William Taft and Woodrow Wilson

William Taft (R)

A Reluctant President

• Graduated 2nd in his class from Yale Law– Loved and respected the

law and legal system, devoting much of his time and life to the court system

• Roosevelt saw Taft as being the best option to replace him, despite their different personalities.

Taft’s Policies

• Replaced much of the Roosevelt administration with corporate lawyers.

• Continued some of Roosevelt’s work in busting trusts

• Largest blunders came in dealing with tariffs– Payne – Aldrich Tariff lowered some tariffs but

raised many others, thus hurting free trade.

Roosevelt and the Progressive Party

• Taft is losing public support for his actions with tariffs and the firing of Chief Forester, Gifford Pinchot

• Supports Richard Ballinger His Secretary of the Interior who supports Big Business and thus hurting conservation efforts

• Created the “Bull Moose Party” (a reformed version of the Progressive Party) to run in the 1912 election because he was as “strong as a moose”

The Election of 1912• Woodrow Wilson

represents the Democrats• William Howard Taft

represents the Republicans• Theodore Roosevelt

represents the Bull Moose Party

• Eugene V. Debs represents the socialist party– Why does Wilson have an

advantage?

Election of 1912

Woodrow Wilson (D)

Woodrow Wilson

• First Democrat to be elected in 20 years

• Replaces William Taft in 1912

• Appoints many Democrats to government jobs – Eg William Jennings

Bryan as secretary of state

Economic Reforms

• Makes tariff reduction his main priority (eg Underwood Tariff Act)

• 16th amendment – allows the federal government to pass tax on people’s income

Reforming banking and regulating big business

• Pushed for more laws to regulate monopolies (eg Clayton Antitrust Act)– Stated that labor unions had the right to strike and

bargain collectively• Establishes the Federal Trade Commission

(FTC)– What does the FTC do today?• Enforces business regulations and establishes standards

for advertising, labeling, etc.

Social Policy

• Was a firm advocate of the 10th amendment

• Caught a lot of heat from activists such as W.E.B. Du Bois– Failed to keep campaign

promises to help African Americans