William Howard Taft: The Legacy Of President Theodore Roosevelt

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William Howard Taft became the 27th president of the United States on March 4, 1909 to March 3, 1913 for a total of one term. Taft came into service with high expectations from public as he came to power and has to live up to legacy of prior president, Theodor Roosevelt. During his only term, Taft had emphasized on many important policies such as Dollar Diplomacy, the passage of sixteenth-amendment, and Trust busting. Taft was born on September 15, 1857, in the Cincinati, Ohio, into the powerful Taft family with other five siblings. His father was a lawyer and served as secretary of war, this gave him a great opportunity to learn about government at very young age. During his childhood, he was raised with a great influence from Unitarian church which he was attended with his parents. Taft lived up to his parent’s standard; Taft’s ambition was to serve as Chief Justice of United States, he attended Woodward High school in Cincinti before proceeding to follow his father’s and brothers’ path to attend Yale University and graduated a second in his class. Shortly after, he proceeded to study in law at University of Cincinty and entered private practice while also holding several appointive position. At the age of 29, he married to Helen Nellie Herron, an intellectual and independent women who later on encouraged Taft to strive for more than Judicial career. In 1890, he was appointed by President Benjamin Harrison into position of Solicitor General of United States, made him the youngest Solicitor General of all time at the age of 32. In 1900, Taft accepted offer to serve as president of the commission at Philippines from President William McKinley, in exchange for his promise in position of Supreme Court upon his return. However, desp... ... middle of paper ... ...eodor Roosevelt to against his leadership and ability to manage the country. And as the result, his small accomplishment in trust busting did not covered up with the bad policy that angered almost everyone. In final analysis, people acknowledged that Taft was trying to live up to Roosevelt’s legacy but due to his psychological tension that was never resolved and his kind nature caused him problems as a political leader. Most of his policies are greatly suffered with its results despite its good intention. Most people considered his service to be disaster and barely made any real accomplishments that truly reward the United States. As for the result, I would rate Taft a score of 40 out of 100 as his intention toward his policies are great but could not show any result that could convince majority of the U.S. citizen that he was a great president during his service.

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