Book release today: William Howard Taft and the First Motoring Administration

McFarland Publishers Co. ^ | Aug 28, 2003 | Michael L. Bromley

[nicollo]

McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, Box 611, Jefferson, North Carolina 28640, USA.

Press Release

William Howard Taft and the First Motoring Presidency, 1909–1913

by

Michael L. Bromley

ISBN: 0-7864-1475-8
447pp. 86 photographs, statistics, notes, glossaries, appendices, bibliography, index $49.95 illustrated case binding (7 x 10) 2003

William Howard Taft declared, “I am sure the automobile coming in as a toy of the wealthier class is going to prove the most useful of them all to all classes, rich and poor.” Unlike his predecessors, who made public their disdain for the automobile, Taft saw the automobile industry as a great source of wealth for this country. The first president to acquire a car in office (Congress granted him three automobiles), Taft is responsible for there being a White House garage in 1909.

This is a look at the Taft presidency, his cars, his relationship to the automobile and the role of the automobile in the politics of his day. Appendices provide information on the White House garage and stable, Taft’s speech to the Automobile Club of America and a glossary of terms and names.

Michael L. Bromley is a writer of political and social commentary and automotive history. He lives in Bethesda, Maryland.

All rights reserved.

[nicollo]

One of my favorite Taft stories is of his speech in Richmond, VA, which two locals discussed, as follows:

"Taft is simply a bully fellow," declared one. "He is the kind of a man you love."
"You bet he is," replied the other. "But by the way, are you going to vote for him next time?"
"Vote for him? Vote for him?" exclaimed the first, "I’d rather see him in hell first."

[x]

Smile when you say that!

My guess is that most people felt or feel that way about Taft, to the degree that they're aware of him. He won't make many lists of the greatest Presidents, but if people know more about him they might like or respect him.

This may be a good time for your book to come out. Ken Burns's Horatio's Drive will make much interest in early motoring.

Have you considered dressing up like Taft and making public appearances? The author of a biography of Warren G. Harding's wife, Florence Kling Harding, dresses up just like her and goes on stage. It's helped the sales of the book, but mostly he just gives people the creeps!

[nicollo]

I didn't know about the Burns project, Horatio's Drive.

It's gonna start all kinds of debates in the automotive historian community over who actually made the first x-country drive. Many made the claim. I wonder what brought Burns to Horatio.

Anyway, that's great news! I'm trying to get a Nat. Archives symposium on early automobiles. This will be a great impulse towards it!

I don't think I'll dress up like Taft yet. I'm putting together an appearance at the Beverly Historical Society in Mass. They claim to have a good Taft impersonator. I told them I'd only appear with him if he agrees to play gold. They told me he probably doesn't play golf. I said that's perfect, for all his effort, neither did Taft!

[nicollo]

Not a Caricature: Portrait of a Man Eating Corn

[oldngray]

Sorry I'm late to the thread Michael but heartiest congratulations to you. I know from your remarks on the ATRW thread that you've been very busy, frustrated, and antsy about the final weeks/months of the publication process. So glad to hear that the book is now available.

[philman_36]

That's fascinating about the sand-painters. Great link! So now we've got a double negative, sand-painters who won't make a mistake in copying the implied mistakes of the Navajos.
Did I get that right?
Almost...Many weavers today will not make an exact replica of a sandpainting illustration; designs are woven into rugs with errors included.
The weavers leave the sandpainters "demon chasers" in there. It seems that weavers weren't the only ones who use them.

[Chong]

Hi, Amy.
What do you think about this? Somebody does need to tell the JimRob story, for he has done so much for us conservatives. Talk about personal sacrifices, huh? I believe that Jim and his FREEpers will have made a HUGH difference in history when one looks back years from now. I am SERIES.

[nicollo]

You are very kind to check in. Yes, I've fretted, certainly enough to make you aware of it. And this is my 2nd book. Can you imagine anxieties over the first?

Hopefully, and God-willing, by my tenth book I'll be a Cool Joe through this very harrowing process.

[Chong]

"English is the only language in which the double positive makes a negative. Yeah, right."

Yeah yeah, and y'all wonder why us furiners find it difficult to master the language. Geesh!

[nicollo]

Yeah, yeah, yeat. That means no. Or yes.

Wait, I'm confused. What?

[Chong]

LOL!!!!!!!!!!!! Triple + -......

Now, you've done it. That darn song that goes, "yeah~ yeah~ yeah~" by Beatles is playing in my head now. THANKS!

Seriously, I do congratulate you on your book. Can't wait to read it, for if it's half as good as your first one, I know it will be one of those that one goes back and re-read over and again. (Is this triple or double?)

[x]

Sorry, my bad. This is how Internet rumors get started. There was a biography of Florence Harding written a few years ago, and there is a guy who likes to dress up as her, but it's not the biographer. He's a local Ohio guy who may have a book in the works, but not the published author of the Harding biography. The impersonator was on Comedy Central's "Daily Show" about the time the biography came out, so I got the two confused. More fun tomorrow, but I'll try not to get carried away.

[nicollo]

Internet rumors... lol!

Remember how a "The Onion" article was taken seriously in China? Here's another, much smaller, example I ran into while doing some internet searches on Taft. On this GoogleGroups thraad, someone posted a screed about not winning the Bancroft prize for his biography of W.H. Taft. It was obscene, questioning, basically, who he needed to fellate (that a word?) to win the prize. Others on the group took offense at the post. One guy sympathized and said his own book was unnappreciated. Finally someone noted that it was an Onion article ( here)!

It wasn't funny in the GoogleGroups thread when I first read it, but at the original article, it's hilarious!

[gulfcoast6]

Our very own! Good luck on the sales and I can assure you, here is one old man who is going to get it as soon as it hits the book stores.

[nicollo]

Not sure which stores in your area will stock it, but you can find it at Amazon.com, or directly from me or the publisher.

You may want to wait until our ATRW reviewers have at it first...

Best wishes to you & thanks!

[x]

First National Lampoon, now the Onion, somebody's determined about making WHT into the "oral sex President," even though Clinton's credentials are much better.

BTW, how'd you get such a tame title? Have you considered these:

Backseat Driver in Chief: How William Howard Taft Built a Highway System and Drove His Chauffeurs Crazy.

Wide Load: the William Howard "Tubby" Taft Story

Objects in the Oval Office are Even Larger than They Appear.

Talkin' Direct Election of Senators Blues: the Freewheeling, Freeloading William Howard Taft

Road Hog: How One Forgotten President's Craving for Barbecued Ribs Created the Interstate Highway System

Another Roadside Attraction: How William Howard Taft put America in the Passing Lane

Fast, Furious and 400 Pounds: America's First Motoring President

Passing Wind in the White House, or Mr. Taft's Wild Ride

You Can Touch My Steering Wheel, You Can Honk My Horn, But Keep Your Mitts Off My Handlebar Moustache

Doughnuts, not Doughboys: Taft's Peaceful Presidency

Not Just a Dazed Possum in the Headlights of History: Taft's Freewheeling Highway Policy

Dead Possum in the Middle of the Road: Taft's 1912 Campaign

Go, Go Daddio! How William Howard Taft made "On the Road" and "Route 66" Possible

Don't Even Think of Kicking His Spare Tire: Why America Should Think Better of William Howard Taft

Slippery When Wet: Three American Presidents and their Lies about Transportation Policy

Weighing Station: All Tafts Pull Over for a Serious Discussion of Early 20th Century Highway Policy

Safe At Any Weight: How an SUV-sized President Built America's Highway Network

Too Close to the Center Line? How Highway Policy Could Have Saved William Howard Taft and America

If the Flivver's a Rockin' Don't Come a Knockin': The Driving Passions of Americas Progresive-Era Presidents

[nicollo]

Lol! Great list!

My favorites are
"Objects in the Oval Office are Even Larger than They Appear
and
"Fast, Furious and 400 Pounds: America's First Motoring President"

I offered up a few different titles, but since my publisher sells to the library market, an "informative" (aka boring), self-explanatory title was chosen.

(I'll have to use this one for my book on the 1912 election:
"Dead Possum in the Middle of the Road: Taft's 1912 Campaign" !)

Btw, the winning argument in Congress for the first presidential automobile appropriation was that if Taft weren't given cars it'd be a cruelty to animals.

[Chong]

"Slippery When Wet: Three American Presidents and their Lies about Transportation Policy"

LOLOLOL!!!!!!!!!!

[nicollo]

jeez, x, ya tryin' to start an income tax mudfight over at the FDR thread?

You asked, I'm curious about Taft and income tax, though. How responsible was he for it? You're gonna have to read the book... Taft was not responsibile for the income tax; he was reponsible for the 16th Amendment. Wilson enacted the personal income tax.

In short, Taft's deal was this: when progressives teamed up with Democrats to vote up an income tax in 1909, Taft cut it short by offering instead a corporation excise tax (based on income) and the 16th amendment. His goals were twofold: to cut short any personal income tax, and to make sure that if any income tax were enacted, it would not cause a constitutional or political crisis, as happened in the income tax of 1894/5 and the Pollock decision.

Some kind of income tax was on the way. There was no way to avoid it. By 1909, the tariff had proved itself incapable to fund the government (it accounted for about half the budget by then), and, politically, it had run its course. The only way to cut, or even maintain, the tariff was to adopt some "other" tax, as Taft said in his Inaugural Address. During the debates in Congress that "other" included income, inheritance, excise and even stamp taxes.

Scenic Sounds, indeed, the 16th amendment was ratified under Taft. I love the rants that it was never properly ratified, or that Taft was not constitutionally qualified for the presidency because he was born in a territory, etc. It's all great fun, and entirely ludicrous.

[x]

Thanks for the information. The Sixteenth Amendment is one of those complicated things that textbooks don't always make clear. It's easier to blame it on Wilson, and then be surprised when we find out Taft was involved. What about the argument that cutting protective tariffs would have brought in enough money to cover the shortfall?

Interesting Taft site here. Sounds like Aldrich made a lot of unnecessary problems for Taft.

Glad you like my alternate titles. I spent years watching the old David Letterman show, and I must have picked something up from all those wasted hours.

Some good Tax Quotes. I can't say that I agree with all of them, but they're good for a laugh or a think. Unfortunately, quotations have to be pretty short to fit in the tag line.