Comparing The Roles Of Presidents Roosevelt And Taft

1315 Words6 Pages

Henry Pratt 5/7/15
U.S. History Period E
William Howard Taft President William Howard Taft served as the twenty-seventh president of the United States, serving from 1909 until 1913 as a member of the Republican Party. Taft served as a great president in every aspect and successfully fit the six roles of the president. As president of the United States, Taft successfully led America and his legacy continues to live on today. As a Commander-in-Chief, Taft made several wise decisions to benefit the military involvement in foreign territory. He created a program known as “Dollar diplomacy” to encourage U.S. investments in South and Central America as well as the West Indies. As part of this program, Taft …show more content…

However, Taft led the Republican Party at a time when it was split and did so in a successful manner. Following the election of 1908 there was a widespread of conflicting beliefs, particularly within the Republican Party, regarding the seemingly opposite beliefs between former president Theodore Roosevelt and Taft. Both Roosevelt and Taft were “progressives”, a political philosophy based on the idea that the advancement of science, technology and a strong economy were vital for the advancement of the country and for humans as a whole. Despite these similar beliefs, their were still conflicting political beliefs surrounding the two. During the election of 1908 president, Taft appointed Frank Hitchcock, who will later be appointed by Taft as the Postmaster General, as the chairman for the Republican National Committee. Hitchcock continued to serve this position for one year into Taft’s presidency. While William Howard Taft did not explicitly create anything to set a strong foundation for the Republican Party going forward, he took into great consideration the laws and policies he would create and how they could affect the Republican Party. One example of this is when Taft proposed a lowering of the tariff, he realized that this would divide the Republican Party and therefore decided to not mention the issue and remain neutral. As a whole, Taft was concerned for the future of the Republican Party during his presidency and going