William Howard Taft: The Travails of a Progressive Conservative
Cambridge University Press
Edition: Illustrated, 11/14/2011
EAN 9780521514217, ISBN10: 0521514215
Hardcover, 232 pages, 23.4 x 15.6 x 1.4 cm
Language: English
Originally published in English
In this biographical study of the only American ever to have been both President and Chief Justice of the United States, Jonathan Lurie reassesses William Howard Taft's multiple careers, which culminated in Taft's election to the presidency in 1908 as the chosen successor to Theodore Roosevelt. By 1912, however, the relationship between Taft and Roosevelt had ruptured. Lurie re-examines the Taft–Roosevelt friendship and concludes that it rested on flimsy ground. He also places Taft in a progressive context, taking Taft's own self-description as 'a believer in progressive conservatism' as the starting point. At the end of his biography, Lurie concludes that this label is accurate when applied to Taft.
Part I. To the Presidency
1. The early years
2. Judge, justice, and justices, 1887–1900
3. Perambulations and preparation in the Philippines
Roosevelt and Taft
4. The unwilling heir, 1904–8
Part II. The Presidency
5. President Taft
tensions, turmoil, travel, and travail, 1909–10
6. Justices and jockeying, 1910
7. At the brink of the break, 1911
8. The split, 1912
9. Relief, rejuvenation, and renewal, 1913–21
10. Epilogue.