22h 7min, nov 5, 1912 y - President Taft Trust Busting
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Taft worked as a judge in Ohio Superior Court and in the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals before accepting a post as the first civilian governor of the Philippines in 1900. In 1904, Taft took on the role of secretary of war in the administration of Theodore Roosevelt, who threw his support to the Ohioan as his successor in 1908. Generally more conservative than Roosevelt, Taft also lacked his expansive view of presidential power, and was generally a more successful administrator than politician.
William Howard Taft was truly in his element as chief executive, at least in the limited sense of that function. He loved studying legislation and implementing policy; however, unlike the voluble Theodore Roosevelt, Taft hated the rough and tumble of practical politics that was necessary to accomplish an agenda. His domestic legacy included the following:
Trust-busting. During the Taft administration,Taft proved to be even more aggressive than Roosevelt in his use of the Sherman Act. In fact, Taft during his four years in office launched more antitrust cases than Roosevelt had done in his seven and one-half years in office. more than twice the number of antitrust suits were instigated than under Roosevelt. Major victories were won against Standard Oil of New Jersey and the American Tobacco Company (both initiated under TR), the Sugar Trust and U.S. Steel. Roosevelt was generally supportive of these Taft actions, but not the move against Morgan and U.S. Steel; the former president criticized his successor by proclaiming that Taft was unable to distinguish between a good trust and a bad one.
By 1911, Taft began to back away from his efforts to tame the trusts. He was influenced in part by his conservative advisors, who wanted the government to give free rein to the giant businesses. Taft also feared that trust-busting was beginning to have a negative impact on the overall economy. In the last 18 months of his administration, Taft was increasingly seen lugging his 300-pound frame around fancy golf courses with his Republican friends.
Taft was less inclined than Roosevelt to believe in having the executive branch of the federal government regulate trust activities. Taft consistently in his career upheld a faith in using the courts to regulate behavior.
Among the significant pieces of legislation passed by Congress during Taft's presidency was the Mann-Elkins Act of 1910, empowering the Interstate Commerce Commission to suspend railroad rate hikes and to set rates. The act also expanded the ICC's jurisdiction to cover telephones, telegraphs, and radio. Taft also placed 35,000 postmasters and 20,000 skilled workers in the Navy under civil service protection. In addition, the Department of Commerce and Labor was divided into two cabinet departments with Taft's approval. He also vetoed the admissions of Arizona and New Mexico to statehood because of their constitutional provision for the recall of judges. When the recall clauses were removed, Taft supported statehood. And while he pushed the passage of the Sixteenth Amendment (income tax), he only reluctantly advocated the Seventeenth Amendment (direct election of senators).
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