant Attorney General, he rose to national prominence as lead prosecutor during the high-profile trial of Joseph Shipp in 1907, which to date is the only criminal trial conducted by the Supreme Court. Sanford’s most lasting impact on American law is arguably his majority opinion in the landmark case Gitlow v. This case, which introduced the incorporation doctrine, helped pave the way for many of the Warren Court’s decisions expanding civil rights and civil liberties in the 1950s and 1960s. Early life and legal career. Sanford was born in Knoxville, Tennessee in 1865, the eldest son of prominent Knoxville businessman Edward J. Sanford (18311902) and Swiss immigrant Emma Chavannes. Sanford’s father, as president or vice president of nearly a dozen banks and corporations, was one of the primary driving forces behind Knoxville’s late-19th century industrial boom. [4] His maternal grandfather, Adrian Chavannes, was the leader of a group of Swiss colonists who arrived in Tennessee in the late 1840s and his uncle, Albert Chavannes, was a noted author and sociologist. In 1891, Sanford married Lutie Mallory Woodruff, the daughter of Knoxville hardware magnate W. Sanford received a Bachelor of Arts degree and a Bachelor of Philosophy degree from the University of Tennessee in 1883, [5] a Bachelor of Arts degree from Harvard University in 1885, a Master of Arts degree from the same institution in 1889, and a Bachelor of Laws from Harvard Law School in 1889. He was in private practice in Knoxville from 1890 to 1907, and was a lecturer at the University of Tennessee School of Law from 1898 to 1907. One of Sanford’s earliest appearances before the Supreme Court came as an attorney representing the appellant Knoxville Iron Company, in Knoxville Iron Company v. The court ruled in favor of Harbison and upheld states’ right to ban companies from paying employees in scrip rather than cash. Sanford first served in the government as a special assistant to the Attorney General of the United States from 1905 to 1907, and then as Assistant Attorney General in 1907 under President Theodore Roosevelt. As an Assistant Attorney General, he was the lead prosecutor in the high-profile trial United States v. This case involved a sheriff, Joseph Shipp, who was convicted of allowing a condemned black prisoner, who was the subject of a United States Supreme Court writ of habeas corpus, to be lynched. Sanford’s conduct of the trial, particularly his exemplary closing argument, are said to be part of a Great American Trial. It is the only criminal trial conducted before the United States Supreme Court in which the court exercised original jurisdiction (the court typically hears only criminal cases on appeal). [2][8] It was widely followed in the newspapers. [9] Shipp and several others were later convicted. Sanford was nominated by President Theodore Roosevelt on May 14, 1908, to a joint seat on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee and the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee vacated by Judge Charles Dickens Clark. [7] He was confirmed by the United States Senate on May 18, 1908, and received his commission the same day. [7] His service terminated on February 5, 1923, due to his elevation to the Supreme Court. Justice Sanford in his office. Upon the advice of Sanford’s friend Chief Justice William Howard Taft, President Warren Harding nominated Sanford to the Supreme Court on January 24, 1923, to the seat vacated by Mahlon Pitney. Sanford was confirmed by the Senate and received his commission, on January 29, 1923. [10] Sanford was Circuit Justice for the Fifth Circuit from February 19, 1923, until his death on March 8, 1930. Sanford wrote 130 opinions during his seven years on the Court. His most well known [10] was the majority opinion in Gitlow v. [1][11] While upholding a state law banning anarchist literature, the opinion in Gitlow implied that some provisions of the Bill of Rights (here the First Amendment’s free speech provisions) apply with equal force to the states via the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment (commonly called “incorporation”). That had “extraordinary consequences for the nationalization of the Bill of Rights during the era of the Warren Court, ” which later used similar reasoning to incorporate other amendments and expand civil liberties. [11][12] Gitlow has been cited as precedent in cases such as Near v. Minnesota (1931), [13] which incorporated the guarantee of freedom of the press, Griswold v. Connecticut (1965), which recognized the constitutional right to privacy, [14] and more recently, McDonald v. Chicago (2010), [15] which incorporated the right to bear arms. Sanford authored the majority opinion in Okanogan Indians v. United States, commonly called the “Pocket Veto Case, ” which upheld the power of the President’s pocket veto. Other noteworthy opinions by him are Taylor v. 176 (1926) and Fiske v. Sanford voted with the majority in Myers v. United States (1926), which upheld the president’s authority to remove executive branch officials without the Senate’s consent, and in Ex parte Grossman (1925), which recognized the president’s pardoning power to extend to conviction for contempt of court. [16] Sanford concurred with Taft’s dissent in Adkins v. Children’s Hospital (1923). Chief Justice Taft is considered by some to have been Justice Sanford’s mentor. Justice Sanford unexpectedly died on March 8, 1930 of uremic poisoning following a dental extraction in Washington, D. [17] just a few hours before Chief Justice William Howard Taft, who had retired five weeks earlier. As it was customary for members of the court to attend the funeral of deceased members, that posed a “logistical nightmare” because of the immediate travel from Knoxville for Sanford’s funeral to Washington for Taft’s funeral. [18][19] As had been the case in their careers, Taft’s death overshadowed Sanford’s demise. [1] Sanford is interred at Greenwood Cemetery in Knoxville. In 1894, Sanford was chosen to deliver the centennial address at his alma mater, the University of Tennessee. The address, which discussed the institution’s history, was published the following year as Blount College and the University of Tennessee: An Historical Address. [4] Sanford’s papers are located at various institutions in Tennessee. [7][10] Sanford was an active member of Civitan International. [20] He is one of six Tennesseans who have served on the Supreme Court. The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a private research university in Washington, D. It was chartered in 1821 by an act of the United States Congress. The university is organized into 14 colleges and schools, including the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences, the Elliott School of International Affairs, the GW School of Business, the School of Media and Public Affairs, the Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration, the GW Law School and the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design. George Washington’s main Foggy Bottom Campus is located in the heart of Washington, D. With the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank located on campus and the White House and the U. Department of State within blocks of campus. GWU hosts numerous research centers and institutes, including the National Security Archive and the Institute for International Economic Policy. GWU has two satellite campuses: the Mount Vernon Campus, located in D. S Foxhall neighborhood and the Virginia Science and Technology Campus. It is the largest institution of higher education in the District of Columbia. George Washington, the first President of the United States, advocated the establishment of a national university in the U. Capital in his first State of the Union address in 1790 and continued to promote this idea throughout his career and until his death. [2][8] In his will, Washington left shares in the Potomac Company to endow the university. However, due to the company’s financial difficulties, funds were raised independently. [9] On February 9, 1821, the university was founded by an Act of Congress, making it one of only five universities in the United States with a Congressional charter. George Washington offers degree programs in seventy-one disciplines, enrolling an average of 11,000 undergraduate and 15,500 post-graduate students from more than 130 countries. [10] The Princeton Review ranked GWU 1st for Top Colleges or Universities for Internship Opportunities. [11][12] As of 2015, George Washington had over 1,100 active alumni in the U. Foreign Service, one of the largest feeder schools for the diplomatic corps. [13] GWU is consistently ranked by The Princeton Review in the top “Most Politically Active” Schools. George Washington is home to extensive student life programs, a strong Greek culture, and over 450 other student organizations. The school’s athletic teams, the George Washington Colonials, play in the Atlantic 10 Conference. GW is known for the numerous prominent events it holds yearly, from hosting U. Presidential debates and academic symposiums to the being the host of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund’s Annual Meetings in DC, since 2013. George Washington alumni, faculty and affiliates include numerous prominent politicians, including 16 heads of state or government, current U. Cabinet members, Fortune 500 CEOs, Nobel laureates, MacArthur fellows, Olympic athletes, Academy Award and Golden Globe winners, royalty, and Time 100 notables. Virginia Science and Technology Campus. Education and Human Development. Media and Public Affairs. Public Policy and Public Administration. President George Washington, GW’s namesake, left shares in his last will to endow a university in the nation’s capital. The first President of the United States, George Washington, long favored the establishment of a university in the capital of the United States. He wrote to the U. Congress and others in favor of it, and included a bequest in his last will and testament, though the shares lost their value no educational institution ever benefited from it. For a college to educate citizens from throughout the young nation. A large building was constructed on College Hill, which is now known as Meridian Hill, and on February 9, 1821, President James Monroe approved the congressional charter creating the non-denominational Columbian College. The first commencement in 1824 was considered an important event for the young city of Washington, D. In attendance were President Monroe, John C. Calhoun, Henry Clay, Marquis de Lafayette and other dignitaries. The George Washington University, like much of Washington, D. Traces many of its origins back to the Freemasons. The Bible that the President of the George Washington University uses to swear an oath on upon inauguration is the Bible of Freemason George Washington. Freemasonry symbols are prominently displayed throughout the campus including the foundation stones of many of the university buildings. During the Civil War, many students left to join the Confederacy and the college’s buildings were used as a Union Army military hospital and barracks. Walt Whitman was among many of the volunteers to work on the campus. Following the war, in 1873, Columbian College became the Columbian University and moved to an urban downtown location centered on 15th and H streets, NW. In 1904, Columbian University changed its name to the George Washington University in an agreement with the George Washington Memorial Association to build a campus building in honor of the first U. [21] The university moved its principal operations to the D. Neighborhood of Foggy Bottom in 1912. A conversation between U. President Barack Obama and Stephen Colbert held at GWU’s Lisner Auditorium; 2014. Many of the Colleges of the George Washington University stand out for their age and history. The Law School is the oldest law school in the District of Columbia. [23] The School of Medicine and Health Sciences is the 11th oldest medical school in the nation. [24] The Columbian College was founded in 1821, and is the oldest unit of the university. The Elliott School of International Affairs was formalized in 1898. Historic F Street House is the President of GWU’s official residence. Behind is the HQ of the International Monetary Fund. The majority of the present infrastructure and financial stability at GW is due to the tenures of GW Presidents Cloyd Heck Marvin, Lloyd Hartman Elliott and Stephen Joel Trachtenberg. In the 1930s, the university was a major center for theoretical physics. The cosmologist George Gamow produced critical work on the Big Bang theory at GW in the 1930s and 1940s. In one of the most important moments in the 20th century, Niels Bohr announced that Otto Hahn had successfully split the atom on January 26, 1939, at the Fifth Washington Conference on theoretical physics in the Hall of Government. During the Vietnam War era, Thurston Hall, an undergraduate dormitory housing 1,116 students[27] was a staging ground for student anti-war Demonstrations. At 1900 F Street NW, the building is 3 blocks from the White House. The campus was first utilized in 1997 for women only but became co-educational in a matter of years. The Mount Vernon campus is now totally integrated into the GW community, serving as a complement to the Foggy Bottom campus. In 1999, GW hosted the Town Hall with President Clinton, the first presidential town hall to ever be webcast live. In December 2006, the university named Johns Hopkins University provost Steven Knapp as the next President of the George Washington University. He began his presidency on August 1, 2007. [28] In 2017, Thomas LeBlanc, provost of the University of Miami, was named the current President of the George Washington University. University Yard is GW’s largest open space in Foggy Bottom. Main articles: Campuses of George Washington University and George Washington University residence halls. The George Washington University has three fully integrated campuses in the D. These are the Foggy Bottom Campus, the Mount Vernon Campus, and the Virginia Science and Technology Campus. The Foggy Bottom Campus houses the vast majority of academic programming. Residence halls exist on the Foggy Bottom and Mount Vernon campuses. The George Washington University library system contains the Gelman Library, [29] the Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library, [30] the Burns Law Library, [31] the Eckles Memorial Library, [32] and the Virginia Science and Technology Library. [33] The GWU Library System is a constituent member of the Washington Research Library Consortium, which allows for resource sharing among the university libraries of the Washington metropolitan area. GWU’s Corcoran School of the Arts & Design is housed in the Corcoran Gallery, D. S oldest private cultural institution and a National Landmark, located on The Ellipse, facing the White House. The main GW campus consists of 43 acres (170,000 m2) in historic Foggy Bottom and is located a few blocks from the White House, the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, State Department and the National Mall. Barring a few outlying buildings, the boundaries of campus are delineated by (running clockwise from Washington Circle) Pennsylvania Avenue, 19th Street, E Street, Virginia Avenue, 24th Street, and New Hampshire Avenue. The university owns much of the property in Foggy Bottom and leases it to various tenants, including the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Other nearby institutions include the Harry S Truman Building (Department of State headquarters), John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, United States Institute of Peace, Watergate complex and the embassies of Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Spain, Uruguay and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The University Yard is the main open space and historic heart of the university. Along with George Washington’s main library, Gelman Library, they constitute the hub of the main campus. The seven-story Gelman Library building contains over two million volumes and is constructed in the Brutalist architectural style of the 1970s. It features a concrete façade punctuated by windows that are divided by projecting vertical slabs. For most of the year, parts of the library are open 24 hours a day, seven days per week for use by students, faculty, and staff. The seventh floor of the library includes the Special Collections Research Center, National Security Archives, Global Resources Center and Kiev Library. “Trump’s First Year, ” a 2017 event held with White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders and the chief correspondents from The New York Times, CNN, Fox News, and the president of the White House Correspondents’ Association, held by the School of Media and Public Affairs. Foggy Bottom during Winter. The National Security Archives (NSA) is a research institution that publishes declassified U. Government files concerning selected topics of American foreign policy. It was a National Security Archive Freedom of Information Act request that eventually made the Central Intelligence Agency’s so-called “Family Jewels” public. Close to the library is Lisner Auditorium and a large open area between them is known as Kogan Plaza. Southeast of the plaza and located near Monroe Hall and Hall of Government is the Monroe Court, a landscaped area with a large fountain. The Foggy BottomGWU Washington Metro station is located at the intersection of 23rd and I Streets NW due south of Washington Circle, and provides access to the Orange, Blue and Silver lines. The University Hospital is located next to the Metro station entrance. The Foggy Bottom campus contains most of the residence halls in which GW students live. The most notable include Shenkman Hall, Thurston Hall, Madison Hall, Potomac House, Fulbright Hall, Mitchell Hall, Munson Hall, Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis Hall, Phillip Amsterdam Hall, Guthridge Hall, Madison Hall, Townhouse Row, South Hall, and the newest, District House, which opened in 2016. In late 2007, construction began on a large mixed-use residential, office and retail development located on the site of the old GW Hospital (Square 54) and just east of the Foggy BottomGWU Metrorail station. It was the second-largest undeveloped lot in the District of Columbia at the time of initial construction activity. [38] In 2014, the university assumed ownership of the Corcoran Gallery of Art, the oldest private art museum in Washington D. And independent college of art and design. The college of art and design became The Corcoran School of the Arts and Design under the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences. The National Gallery of Art will acquire many of the 17,000 pieces of art from the Corcoran and the rest will be donated to other museums around the country. [39] In May 2014, GW opened the Milken Institute School of Public Health, a nine-story building that received LEED certification for sustainability features including a green roof, rainwater collection system, and special heating and air conditioning technologies that helps mass air displacement. [40] The Textile Museum reopened to the public in March 2015 after the institution merged with the university in 2011 and closed it for renovations two years later. Lieutenant General George Washington, by Clark Mills, on Washington Circle, on the northern edge of the Foggy Bottom campus. Initially, the Mount Vernon Campus remained exclusively a women’s college until 1999 when GW changed its operations to a co-ed facility. [42] Now known as the Mount Vernon campus, it is totally integrated into the GW community, serving as a complement to the Foggy Bottom campus. [43] The campus has transportation systems connecting the students to the GW campus in Foggy Bottom. It also includes Eckles Library, six residence halls, Lloyd Gymnasium, The GW-Mount Vernon Athletic Complex and other various campus facilities. Main article: George Washington University Virginia Campus. The George Washington University also operates a research and graduate campus in Ashburn, Virginia (near Dulles International Airport) which was established in 1991. Starting with a donation of 50 acres (20 ha) from Robert H. Smith, the campus grew to 101 acres (41 ha) by 2010. Additionally, the university also operates several other graduate satellite education centers. These include the Alexandria Graduate Education Center in Alexandria, the Graduate Education Center in Arlington, and the Hampton Roads Center in Newport News. The Virginia Science and Technology Campus hosts research and educational partnerships with industry and government officials and offers more than 20 graduate degrees. The Virginia Science and Technology Campus is home to the first walkable solar-power sidewalk in the world. The project began in 2012 and was completed two years later, inaugurated in October 2014. The George Washington University is governed by the GW Board of Trustees, the President of the George Washington University, provost, vice presidents, deans, and department chairs. The university employs over 6,000 faculty members, administrators, and support staff. [48] In 2007, Steven Knapp had previously taught at the University of California, Berkeley and was later the provost at Johns Hopkins University, was named the university’s sixteenth president. [49] The current President of the George Washington University is Thomas LeBlanc. Undergraduate & Graduate Schools of The George Washington University. Of Arts and Sciences. School of Engineering and Applied Science. School of Media and Public Affairs. Of the Arts and Design. Graduate Schools of The George Washington University. Graduate School of Political Management. Graduate School of Education & Human Development. Of Public Policy and Public Administration. College of Professional Studies. GW is organized into fourteen schools and colleges, each with a different dean and organization. [50] The Columbian College of Arts and Sciences was the original academic unit of the university. [51] The Medical School is the 11th oldest medical school in the nation and the first to open in the District of Columbia. [52] The Law School was also the first law school in the District of Columbia. [23] Each academic unit has a distinct identity within the broader university. The Graduate School of Political Management and the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design were organized outside of the university, later to join in 1987 and 2014, respectively. Columbian College of Arts and Sciences. Rome, Phillips, and Smith Halls, home of the Columbian College. The Columbian College of Arts and Sciences (CCAS) is the oldest and largest college in the university. It was founded in 1821; at the beginning of the university’s history, there was no distinction between this college and the university. The School of Media and Public Affairs (SMPA), and the Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration (SPPPA) belong to this college, although they are run separately. The Columbian College was among the first American institutions to grant a Doctor of Philosophy Ph. [53] The Columbian College is notable for its academic diversity, and offers a wide range of majors and courses of study. [53] The Columbian College contains the Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration, the School of Media and Public Affairs, and the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design. The Columbian College is primarily housed in Philips Hall, Rome Hall, Smith Hall of Art, MPA Building, Monroe Hall, Hall of Government, 1922 F Street, Corcoran Hall, Bell Hall, Samson Hall, Lisner Hall, and many other places around campus. The college is also present on the Mount Vernon and Virginia Campuses. Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration. The Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration is a graduate school in the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences. [54] The Trachtenberg School offers Master of Public Policy, Master of Public Administration, and PhD degrees in Public Policy and Public Administration. The school works in partnership with the Elliott School of International Affairs, the School of Public Health and Health Services, and the Graduate School of Education & Human Development to offer a variety of concentrations for its graduates. For Public Affairs Schools, it is ranked 12th nationwide by U. News & World Report, and 10th in Public Management Administration. The George Washington School of Media and Public Affairs. The School of Media and Public Affairs (SMPA), although run separately, belongs to the Columbian College of Arts in Sciences. [54] It offers two undergraduate degrees, Journalism and Mass Communication and Political Communication and a master’s degree in Media and Public Affairs. It is housed in the same building as the Graduate School of Political Management. The Public Affairs Project at GW, part of SMPA, is responsible for the creation and production of the PBS special, Planet Forward. School of Media and Public Affairs (SMPA) was the first in the nation to offer a bachelor’s degree in Political Communication. The program boasts a faculty of retired and current professionals including CNN correspondents, journalists, political analysts, and campaign professionals. The school is consistently ranked in the top 10 programs in the nation. Corcoran School of the Arts and Design. The Corcoran School is housed in the former Corcoran Gallery of Art. The Corcoran School of the Arts and Design is one of the oldest arts education institutions in the United States. It is a school of the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences. [54] It is housed in the Corcoran Gallery of Art, the oldest private cultural institution in Washington, DC. Formerly an independent institution, known as the Corcoran College of Art and Design, the institution later merged the college operations with the George Washington University. The school retained over 20 full-time faculty members, and the college will continue to function as a separate entity within the university. The school has a historic building facing the White House on 17th Street. Smith, opened a new complex for the school called Ric and Dawn Duquès Hall, which today houses the business school along with the Norma Lee and Morton Funger Hall. [57] As of January 2018, GW’s undergraduate business program was ranked 42nd nationally and its International Business program was ranked 9th by U. News & World Report. School of Medicine and Health Sciences. GWU Hospital houses several medical programs at GWU and occasionally serves the U. President’s medical needs. Hillary Clinton presenting the 1993 health care plan at GWU Hospital. Her mother died at the hospital in 2011. The School of Medicine and Health Sciences (SMHS) or simply the George Washington School of Medicine, the first in the nation’s capital, was founded in 1824 due to the need for doctors in the District of Columbia. [59] In 1981, the Medical Center became the center of the national spotlight when President Ronald Reagan was rushed to the emergency room after an attempted assassination. GW Hospital’s emergency department was later renamed the Ronald Reagan Institute of Emergency Medicine, and other politicians, such as former Vice President Dick Cheney, come to GW for routine and emergency procedures. [60] Cheney and wife Lynne Cheney then helped to start the Richard B. Cheney Cardiovascular Institute in 2006. Others include former First Lady Laura Bush who was treated for a pinched nerve a few years ago. SMHS is primarily housed in the GW Hospital, Ross Hall, and many other centers along K Street and throughout the city. The School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS) was founded on October 1, 1884, as the Corcoran Scientific School of Columbian University. The school separated from the Columbian College in 1962 and was one of the first to accept women for degree candidacy in engineering. [61] The bazooka was invented at the SEAS in 1942. [62] The school moved into the new Science and Engineering Hall in D. Elliott School of International Affairs. The Elliott School of International Affairs is one of the world’s most prestigious school of international relations and the largest in the U. The Elliott School of International Affairs (ESIA) was founded in 1898 as the School of Comparative Jurisprudence and Diplomacy. Under President Lloyd Elliott, the school separated from Columbian College. On September 3, 2003, alumnus Colin Powell opened a new complex for this school at 1957 E Street NW in front of the Department of State. [64] As of February 2015, its undergraduate program was ranked 8th globally by Foreign Policy magazine, while the graduate program is currently ranked 7th in the world. [65] ESIA is primarily housed in Elliott Hall at 1957 E St. The history of nursing education at GW spans more than 100 years. In 2002, Jean Johnson, Ph. RN, FAAN, then senior associate dean for Health Sciences, met with the nursing faculty to assess GW’s capacity to create GW’s degree programs. The faculty moved forward to develop an MSN in the GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences with programs in adult nurse practitioner, family nurse practitioner, nursing leadership and management, and clinical research administration. The first MSN class was admitted in 2004. Meanwhile, approval was also obtained to develop a Department of Nursing Education. As the first and only chair of the department, Ellen Dawson, Ph. RN, ANP, led the MSN program to accreditation in time for the graduation of the first class in 2006. Also, she spearheaded the development of both the doctor of nursing practice (DNP) program and the 15-month (four consecutive semesters) accelerated second-degree bachelor of nursing science (ABSN) program located in Ashburn, VA. The first classes for these degrees were admitted in 2007 and 2009, respectively. In 2010 the GW School of Nursing was re-established and is now the university’s 10th academic institution, with Drs. Jean Johnson and Ellen Dawson as the founding deans. The GW Law School is the oldest law school in the national capital. Jean-Antoine Houdon’s George Washington, in University Yard. The George Washington University Law School was established in 1826 and is the oldest law school in the District of Columbia. [67] Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas, William Strong, David J. Brewer, Willis Van Devanter and John Marshall Harlan were among those who served on its faculty. [68][69] Chief Justice John Roberts, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Justice Samuel Alito, and Justice Antonin Scalia presided over its moot court in 2006, 2007 and 2009, respectively. [70][71] The law school is located primarily on the east side of University Yard. Graduate School of Education and Human Development. The Graduate School of Education & Human Development (GSEHD) officially started in 1909. The school is composed of five distinct academic departments, and it is one of the largest schools within GW. The George Washington University College of Professional Studies (CPS) was founded during the Trachtenberg Presidency. [73] The Graduate School of Political Management is included within the college. [74] CPS offers courses on the Foggy Bottom and Virginia campuses. The Graduate School of Political Management (GSPM) is an academic unit of the College of Professional Studies. GSPM offers graduate degrees in legislative affairs, political management, and other related disciplines. The current director is Lara Brown. Milken Institute School of Public Health. The Milken Institute School of Public Health, on Washington Circle. Established in July 1997, and renamed in March 2014, the Milken Institute School of Public Health[76] brought together three longstanding university programs in the schools of medicine, business, and education that have since expanded substantially. Today, more than 900 students from nearly every U. State and more than 35 nations pursue undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral-level degrees in public health. Its student body is one of the most ethnically diverse among the nation’s private schools of public health. The School also offers an array of joint degree programs, allowing students to couple a law degree with the Master of Public Health (MPH), or to combine an MPH with a medical degree or an MA in International Affairs. An MPH/Physician Assistant program, the first in the world, is available at the Milken Institute SPH, as is the opportunity to serve as a Peace Corps volunteer while pursuing an MPH. Jacobs Institute of Women’s Health. The Milken Institute School of Public Health also houses a nonprofit organization, the Jacobs Institute of Women’s Health. It aims to improve the health care of women of all ages both nationally and internationally by creating spaces designed to encourage interdisciplinary discussions on women’s health. The institute also produces an academic journal, Women’s Health Issues. The institute’s executive director is Susan Wood. Demographics of the Student Body (2015)[79][80]. Two or More Races. Avard Fairbanks’s Busts of George Washington are located at the borders of the Foggy Bottom Campus. The Foggy BottomGWU station of the DC Metro. According to the self-provided data by George Washington University, as of the 20112012 academic year, the acceptance rate for the Medical School was 3%, receiving 10,588 applications. Also, the law school’s acceptance was 23%, receiving 10,021 applications, and undergraduate studies was 32%, receiving 21,433 applications. [81] As of 2015, George Washington University no longer required the SAT and ACT test scores for applicants in order to boost the enrollment of disadvantaged students. There are approximately 10,000 full-time undergraduates studying at George Washington University, and 14,000 graduate students. [83] These students come from all 50 states and over 120 countries. [84] Nearly 900 students participate in GW’s Study Abroad Programs each semester in 50 countries. [85] GW is the largest higher education institution in Washington D. At George Washington University, tuition is guaranteed to remain at the freshman rate for up to ten continuous (full-time) semesters of undergraduate attendance at the university. GW has a large financial aid budget. [87] For the FY2011 cohort of students, the student loan default rate was 1.4, one of the lowest in the nation. [88] For the 20102011 school year, the freshman retention rate was 94.3%. [89] GW requires that students live on campus for their first three years of enrollment as undergraduates. In September 2013, The GW Hatchet reported that the university had a need-aware admissions policy, even though it claimed to have a need-blind policy at the time. The university subsequently admitted that its admissions policy was, in fact, need-aware. View of Midcampus Walk and Professors’ Gate on 21st Street. Shenkman Hall, commonly known as Ivory Tower. During the 20132014 academic year, there were 5,015 undergraduates enrolled in the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences, 2,005 in the Elliott School of International Affairs, 1,566 in the School of Business, 774 in the School of Engineering and Applied Science, 367 in the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, 174 in the Milken Institute School of Public Health, and 153 in the School of Nursing. Students come from all 50 U. The top states include New York, California, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Florida, Illinois and Connecticut. George Washington University has many international students at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. During the 20132014 academic year, there were over 130 countries represented among the student body. The most represented countries represented were China, South Korea, India, Saudi Arabia, Canada, Mexico, United Kingdom, Turkey, France, Nigeria, Pakistan, Japan, Iran, Germany, Brazil, Colombia, and Vietnam. News & World Report[98]. News & World Report[103]. GW was ranked as tied for 25th of the “Top Universities for Producing Billionaires 20162017″ by Times Higher Education’s World University Rankings, which also ranks GW as 51st of the “Top 100 Universities for Producing Millionaires” in the world. Apart from its 78th national ranking, Forbes ranks GW as 44th in “Research Universities”, 60th in “Private Colleges”, 43rd in “The Northeast”, and 287th in “America’s Best Value Colleges”. GW was ranked as the 66th wealthiest university in the world. The Princeton Review consistently ranks George Washington University in the Top 10 for the following categories:[108]. Best in the Northeast. Most Popular Study Abroad Program. In 2012, the university received national attention when GW officials announced that they had misreported admissions data on their student body for over a decade, overstating the number of students who had graduated from high school in the top ten percent of their classes. [109][110] Consequently, U. News & World Report removed the school from its rankings and altered the GW’s entry to being unranked for the 2013, based on a data reporting error. [111] The university was reinstated a year later in the 2014 rankings. News & World Report ranks GW’s international business program as 8th best in the world, its MBA program as 51st best, and its undergraduate business program as 38th best. [115] The Financial Times ranks GWSB as the 47th best business school in the United States. Foreign Policy ranks the Elliott School’s Masters in International Affairs as the 7th best in the world in its 2018 “Inside the Ivory Tower” annual report. [117] Foreign Policy ranks the Elliott School as being the 8th in the Top U. Undergraduate Institutions to Study International Relations 2018. News & World Report ranks GW Law School as 5th best in the U. For its international law program, 5th best for intellectual law, 2nd best for part-time law, and as the 22nd best law school in the United States. [118] The National Law Journal ranked GW Law 21st for law schools that sent the highest percentage of new graduates to NLJ 250 law firms, the largest and most prominent law practices in the U. George Washington is ranked 61st for the “Best Global Universities for Social Sciences and Public Health 2018″ by U. The Times Higher Education ranks GW as having the 64th best law program in the world in 2019. The George Washington University is the largest research university in Washington, DC. [citation needed] It is classified among “R1: Doctoral Universities Very High Research Activity”. [122] In 2017, The George Washington University ranked 93rd in R&D expenditures in the US. Main article: List of centers and research institutes at George Washington University. The Burns Building houses different medical research centers. The George Washington University has many research centers including (non-exhaustive):[124]. Sigur Center for Asian Studies. Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology. Center for Aging, Health, & Humanities. Center for Equity and Excellence in Education. GW Institute for Biomimetics and Bioinspired Engineering. Center for Otolaryngology Microsurgery Education & Training (COMET). Cyrus & Myrtle Katzen Cancer Research Center. McCormick Genomic and Proteomic Center (MGPC). National Crash Analysis Center. Center for the Connected Consumer. The Project on Forward Engagement. GW Project on Extremism. Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Project. First Federal Congress Project. Institute for International Economic Policy. Institute for Public Diplomacy and Global Communication. Institute for Security and Conflict Studies. Institute for International Science and Technology Policy. Institute for Global and International Studies. Institute for Disaster and Fragility Resilience. Institute for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies. Institute for Middle East Studies. Institute for African Studies. Institute for Korean Studies. Cisneros Hispanic Leadership Institute. George Washington Institute for Neuroscience. George Washington Institute for Public Policy. GW Institute for Biomedical Sciences. GW Institute for Biomedical Engineering. Ronald Reagan Institute of Emergency Medicine. Institute for Politics, Democracy & the Internet. GW Institute for Massively Parallel Applications and Computing Technology (IMPACT). Institute for Biomedical Engineering. Washington Institute of Surgical Education (WISE). GW’s graduation ceremony, commencement, occurs on the National Mall in front of the Capitol. The university is located in downtown D. Near the Kennedy Center, embassies, and other cultural events. Students are known as highly politically active; Uni in the USA stated that “politics at George Washington is about as progressive as it gets”. There are many student organizations at the university. GW has a Division I athletics program that includes men’s baseball, basketball, cross country, golf, gymnastics, women’s lacrosse, rowing, sailing, soccer, women’s softball, squash, swimming, tennis, women’s volleyball and water polo. [126] Colonials athletics teams compete in the Atlantic 10 Conference. The Division II men’s and women’s Rugby Teams both compete in the Potomac Rugby Union. GW Student Association is GW’s student government. Most student organizations are run through the George Washington University Student Association (SA). The SA is fashioned after the federal government with an executive, legislative, and judicial branch. [128] There are over 500 registered student organizations on campus. The largest student organization on campus, the GW College Democrats have hosted speakers such as CNN contributor Donna Brazile and former DNC Chairman Howard Dean among many others. Likewise, the GW College Republicans, the largest CR chapter in the nation, have been visited by politicians like John Ashcroft former Florida Governor Jeb Bush and former President George W. [129] The International Affairs Society (IAS) runs the university’s internationally top-ranked Model United Nations team, in addition to hosting yearly high school and middle school Model UN conferences on campus. This organization also hosts various foreign dignitaries, US Government officials, and subject matter experts to further inform and foster international understanding both in the university’s student body and the greater D. There are also several a cappella performance groups on campus. The university’s school-sponsored a cappella group, the co-ed GW Troubadours, has been a presence on campus since the mid-1950s and regularly records studio albums and travels internationally with the Department of Music. The Sons of Pitch, GW’s only male a cappella group, has been around since 2003, and the female group the GW Pitches was founded in 1996. All the groups are extremely committed to charity work, with the Troubadours holding an annual philanthropic concert in the fall entitled “Acappellapalooza, ” and the Sons of Pitch holding one in the spring named The United States of A-Cappella. In the case of the former, groups from GWU are drawn for a concert, in the latter, groups from around the nation. The groups have raised tens of thousands of dollars for various charitable causes. Additionally, the university is home to the Voice gospel choir, a group that sings gospel music, the GW Vibes, a co-ed group focusing on soulful music. The GW Sirens, another all-girls group, and the GW Motherfunkers, a coed top 40 group, were created in 2003 and 2012, respectively. Each year, the groups duke it out at the Battle of the A-Cappella groups, one of the biggest student events on GW’s campus. Another student group, the Emergency Medical Response Group (EMeRG) provides an all-volunteer 24/7 ambulance service for the campus and the Foggy Bottom/West End community at no cost. EMeRG has been active on campus since 1994 and has advanced from bike response into a two ambulance system that is sanctioned by the District of Columbia Department of Health and DC Fire and EMS (DCFEMS). EMeRG also plays an active role in special events in around the DC area including the Marine Corps Marathon, National Marathon, Cherry Blossom Race, Commencement, Inauguration and other events in downtown D. And on the National Mall. List of Greek Chapters. Multicultural Greek Council[133]. Alternative Greek Council[134]. Townhouse Row, home of many fraternities and sororities. GW has a large Greek community with over 3,000 students consisting of just under 27 percent of the undergraduate population. [135] Greek organizations are divided up between and governed by the Inter-Fraternity Council with 14 chapters, the Panhellenic Association with 11 chapters, and the Multicultural Greek Council with 13 chapters. [135] Other Greek-life, known as “Alternative Greek Life” or simply “Alt-Greek”, exists on campus in the form of professional, community-serviced based and honor groups although not under the university’s traditional Greek life governing structure but instead are considered separate student organizations. Rice Hall, 1922 F Street, houses various administrative offices. There are chapters of many varied academic groups at the university. The local chapter of the Society of Physics Students was at one time under the auspices of world-renowned scientists like George Gamow, Ralph Asher Alpher, Mario Schoenberg and Edward Teller, who have all taught at the university. The Enosinian Society, founded in 1822, is one of the university’s oldest student organizations. Invited speakers included Daniel Webster. There are four major news sources on campus: the independent student-run newspaper The GW Hatchet, which publishes articles online daily and a print edition weekly; The Rival GW, [137] an online-only student-run publication;[138] the online-only radio station, WRGW; and the university’s official news source, GW Today. GW also publishes a peer-reviewed journal, The International Affairs Review, which is run by graduate students at the Elliott School. George Washington University was ranked number 12 on The Sierra Club’s magazine “Cool Schools List” for 2014[139] and was included in the Princeton Review’s Guide to 322 Green Schools for 2013. The campus has a campus-wide building energy efficiency program along with nine LEED-certified buildings[140] including the Milken Institute School of Public Health building. [141][142] In 2016, university officials rejected demands by the student body for the university to divest from fossil fuels. The university’s athletics teams are collectively known as the GW Colonials. Main article: George Washington Colonials. George Washington University is a member of the Atlantic 10 Conference and most of its teams play at the NCAA Division I level. All indoor sports play at the Smith Center on the Foggy Bottom campus. The outdoor events are held at the Mount Vernon campus Athletic Complex. The university’s colors are buff and blue (buff being a color similar to tan, but sometimes represented as gold or yellow). The colors were taken from George Washington’s uniform in the Revolutionary War. The teams have achieved great successes in recent years including a first-round victory in the Men’s NCAA Division I Soccer Tournament in 2004. The men’s and women’s varsity crew team rows out of Thompson’s Boat Center on the Potomac River and competes in the Eastern Association of Rowing Colleges. In the 200809 season, the men’s crew team placed an all-time high national ranking of 12th in the country. The sailing team competes in the Middle Atlantic Intercollegiate Sailing Association while the gymnastics team competes in the East Atlantic Gymnastics League. In 2007 the GW Men’s Water Polo team placed third at Eastern Championships and was ranked 14th in the nation. This section may be too long and excessively detailed. Please consider summarizing the material while citing sources as needed. Main article: George Washington Colonials men’s basketball. Fans storming the court after the GW Colonials defeated the Virginia Cavaliers in 2015. Mike Jarvis coached GW in the 1990s, and led the team to the NCAA Sweet 16 in 1993, where they were beaten by the Fab Five University of Michigan team (which later vacated its wins due to NCAA rule violations). Jarvis also coached former Colonials head coach Karl Hobbs in high school. Former NBA player Yinka Dare also played at George Washington for two years before being drafted in the first round by the New Jersey Nets. 9 Michigan State and No. 12 Maryland in back to back games to win the 2004 BB&T Classic. The team received a No. 12 seed, losing to No. 5 seed Georgia Tech in the first round. The team began the 200506 season ranked 21st in the Associated Press poll, reaching as high as sixth in the polls, and after some tournament success they closed out the year ranked 19th in the nation. They had a record of 262 going into the 2006 NCAA Tournament. The 200506 team achieved the school’s highest ranking in the last 50 years, peaking at #6 in the nation, [144] had been one of the team’s best and received an #8 seed in the NCAA Tournament. In the tournament, they came back from an 18-point second-half deficit to defeat #9 seed UNC-Wilmington, but lost to Duke University, the top overall seed, in the second round. While only one Colonial from the 200506 team was drafted in the 2006 NBA Draft, J. Pinnock, two other Colonials from that team have played in the NBA. Pops Mensah-Bonsu played for the Dallas Mavericks, Houston Rockets, San Antonio Spurs and Toronto Raptors and Mike Hall played for the Washington Wizards. The 200607 basketball season was considered by many[145][146] to be a rebuilding year for the Colonials after graduating their entire starting front court and losing Pinnock to the NBA. The Colonials were placed as a #11 seed lost to #6 seed Vanderbilt University in Sacramento, CA, 7744. GW Women’s Basketball, 1915. Hobbs, a former player and coach under Jim Calhoun at the University of Connecticut coached the Colonials for 10 years. Known for his animated sideline personality[148][149] Hobbs had been considered one of the up-and-coming coaches in the NCAA. On April 25, 2011, the university released Hobbs from his contractual obligations, forcing him to resign as men’s basketball coach[150][151][152]. Smith Center is the home of the GW Colonials. In May 2011, Incoming Athletic Director Patrick Nero hired former University of Vermont head coach Mike Lonergan to take over the men’s basketball program. [153] The Bowie, Md. Native had a slow start to his GW tenure, finishing 1021 in his first full year as coach, and improving to 1317 in the second. The NCAA committee selected the Colonials as the #9 seed in the East Region for the tournament. [156] They faced #8 seed Memphis in the second round. The Tigers took a five-point lead over the Colonials into the half, but the Colonials almost came back to win. A late rally cut the Memphis lead to only one point with 25 seconds to go, but the Colonials could not hold on and lost, 7166. Soon after the end of the Colonials’ successful 201314 campaign, Lonergan signed a contract extension, keeping him with the program through the 202021 season. The Colonials won the 2016 National Invitation Tournament, defeating Hofstra, Monmouth, Florida, San Diego State and Valparaiso for the first postseason national title in their history. Prior to the 20162017 season, Mike Lonergan was removed as head coach following allegations of verbal abuse from players and staff. [158] He was replaced by assistant coach Maurice Joseph who served as interim head coach before being signed fully following the 20162017 basketball season. In March 2019, GW hired Jamion Christian to be its next head men’s basketball coach. GW’s Lisner Auditorium is one of DC’s premier venues. The George Washington Colonials baseball team is a member of the Atlantic 10 Conference, which is part of the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s Division I. George Washington’s first baseball team was fielded in 1891. The team plays its home games at Barcroft Park in Arlington, Virginia. The Colonials are coached by Gregg Ritchie. Main article: George Washington Colonials football. The school sponsored intercollegiate football from 1881 to 1966. The team played home games primarily at Griffith Stadium and later at RFK Stadium. In 1966, the football program was discontinued due to a number of factors, including the team’s lack of adequate facilities and the desire by the university to develop an on-campus fieldhouse for basketball and other sports. [161] GW has one alumni in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Alphonse Leemans. An Elliott School event with the 2019 International Women of Courage. The GW Spirit Program includes a co-ed Cheer Team, the First Ladies Dance team, and the university mascot. [162] The Colonials mascot is named George, and is portrayed by a student wearing an outfit inspired by a uniform worn by General Washington. [163] In 2012, George took 1st place at the National Cheerleaders Association Mascot Competition and is the university’s first national champion. [164][165] The sports teams are called the Colonials, which was chosen by the student body in 1924. The spirit program also includes the Colonial Brass, directed by Professor Benno Fritz. The official fight song is Hail to the Buff and Blue, composed in 1924 by student Eugene F. Sweeney and re-written in 1989 by Patrick M. [167] The song is tolled twice-daily by bells atop Corcoran Hall, at 12:15pm and 6:00pm. The university also has various club sports, which are not varsity sports, but compete against other colleges. Examples include: boxing, basketball, volleyball, ice hockey, figure skating, fencing, lacrosse, rugby, soccer, triathlon, tennis, ultimate frisbee, cricket, water polo, equestrian and others. Main article: List of George Washington University alumni. See also: List of George Washington University Law School alumni, List of Elliott School of International Affairs people, List of Columbian College of Arts and Sciences people, and List of The George Washington School of Business people. Notable Alumni of the George Washington University. Attorney General, William Barr. Defense Secretary, Mark Esper. Acting President of Venezuela. Senator Elizabeth Warren, 2020 presidential candidate. Current President of Croatia, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovi. Kellyanne Conway, Counselor to the President. Geovanny Vicente, CNN columnist and political strategist. Julius Axelrod, Nobel Prize in Medicine-winning biochemist. 21st Prime Minister of Pakistan, Shahid Abbasi. 1st President of South Korea, Syngman Rhee. 3rd President of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili. Interim President of Iraq; Ghazi Mashal Ajil al-Yawer. Kun-Hee Lee, Chairman of Samsung. 17th President of South Korea, Lee Myung-bak. Belva Ann Lockwood, first woman to argue before the U. 26th Prime Minister of Mongolia, Chimediin Saikhanbileg. Current President of Togo, Faure Gnassingbé. William Fulbright, founder of the Fulbright Program. George Washington University alumni have included many current and past political figures, both in the United States and abroad. 16 GW alumni have served as foreign heads of state or government (4 currently serving as of 2019). Many alumni have held U. Cabinet positions, including current Attorney General William Barr, acting Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, and current Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt. GW is one of the schools with the most alumni that have served in the U. [169] Notable recent GW alumni members of congress include Harry Reid (Senate Majority Leader for most of the Obama Presidency), Elizabeth Warren (2020 presidential candidate), Eric Cantor (House Majority Leader, 20112014), and Robert Byrd (President pro tempore of the Senate under President Bush and President Obama). Alumni have served as governors of 19 U. States, as well as the District of Columbia and Guam, among others. Some alumni serving in President Trump’s White House include current White House Director of Strategic Communications Mercedes Schlapp and White House Cabinet Secretary Bill McGinley. Politicians include Senator J. William Fulbright, former Secretary of State Colin Powell, former FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, former CIA Director Allen Dulles and his brother, former Secretary of State John Foster Dulles. Also, current Premier of Bermuda Edward David Burt (youngest in history) and current Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Bhutan Tshering Wangchuk are GW alumni. Other notable alumni include Elizabeth Acevedo, Derek Bok (President of Harvard University), Prince Talal Arslan, Anwar al-Awlaki, Ralph Asher Alpher, Red Auerbach, Alec Baldwin, Dana Bash, Chris Burnham, Preston Cloud, Kellyanne Conway, Larry Craig, Jack Edmonds, Philip Emeagwali, Mary Anne Frey, Jason Filardi, John Flaherty, Ina Garten, Glenn Greenwald, Todd B. Hawley, Harold Hersey, David Holt, L. Ron Hubbard, Soh Jaipil, S. Krishna, Lee Kun-hee, Roy Lee, Theodore N. Lerner, Randy Levine, Carl Lutz, David McConnell, T. Miller, Billy Mitchell, Darla Moore, Jared Moskowitz. Former First Lady Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Syngman Rhee, Gregg Ritchie, Leslie Sanchez, Chuck Todd, Clay Travis, Margaret Truman, Kerry Washington, Kye Allums, Ashani Weeraratna, Sandiaga Uno, Scott Wolf, Irvin Yalom, and Rachel Zoe. Clarence Thomas, current U. Supreme Court Justice & GW Law School lecturer. Main article: List of notable George Washington University faculty. See also: List of Elliott School of International Affairs people, List of Columbian College of Arts and Sciences people, and List of The George Washington School of Business people. Nobel Prize in Medicine winner Ferid Murad, a GW Medical School professor. Notable GW faculty include Tom Perez, current Chair of the Democratic National Committee; Clarence Thomas, current Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States; George Gamow, developer of the Big Bang theory; Edward Teller, “father of the hydrogen bomb”; Vincent du Vigneaud, Nobel Prize in Chemistry winner; John Negroponte, 1st Director of National Intelligence; Thomas Buergenthal, former President of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights; Masatoshi Koshiba, Nobel Prize in Physics winner; Scott Pace, current Executive Secretary of the National Space Council; Amitai Etzioni, former President of the American Sociological Association; Marshall Warren Nirenberg, Nobel Prize in Medicine winner; Edward P. Jones, Pulitzer Prize winner; Abba Eban, former Vice President of the United Nations General Assembly; Dana Perino, former White House Press Secretary; and Ferid Murad, Nobel Prize in Medicine winner. Other faculty have included Frank Sesno, CNN former Washington, DC Bureau Chief and Special Correspondent; James Carafano, Heritage Foundation national security and homeland security expert; Leon Fuerth, former national security adviser to Vice President Al Gore; James Rosenau, political theorist and former president of the International Studies Association; Steven V. Roberts, American journalist, writer and political commentator and former senior writer at U. News & World Report; Nancy E. Gary, former dean of Albany Medical College, Executive Vice President of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences and Dean of its F. Edward Hébert School of Medicine, Roy Richard Grinker, anthropologist specializing in autism and North-South Korean relations, Edward P. Jones, who won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 2004, novelist Herman H. Henney, Mohammad Nahavandian (economics), chief of staff of the President of Iran since 2013, and Faure Essozimna Gnassingbé (MBA), president of Togo since 2005. The item “1923 ORIGINAL PRESIDENT TAFT PHOTO CHIEF JUSTICE SUPREME COURT VINTAGE” is in sale since Sunday, November 15, 2020. This item is in the category “Collectibles\Photographic Images\Vintage & Antique (Pre-1940)\Other Antique Photographs”. The seller is “memorabilia111″ and is located in Ann Arbor, Michigan. This item can be shipped to United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Denmark, Romania, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Czech republic, Finland, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Estonia, Australia, Greece, Portugal, Cyprus, Slovenia, Japan, China, Sweden, South Korea, Indonesia, Taiwan, South africa, Thailand, Belgium, France, Hong Kong, Ireland, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Italy, Germany, Austria, Bahamas, Israel, Mexico, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Switzerland, Norway, Saudi arabia, United arab emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Croatia, Malaysia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa rica, Dominican republic, Panama, Trinidad and tobago, Guatemala, El salvador, Honduras, Jamaica, Antigua and barbuda, Aruba, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Saint kitts and nevis, Saint lucia, Montserrat, Turks and caicos islands, Barbados, Bangladesh, Bermuda, Brunei darussalam, Bolivia, Ecuador, Egypt, French guiana, Guernsey, Gibraltar, Guadeloupe, Iceland, Jersey, Jordan, Cambodia, Liechtenstein, Sri lanka, Luxembourg, Monaco, Macao, Martinique, Maldives, Nicaragua, Oman, Peru, Pakistan, Paraguay, Reunion, Viet nam, Uruguay, Russian federation, Cayman islands.

• Framing: Unframed
• Country/Region of Manufacture: United States
• Listed By: Dealer or Reseller
• Date of Creation: 1923
• Color: Black & White
• Subject: PRESIDENT TAFT
• Original/Reprint: Original Print