William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857-March 8, 1930) was the 27th President of the United States, 1909-13; Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, 1921-30; Kent Professor of Constitutional Law at Yale University, 1913-21; Joint Chairman of National War Labor Board, 1918; Secretary of War under President Theodore Roosevelt, 1904-08; appointed by President McKinley as Civil Governor of the Philippines, 1901-04; appointed by President McKinley as Commissioner of the Philippines, 1900-01; Dean of Cincinnati Law School, 1896; U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge for the Sixth Judicial Circuit, 1892-1900; appointed by President Harrison as U.S. Solicitor General, 1890-92; Ohio Superior Court Judge, 1887-90; married Helen "Nellie" Herron, 1886; District Collector of Internal Revenue, 1882; Assistant Prosecutor of Hamilton County, Ohio, 1881; admitted to bar, 1880, graduated from Cincinnati Law School, 1880; and graduated from Yale University, 1878.
In 1895, William Howard Taft, as a U.S. Circuit Judge, stated:
<Non-professional criticism also is by no means without its uses, even if accompanied, as it often is, by a direct attack upon the judicial fairness and motives of the occupants of the bench; for if the law is but the essence of common sense, the protest of many average men may evidence a defect in a judicial conclusion, though based on the nicest legal reasoning and profoundest learning.> 1857WT001
In 1908, in speaking at a missionary conference, William Howard Taft stated:
<No man can study the movement of modern civilization from an impartial standpoint, and not realize that Christianity and the spread of Christianity are the basis of hope of modern civilization in the growth of popular self government.
The spirit of Christianity is pure democracy. It is equality of man before God-the equality of man before the law, which is, as I understand it, the most God-like manifestation that man has been able to make.> 1857WT002
On Thursday, March 4, 1909, in his Inaugural Address, President William Howard Taft stated:
<Having thus reviewed the questions likely to recur during my administration, and having expressed in a summary way the position which I expect to take in recommendations to Congress and in my conduct as an Executive, I invoke the considerate sympathy and support of my fellow-citizens and the aid of the Almighty God in the discharge of my responsible duties.> 1857WT003
On Monday, November 15, 1909, President William Howard Taft issued a Proclamation of a National Day of Thanksgiving:
<The season of the year has returned when, in accordance with the reverent custom established by our forefathers, the people of the United States are wont to meet in their usual places of worship on a day of thanksgiving appointed by the Civil Magistrate to return thanks to God for the great mercies and benefits which they have enjoyed.
During the past year we have been highly blessed. No great calamities of flood or tempest or epidemic of sickness have befallen us. We have lived in quietness, undisturbed by war or threats of war. Peace and plenty of bounteous crops and of great industrial production animate a cheerful and resolute people to all the renewed energies of beneficent industry and material and moral progress. It is altogether fitting that we should humbly and gratefully acknowledge the Divine Source of these blessings.
Therefore, I hereby appoint Thursday, the twenty-fifth day of November, as a day of general thanksgiving, and I call upon the people on that day, laying aside their usual vocations, to repair to their churches and unite in appropriate services of praise and thanks to Almighty God.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto put my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.
Done at the city of Washington this fifteenth day of November, in the year of our Lord, one thousand nine hundred and nine, and of the Independence of the United States the one hundred and thirty-fourth. William H. Taft.
By the President: P.C. Knox, Secretary of State.> 1857WT004
On November 5, 1910, President William Howard Taft issued a Proclamation of a National Day of Thanksgiving and Prayer:
<This year of 1910 is drawing to a close. The records of population and harvests which are the index of progress show vigorous national growth and the health and prosperous well-being of our communities throughout this land and in our possessions beyond the seas. These blessings have not descended upon us in restricted measure, but overflow and abound. They are the blessings and bounty of God.
We continue to be at peace with the rest of the world. In all essential matters our relations with other peoples are harmonious, with an evergrowing reality of friendliness and depth of recognition of mutual dependence. It is especially to be noted that during the past year great progress has been achieved in the cause of arbitration and the peaceful settlement of international disputes.
Now, therefore, I, William Howard Taft, President of the United States of America, in accordance with the wise custom of the civil magistrate since the first settlements in this land and with the rule established from the foundation of this Government, do appoint Thursday, November 24, 1910, as a day of National Thanksgiving and Prayer, enjoining the people upon that day to meet in their churches for the praise of Almighty God and to return heartfelt thanks to Him for all His goodness and loving-kindness.
In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.
Done at the City of Washington this fifth day of November, in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and ten and of the Independence of the United States the one hundred and thirty-fifth. William H. Taft.
By the President: Alvey A. Adee, Acting Secretary of State.> 1857WT005
On January 11, 1911, in a response to the Secretary of State's report that: "since 1860 there has been a 351% increase in the importations and use of all forms of opium, as against a 133% increase in population," President William Howard Taft recommended Congress suppress the opium trade:
<The Secretary of State...further urges the enactment of the legislation which will control the importation, manufacture, and distribution in interstate commerce of opium, morphine, cocaine, and other habit-forming drugs. I concur in the recommendations made by the Secretary of State and commend them to the favorable consideration of the Congress with a view to early legislation on the subject.> 1857WT006
On Thursday, November 7, 1912, President William Howard Taft issued a Proclamation of a National Day of Thanksgiving:
<A God-fearing nation, like ours, owes it to its inborn and sincere sense of moral duty to testify its devout gratitude to the All-Giver for the countless benefits its has enjoyed. For many years it has been customary at the close of the year for the national Executive to call upon his fellow countrymen to offer praise and thanks to God for the manifold blessings vouchsafed to them in the past and to unite in earnest suppliance for their continuance.
The year now drawing to a close has been notably favorable to our fortunate land. At peace within and without, free from the perturbations and calamities that have afflicted other peoples, rich in harvests so abundant and in industries so productive that the overflow of our prosperity has advantaged the whole world, strong in the steadfast conservation of the heritage of self- government bequeathed to us by the wisdom of our fathers, and firm in the resolve to transmit that heritage unimpaired, but rather improved by good use, to our children and our children's children for all time to come, the people of this country have abounding cause for contented gratitude.
Wherefore I, William Howard Taft, President of the United States of America, in pursuance of long-established usage and in response to the wish of the American people, invite my countrymen, wheresoever they may sojourn, to join on Thursday, the 28th day of this month of November, in appropriate ascription of praise and thanks to God for the good gifts that have been our portion, and in humble prayer that His great mercies toward us may endure.
In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.
Done at the city of Washington this seventh day of November, in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and twelve, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and thirty- seventh. William H. Taft.
By the President: Alvey A. Adee, Acting Secretary of State.> 1857WT007
On November 13, 1912, in a Proclamation for the opening of the Panama Canal, President William Howard Taft stated:
<I, William Howard Taft, President of the United States of America...approved...to provide for the opening, maintenance, protection and operation of the Panama Canal....
Done at the city of Washington this thirteenth day of November, in the year of the Lord one thousand nine hundred and twelve and of the Independence of the United States the one hundred and thirty-seventh.> 1857WT008
On Friday, December 6, 1912, in his Annual Message to Congress, part II, President William Howard Taft stated:
<We have no desire for war. We would go as far as any nation in the world to avoid war, but we are a world power, our responsibilities in the Pacific and the Atlantic, our defense of the Panama Canal, together with our enormous world trade and our missionary outposts on the frontiers of civilization, require us to recognize our position as one of the foremost in the family of nations, and to clothe ourselves with sufficient naval power to give force to our reasonable demands, and to give weight to our influence in those directions of progress that a powerful Christian nation should advocate.> 1857WT009
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American Quotations by William J. Federer, 2024, All Rights Reserved, Permission granted to use with acknowledgement.
Endnotes:
1857WT001. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). William Howard Taft, 1895, as cited by President Theodore Roosevelt in his Sixth Annual Message to Congress, December 3, 1906. A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents 20 vols. (New York: Bureau of National Literature, Inc., prepared under the direction of the Joint Committee on Printing, of the House and Senate, pursuant to an Act of the Fifty-Second Congress of the United States, 1893, 1923), Vol. XIV, p. 7028.
1857WT002. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). William Howard Taft, 1908, in a speech at a missionary conference. Edmund Fuller and David E. Green, God in the White House-The Faiths of American Presidents (NY: Crown Publishers, Inc., 1968), p. 173.
1857WT003. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). William Howard Taft, March 4, 1909, in his Inaugural Address. A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents 20 vols. (New York: Bureau of National Literature, Inc., prepared under the direction of the Joint Committee on Printing, of the House and Senate, pursuant to an Act of the Fifty-Second Congress of the United States, 1893, 1923), Vol. XV, p. 7379. Inaugural Addresses of the Presidents of the United States-From George Washington 1789 to Richard Milhous Nixon 1969 (Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office; 91st Congress, 1st Session, House Document 91-142, 1969), pp. 187-198. Charles E. Rice, The Supreme Court and Public Prayer (New York: Fordham University Press, 1964), pp. 188-189. Benjamin Weiss, God in American History: A Documentation of America's Religious Heritage (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1966), p. 120. Willard Cantelon, Money Master of the World (Plainfield, NJ: Logos International, 1976), p. 121. Davis Newton Lott, The Inaugural Addresses of the American Presidents (NY: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1961), p. 197. J. Michael Sharman, J.D., Faith of the Fathers (Culpeper, Virginia: Victory Publishing, 1995), p. 84.
1857WT004. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). William Howard Taft, November 15, 1909, in a Proclamation of a National Day of Thanksgiving. A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents 20 vols. (New York: Bureau of National Literature, Inc., prepared under the direction of the Joint Committee on Printing, of the House and Senate, pursuant to an Act of the Fifty-Second Congress of the United States, 1893, 1923), Vol. XV, p. 7392.
1857WT005. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). William Howard Taft, November 5, 1910, in a Proclamation of a National Day of Thanksgiving and Prayer. A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents 20 vols. (New York: Bureau of National Literature, Inc., prepared under the direction of the Joint Committee on Printing, of the House and Senate, pursuant to an Act of the Fifty-Second Congress of the United States, 1893, 1923), Vol. XV, pp. 7491-7492.
1857WT006. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). William Howard Taft, January 11, 1911, in a recommendation to Congress for the suppression of the opium trade. A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents 20 vols. (New York: Bureau of National Literature, Inc., prepared under the direction of the Joint Committee on Printing, of the House and Senate, pursuant to an Act of the Fifty-Second Congress of the United States, 1893, 1923), Vol. XV, p. 7597. [The Secretary of State's report continued: "Germany has a population of 60,000,000 and consumes 17,000 pounds of opium: Italy, with 33,000,000 people, consumes 6,000 pounds; Austria-Hungary, with 46,000,000 people, consumes 4,000 pounds of the drug. The United States during the last ten years has imported annually over 400,000 pounds, or eight times as much per head as Germany. The American people need for medicinal purposes less than 50,000 pounds of opium; it is estimated that at least 320,000 pounds annually are used for debauchery."]
1857WT007. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). William Howard Taft, November 7, 1912, in a Proclamation of a National Day of Thanksgiving. A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents 20 vols. (New York: Bureau of National Literature, Inc., prepared under the direction of the Joint Committee on Printing, of the House and Senate, pursuant to an Act of the Fifty-Second Congress of the United States, 1893, 1923), Vol. XVI, pp. 7764- 7765.
1857WT008. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). William Howard Taft, November 13, 1912, in a Proclamation for the opening of the Panama Canal. A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents 20 vols. (New York: Bureau of National Literature, Inc., prepared under the direction of the Joint Committee on Printing, of the House and Senate, pursuant to an Act of the Fifty-Second Congress of the United States, 1893, 1923), Vol. XVI, pp. 7765-7766.
1857WT009. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). William Howard Taft, December 6, 1912, in his Annual Message to Congress, part II. A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents 20 vols. (New York: Bureau of National Literature, Inc., prepared under the direction of the Joint Committee on Printing, of the House and Senate, pursuant to an Act of the Fifty- Second Congress of the United States, 1893, 1923), Vol. XVI, p. 7808.