LYCOS RETRIEVER 
William Howard Taft: Theodore Roosevelt
built 385 days ago
William Howard Taft was President Roosevelt's chosen successor. He received the nomination on the first ballot. At the Democratic convention in Denver, William Jenning Bryan once again received the nomination on the first ballot.
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William Howard Taft finished his presidency with a fight with his old friend and former president Theodore Roosevelt. Roosevelt tried to fix the situation by running against Taft in the next presidential election, and if successfuWilliam Howard Taft finished his presidency with a fight with his old friend and former president Theodore Roosevelt.
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On Feb. 1, 1904, Taft succeeded Elihu Root as U.S. secretary of war. The duties again proved surprisingly congenial, largely because he became one of President Roosevelt's most intimate advisers and his principal troubleshooter. Continuing to supervise administration of the Philippines, he assumed responsibility for starting construction of the Panama Canal and represented the President on various missions. His most important mission was to Japan; it culminated in the secret recognition of Japan's suzerainty over Korea. He ... helped suppress a threatened revolution in Cuba in 1906.
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Taft's work in the Philippines resulted in his elevation (1904) to secretary of war in President Theodore Roosevelt's cabinet. The two became fast friends and confidants; by 1906, Roosevelt had chosen Taft as his successor. Reluctant at first, Taft yielded to pressure from his family and plunged headlong into the race. With Roosevelt's backing Taft won the Republican presidential nomination in 1908 and went on to defeat Democrat William Jennings Bryan in the fall election.
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Taft had reached his prominent public position by virtue of political appointment rather than by the slugfests and maneuvering of elective politics. He therefore had little firsthand experience of the practices of professional politicians. In his relative innocence Taft could usually be counted upon to cooperate with the professionals and to acquiesce to their requests for (presumably) legitimate political favors and political appointments. To Roosevelt and his people it looked as if Taft’s election would ensure a comfortable continuation of the Roosevelt administration. Only a few names would be changed.
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In 1904 Taft became Roosevelt's secretary of war. He met secretly with Count Katsura of Japan on July 29, 1905, to discuss a proposed Japanese protectorate (control over politics and the economy) in Korea once the Russo-Japanese War was concluded. Taft's acquiescence paved the way for the success of the Portsmouth Peace Conference that ended the war. In 1906 Taft helped prevent a potential rebellion in Cuba against a U.S.-supported regime. The United States imposed a provisional government under the terms of the Platt Amendment, which permitted U.S. intervention in Cuban affairs.
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Theodore Roosevelt