American Presidents: Totalus Rankium - 27.1 William Taft

Episode Date: June 14, 2020

William Taft is an often overlooked president. Possibly because he seemed to sail through life with people shoving doors open for his sail boat (metaphors getting a bit mixed there). But this does not mean he is not interesting! This episode we cover his early life and what was going on in the Philippines at the turn of the century.

Welcome to Totalus Rankium. This week, Leo Turft. Part 1. Hello and welcome to American Presidents Totalus Rankium. I am Jamie. I'm Rob, ranking all of the presidents from Washington to Trump. And this is episode 27.1, William H. Taft. Is there a difference between toffee and taffy? Yeah, I think so. People talk about saltwater taffy, don't they?

Yeah. I'm not entirely sure about it. It's an American thing. I don't know. Maybe it's like a fudge. But I don't think it's toffee. No. Or maybe it is. I don't know though. A fudge isn't salty. No. I don't know. That's favourite. See, we ask the important questions in this podcast. That's what we're about. That's ranking. Well, before we go into what taffy is,

and before we look into William Taft, we've got a couple of oops, we got that wrongs to deal with. Which we've not had to do many in this series. Which I'm quite pleased with. But we definitely need to do this, so cue the sad music.

First of all, Roosevelt's score Oh yeah. We said he got 49.50 but he did not we added up wrong which is embarrassing but never mind, fortunately though it didn't change anything, he is still

in second place with a score of 48.50 hang on are you re-rechecking our adding there 34 38.5, that is correct yeah, yeah Hang on. Are you re-rechecking our adding? Yeah. 34, 38.5. That is correct. Yeah, yeah.

So it looks like somebody worked that out wrong. Who knows? The guy who does the sound. Yeah, sound guy. I mean, not many people know he is also our podcast mathematician. Not for much longer. Anyway. Welcome to the Dazzle Rium We're intact, part two

Do we have to cut both roles too? Yes Okay, fair enough Anyway, so that's our first oops we got that wrong Number two Is the Ord correction This has already been corrected If you downloaded and listened to our

Roosevelt Part 2 in anything other than the first two days it was released you can just ignore this part because I've gone in and corrected it because I don't want people to be misinformed we try and keep it accurate in this podcast even if we do mention turkeys occasionally yes

however if you did listen to the episode in the first couple of days of downloading, I said that Lieutenant Ord, who led the charge up San Juan Hill, was a black officer, and he of course was not a black officer, because the black soldiers were not allowed to be officers. So Ord was a white officer who led a black regiment. Apart from correcting that one detail, though, I have not changed anything, really, from the episode, because we covered the fact that Ord did not receive a Medal of Honour because of the obvious racism.

Well, it's still obvious racism. It was just racism directed at the regiment rather than Ord as a person. So I've done very little to the episode but there was a slight edit there just in case you've heard it so um there you go that's our two oops we got that wrong uh but now we get to go into william taft exciting one i've heard have you heard have you heard anything about Taft? No. I was doing a pub quiz thing the other day, and the question was, and this was in the hard section, who was the president of the United States after Teddy Roosevelt? William Taft. Yeah, exactly.

That's how little he is talked about. He appears in the hard section of quizzes about who was this president. So there you go. Okay, well, let's go into it, shall we? Let's start. Let's have... Oh, here we go. A bald eagle sitting on top of the Matterhorn.

It's a big pointy mountain. Chips. All right. You can't get more American than that, can you? Well, I can change it. big pointy mountain. Cheers. Alright. You can't get more American than that, can you? I can change it. I can have a bald eagle set on top of the White House. Again, you see, I wasn't planning to start in the United States.

We're planning on starting. I wasn't going to tell you, but it's not the United States, and you have gone for as United States as possible, but it's fine. I'm going to go for it. Eagle on top of the White House, yeah? Yeah, go on going to go for it. Eagle on top of the White House yeah? Yeah go on. Okay start with an eagle on top of the White House Bold eagle. That eagle is very bold. It has

an American flag tattooed on its left wing. Yeah it does very sort of sideways and blocky looking eagle as well because this is not a real eagle or indeed a real White House. It is a drawing of an eagle and a drawing of a White House

or sort of a painting. It's a flag. That's what it is. It is a flag flapping in the breeze of a bold eagle on top of the White House and you zoom out of this flag and it is on a flagpole that's just sticking in the middle of a jungle somewhere.

Smooth. Really nice. Very smooth, yeah. It makes sense because everyone knows that the army in early 1900s walked around with flags with bald eagles and white houses on them. Well, of course, exactly. So you're in a jungle and there are plenty of american soldiers surrounding this flag and you zoom out some more and you you got bird's eye view bold eagle view you could say of this jungle with lots of soldiers around the flag but then you notice some other soldiers who are clearly not american soldiers who are creeping towards the American soldiers. But then, you've zoomed out too much. All you can really make out is the

jungly area. You've gone too far. That's when you start hearing the gunshots. Oh. Yeah. Like bang, bang, bang sort of thing. Yeah, pretty much. General... Or like a... War type noises. That's what you're hearing.

But you're hearing. Yeah. But you're still zooming out. You're zooming out past the jungle, over the beaches, into the sea. And then you swing round and you come face-to-face with a bald eagle on top of a White House. Again, it's a flag. This flag is on a ship. I mean, this is the original American flag.

Look it up. That's what it looked like. Yeah. And on this ship, as the camera sort of pans down the ship, you see a large man with a wonderful moustache just peering into the distance at this war-torn island. Nice. And there you go. war-torn island. Nice. And there you go.

That is when that cartoony bald eagle suddenly swoops down in front of the screen, sort of Pink Panther style. He's just a cartoon and it just starts up. It's very 70s, very 80s opening. Yeah, the bald eagle sort of flies across and then pulls the name

William Taft onto the screen. Nice. Yeah. So, was the must pulls the name William Taft onto the screen. Nice. Yeah. So was the mustachioed man Taft? Yes. I don't want to give too much away, but yes, yes, he was. So Taft with the tash. Tashy Taft. Tashy Taft.

That's him. Nice. Okay, ready to start then. Yeah, let's do this. Let's do this. We're not starting with William Taft. We're starting with Alfonso Taft. Oh, what an American name.

Alfonso Taft is one of the best names that we have come across in this series. Alfonso Taft was a descendant of Irish Scots immigrants. The Taft family have done well enough for themselves since coming over in the 15 or 16 hundreds. Wait, sorry, Irish? Irish Scots. Alfonso is like a very Latin, like an Italian name. It certainly sounds like it. You mean you don't know of the Irish Scot clan, the Alfonzos?

No, I'm a semester. Yeah, aren't I? Well known for their pasta making and every other stereotype. Cork, I believe. You can't move from Alfonzos and Cork. Okay. No, I'm guessing after a few centuries, the Alfonso name was just a name

that had been sort of attached to the family. But yeah, Taft is more the Irish Scots name. Anyway, they've done well enough over the past couple of centuries or so since coming over to the New World. They're not part of the super, super elite like Teddy Roosevelt was, but they were doing well enough for themselves. They certainly weren't just the average family.

Alfonso, for example, went to the same college as the now famous Sam Colt, inventor of the Colt. Bang, bang, pistol gun. Bang! Yes, you can tell I know my guns. Yeah. Yeah. Colt bang bang pistol gun. Bang! Yes. You can tell I know my guns. Yeah. Colt 45. There is a story of Colt

Alfonso and some others sneaking out on the 4th of July 1830 stealing a cannon from a Revolutionary War veteran who lived nearby and then after lots of drunken huzzahing, firing the cannon at their college, which

is an amazing story. I saw it in several places, including on Wikipedia. It's like, oh, I've got to get more information on this. Unfortunately, it was one of those times where if you dive into it a bit deeper, you realise it's probably not actually true. It would

appear that Alfonso had left the college by this point. However, apparently Colt did do this, though. Yeah, apparently the cannon was stolen. Whether it was fired at the college is debated, and whether Alfonso was there is actually unlikely. But there you go. It's a little story for you. It also goes to show that alcohol and war machines don't mix well.

No, no. But what does mix well with war machines? Good question. Yes. Might as well be booze. Anyway, Alfonso's life follows pretty much the same story we've come across for most Wow2Do families. Alfonso trained to be a lawyer,

and then he headed off west and settled in Cincinnati. He soon became one of the most prominent citizens in Ohio. He was on the board of trustees for the University of Cincinnati and for Yale. He got involved in politics. By the time that William is born, the Taft family are now starting to enter the elite, higher echelons of society. It's Alfonso who bumps them up a bit in the pecking order. Anyway, at the age of about 31, Alfonso meets and then marries someone with an equally fantastic name.

You ready for this one? Oh, go on. Fanny Phelps. A name that I should probably say is far more amusing for us in Britain than it probably is for our US listeners. Because Fanny doesn't... What's so funny about that? Fanny doesn't mean the same in Britain than it does in America.

Different part of the body. Spoilers, laugh at Fanny Pax. Yeah, they sound very funny over here. Fanny Phelps Was The daughter of a Prominent judge and over the next 11 years they have 5 children together

And there you go lovely happy Household with Alfonso Taft And Fanny Phelps First 2 children survived but unfortunately The next 3 all died young The last one Only survived a few months two children survived, but unfortunately the next three all died young. The last one only survived a few months, but still outlived his mother,

Fanny Phelps. That was a good reaction from me there. You looked sad for a moment, but then the name kicked in again, didn't it? Yeah. We are 12. We really are.

Anyway, so unfortunately, in his early 40s, Alfonso found himself a widower. Wait, what happened? She died not long after the birth of their fifth child, though, so probably complications to do with that. Infection or something. Yeah. Anyway, Alfonso mourned Fanny Phelps for approximately a year and a half, and then married Louise Torrey.

That's a much better name. It's a name we're going to be able to say without giggling like schoolboys, that's for sure. Louise's name was actually Louisia, but everyone called her Louise. And Louise was currently writing scathing and satirical letters for a Yale newspaper with two other women who had to pretend to be brothers to get their work published that's the most what they used to do for the newspapers remember you're talking about that they're like political these right snarky letters in yes uh what we're now starting to see is women doing it uh as well and using male pseudonyms so they can get published. We are starting to see the first wave

of feminism kick in, and Louise was very much part of that. Anyway, Alfonso and Louise had a child in 1855, but he unfortunately died of whooping cough a year later. But then in 1857, William Howard Taft was born in the Taft family home. This is a two-story yellow brick house in a fashionable part of Cincinnati. Yellow brick house? Yeah, yellow brick house. Is this in Oz or was it on the way? It's the same contractors, but I don't think it was nearby.

Yeah, I'll quote Louise here. He is very large for his age and he grows fat every day. He was a big baby. Apparently, William was a very happy, smiley child who beamed away all day at everyone who came close to him. So he's a cheerful little baby, if a bit rotund. Growing up, the house was close enough to the edge of the city that little Will and his siblings, who were growing in number, could go and play in the woods and the streams nearby, which is nice. Younger brother Horace claimed that all the

children in the family learned to swim in the streams nearby, not because anyone taught them to, but they just had to learn because they would push each other into the river for fun. Little Will was only four years old when the war broke out. Yeah. Like many places in the United States there was support for the North and the South in Cincinnati but Alfonso and Louise were very much anti-slavery in their views.

So they were firmly union-supporting. Apart from that, the war did very little to affect little Will's life. His father sold war bonds and gave speeches supporting emancipation, and little William just got on with being a child, really. And the end of the war came, and

that was about it. There was much celebration in the city, but he was a little kid. So there you go. Fair enough. He just didn't do much during the war. Just lazy, I think. And a coward. Exactly.

Anyway, after the war, Alfonso got more involved in politics and he was appointed as a judge on the Ohio Superior Court. The family were very proud of Alfonso becoming a judge, and it was instilled into the children that being a judge was the most noble profession a person could do. Well, I mean, look at the wigs. They don't have wigs over there. Can't get more noble than that.

What? They don't do the wigs over there, do they? Don't they? Nay. Then what's the point of being a judge? That's a very good point. Well, Alfonso said, I'll quote him,

to be Chief Justice of the United States is more than to be President. So if you're top dog judge in the Supreme Court, according to Alfonso, that is more important than being President. Well, you're directly involved in lawmaking, aren't you? Or interpreting the law, which affects other courts.

Judging, you could say, yes. Yeah. Yes. Yeah. Yes. Yeah. Remember, you've got Congress to make the laws, you've got the President to act out the laws, and you've got the Supreme Court to judge the laws. That's how it works.

Equal, apparently, in power. However, the family had grown to six children by this point, and the expense of education was more than the wages of being a judge, even if it was one of the top judges in Ohio. So Alfonso reluctantly quit his job as a judge and went back to private practice. But still, he was still involved in politics. He put his name forward to be nominated by the Republicans to become the governor of Ohio. But unfortunately for Alfonso, his friend got the nomination instead, his friend obviously being Rutherford B. Hayes.

Because we're in that area of the world, and all these people high up in Ohio know each other. Meanwhile, little Will, he's growing up. Pressure was being put on him to do well. His two elder half-brothers were quite a bit older than him. And they'd gone to Yale by this point.

Peter had graduated with the highest marks in the school's history up until this point. I was hoping to say, in the world! Well, up until that point in Yale, yes. I mean, no one likes an older sibling who constantly gets high marks and everything. It's just annoying.

But that was Will's life at this point. Also, Will was more likely to procrastinate than do work. He spent a lot of his time just reading things that he fancied reading under trees outside rather than doing what he was told to do. He avoided other boys his age who would tease him about his size because he was a big baby

and he stayed quite large as he was growing. At the age of seven, he was the fifth in his class at school. That's not bad. That's not bad. That's not bad. Alfonso took him to one side and said, Mediocrity will not do for you, Will. I mean, you've got a class of four and you came fifth.

That's a good point. I didn't think to check how big the class was. I just thought that was quite harsh, thinking classes are usually maybe about 30 children. But that's today, isn't it? You're right, that was probably a class of four. Anyway, Will sucked his ideas up, because by the age of 12 he was top in his class by quite some margin. He was doing very well with his studies. It was around this time that Alfonso and Louise left for Europe, leaving the children behind. Alfonso wrote to Will from Rome, recounting the tale of Julius Caesar's death at the base of Pompey's statue. Alfonso wrote to Will from Rome recounting the tale of Julius Caesar's death at the base of Pompey's statue.

Alfonso had just visited the site and was quite excited so wrote to his son about how nice it was here. Shame you can't see it. Love and kisses, Pops. No real reason to mention this in the story. It's not a big deal. But it was a Rome link. Of course.

I missed that. So I high-fived myself while researching. Nice. Anyway, Will grew more and carried on with his studies. Having Louise as one of the earliest feminists in the country, as a mother, started to pay off in

Taff's work, and he showed some quite forward-thinking ideas when he was at school. For example, he wrote, The result of co-education of the sexes shows clearly that there is no mental inferiority on the part of girls. Give the woman a ballot and you will make

her more important in the eyes of the world. In the natural course of events, universal suffrage must prevail throughout the world. Ooh, that's pretty good. Fairly early on as well. I mean, we're still in the 1870s here. Late 1870s, to be fair.

But yeah, that's pretty good. So there we go. Well, USA gave the vote to women before UK did. We will be covering all of this soon. Don't you worry. Anyway, William, by this point, incidentally, was terrified of letting his father down. I mean, there was a lot of parental pressure for him to do well.

Once William enrolled into Yale, his frustrations and fears remained. He wrote home to his father, A fellow can work hard all the time and still not get perfect marks. You may expect great things of me, but you must not be disappointed if I do not live up to your expectations. Aw, not very confident. He doesn't sound...

Yeah, the pressure to do well is on. Definitely, especially since his two half-brothers went to Yale and both did fantastically well. Do you think it's imagined pressure? Or do you think his dad was kind of just saying, you need to do well? I get the sense that it is real pressure based on that mediocrity quote

but like you say, maybe it was a class of four. So, either despite or because or who knows of the pressure, William studies hard when he's at Yale. Not only does he study hard, he also gets into a sport that finally suited his build

and that is wrestling. He earned the nickname Big Bill from his classmates whilst he was at Yale, and was generally well-liked for his mostly easygoing nature. One day in his first year, he won even more friends when he stepped into a tug-of-war. The sophomore class had challenged the freshmen, and they were winning in this tug-of-war, until Williams stood up and took the rope and just turned the tide apparently just anchoring the rope in place as soon as he took it tie around his waist so yeah he got some more friends which is nice according to classmates

big bill was not naturally gifted at his academic work but he made up for it in hard work. He worked all hours under the sun to make sure he was doing well. And in the end, he graduated second in his class and was elected the class orator. Much to Alfonso's delight. There was no, why did you only come second? Why not first? It was genuine pride from father there.

At Yale, yeah. I mean, the whole graduating and doing really well was marred slightly, however, by the news that Peter, remember his half-brother who came top in his class, had suffered a nervous breakdown. The constant pressure he had put on himself and had been put on him became too much. Peter was placed in a sanitarium against his wishes,

writing to his father, pleading to be let out and be drawn closer to the family rather than being pushed away. Alfonso essentially said, no, you're in there for your own good. I'm off to go and see William's graduation. Oh, and in the sanatorium, they'll probably beat the demons out of him.

It's not a good word, sanatorium, is it? Cold baths. No. Still, we're not doing Peter, we're doing William. the demons out of him. Yeah. It's not a good word, sanatorium, is it? Cold baths. No. Still, we're not doing Peter, we're doing William. So, we get to carry on. William graduated and guess what he did? Go on, wild stab in the dark.

Oh, did he? I'm just guessing here. But did he go into law? No. He went into shark preservation. Yeah. Wow, that is quite unique. Sorry, misread.

No, it is law, Cincinnati law. Yes, that's what he did. He went to Cincinnati Law School because he wanted to follow in his father's footsteps and become a judge. While studying, he used his father's contacts to get a job as a court reporter. So he'd write up the reports for a newspaper,

what was going on in the court. When he wasn't doing that or studying the law, he worked in his father's law firm. So doors opening all over the place for him. The closeness with his father caused some tension. Alfonso chastised his son for leaving the office early one day to go and watch the boat races. I thought you were

serious about becoming a judge, son. There you are, just off having fun watching boats. I mean, you've got a boat hat and everything. Ridiculous, son. Take it off. But still, William didn't let this deter him. He carried on with his studies. He graduated from law school and became an assistant prosecutor of Hamilton County,

which is nice. A position essentially given to him because of who his father was. Yeah. Alfonso had risen well in the Republican Party by this point. And yeah, so this job was essentially given to him. So he's 23 at this point and he learned quickly from this role.

He found becoming an assistant prosecutor for a county was far more educational than law school, like learning the ropes on the job. And he did well enough in this job. He made no huge splashes. He just kind of got on with it, really. Apart from one evening when a newspaper published an anonymous letter attacking Alfonso, while also hinting that the letter had been written by Louise Taft, as in Alfonso's wife,

William's mother. So his wife potentially may have perhaps written a note attacking her husband no but that's what the paper made it look like yeah so yes that's what people might think as you can imagine william was outraged by this he stormed out to confront the editor a man named rose and came across him on a street corner. An argument broke out between them, and William lifted Rose off of his feet, and I'll quote, and dashed him into the pavement.

William then hammered the editor's head against the pavement until Rose promised to leave town. Okay. Yeah, that story comes out of nowhere, doesn't it? I didn't expect like a bite the curb yeah it's uh apparently william had a bit of a temper apparently he was really easy going almost all the time but when he lost it he really lost it yeah so i mean he just beats a man and chases him out of town because he didn't like what what he'd written um nice yeah uh i spent

quite a while trying to dig into this story because just seeing that as a one-off sentence somewhere it's like there's got to be more to this i managed to find a bit more than what i originally found which is the detail i just included but where i found it also suggested that most people thought he had done a good thing and this Rose fella was up to no good. But I mean, that seems a little bias in my opinion. I guess it'd be like now though, somebody did the same to, was it Paul Dacre?

The guy that used to run the Daily Mail. Yeah, yeah. Like, oh, we shouldn't be doing that to people, but... Yeah, it's unfortunate I couldn't find more details on this, but just know that William's got a bit of a temper. Anyway, he then starts to get into politics because it's the natural progression. Yale, law school, beat a man's face into the pavement.

Politics. Yeah. He spent most of his time, to begin with, just stomping for other republicans uh giving speeches trying to get people to come out and vote um again using his father's contacts william was soon offered another job and this time from none other than the president himself president arthur that's how well connected alfonso has has become. William was to be the collector of internal revenue for the

Cincinnati district. Exciting. Yeah, that also sounds like the postmaster job. It sounds like a job where you get a lot of money if you were that way. Well, yes, there is that. We are certainly in the middle of the Gilded Age with all

the patronage. You get the job because of your name rather than your ability, which is exactly why William is getting this job. Another reason why he was given the job is that he was seen as the perfect man for the job because he was so young he had not developed any enemies yet, so no one could object to him being put in the position. Apparently there were some arguments over who should have got this job and he was very much a compromise, no one could object to him being put in the position. Apparently there were some arguments over who should have got this job and he was very much a compromise, no one could object to him. He was very young for the role, but people hoped that would work for him. However, William soon found that he did not like

this job. To put it bluntly, he wasn't ready for it, he'd had no experience for work like this, And he also didn't approve of how the job was being done. Now, remember, slap bang in the middle of patronage here. The party expected certain things. If you had been given this job, you had to act in a certain way.

One day, a letter arrived telling William how much money he was going to donate to the party that year. Yeah, William wasn't best pleased, but did it anyway. Okay, fair enough. This is how it works. However, he drew the line at monitoring his employees and whether they had donated the recommended amount or not.

So even the people that worked, like, the clean... Well, political employees working under, yeah. This angered some of the more conservative in the Republican Party, annoyed that this youngster didn't know how it was done. So he started to lose support. Then William received orders to fire some of his employees because they were supporting the wrong Republican in a congressional race.

So they were supporting a Republican, but not the one that the party wanted them to. Or at least certain head honchos in the party. Again, William was outraged by this. The men he'd been told to fire were, in his mind, some of his best employees.

So in an attempt to keep them, he wrote to President Arthur personally telling the President that the men he was being told to fire were loyal to the Republican Party, they just wanted a different Republican to get the nomination. Surely that's not a fireable offence. That's democracy, right?

Yeah. In the end, he wasn't forced to fire the men, but William had had enough of politics. He didn't like this at all. So he decides to get out. And instead, he set up a law firm with one of his father's old partners. Again, I doubt he even noticed the door that was being held open for him because they're just such big doors by this point and they've been wedged open.

It feels more like a corridor for him. His reputation as a lawyer grew. He started doing all right for himself. In fact, he made a name for himself in one big trial because a well-respected veteran lawyer named Thomas Campbell in Ohio was also very obviously corrupt. Williams' firm decided to go after Campbell. A brave move.

Alfonso was unsure of his son going after Campbell, because Campbell was very powerful and owned outright several judges. If William swung and missed here, it would destroy his career. However, after Alfonso advised his son this, William wrote back, It is time for men to have backbone and drive away the scourge that has been such an infliction on this community for so many years. Those who tamely cower in the face of attack I have no use for. I have gone into this thing fully realising the dangerous enemy that we will encounter. So there you go.

Bit of backbone from young William there. Yeah, and don't make him angry. Exactly. Well, William was the junior of the three lawyers prosecuting the case, but he threw himself into it, completely ignoring the political scene at the time, not getting involved in the general election that happened at the time. He just wants to focus on the case.

And then as the case drew to a close, the senior lawyer prosecuting became ill, and William was suddenly called upon to step up in his place. William stood up and delivered a four and a half hour closing speech. How do you write a speech that long?

You're just reading an essay. Essentially, yeah. This essay that he delivered impressed many. Apparently it was full of understanding of the legal details of the case. He did a very good job. So much so that many were actually unsure of the outcome. I mean, this wasn't a trial by peers.

It was going to be judged by three judges. It was well known that one of the judges was in Campbell's pocket. Good chance that maybe the second one was as well, but the third one might not be. And that was a very good closing by William there, so who knows, maybe, just maybe, you might have a chance. Then the verdict came in. Do you want to guess? Guilty as hell. Many were utterly stunned when it was found that Campbell was completely and utterly innocent of all charges. How dare you accuse such a great man? So yeah, the whole thing fell apart, unsurprisingly, because welcome to the Gilded Age, a time where people can be, like, prosecuted,

plead guilty, in fact, and just all of a sudden, charges just disappear. Anyway, William, although angered by the result, understandably, was also quite pleased with himself. He'd been given a chance to shine, and he had shone. He said to his father, who was currently in Russia as the ambassador at this time, that he was pleased that he had made the stand that he had. Alfonso told his son that although he had lost, the community would remember the name William Taft and that he had stood up for corruption.

So, yeah, fair enough. However, William then was dismayed when one of Campbell's close friends and also his lawyer, a man named Foraker, became the governor of Ohio a few months later. Why is that bad? Because William was fully expecting revenge to come. Oh. Yeah, this is Campbell's friend. The guy he's just gone after.

Right. I'm with you. However, much to William's surprise, the other shoe didn't fall. In fact, quite the opposite happened. The sandal lifted. I don't know what the opposite of a shoe falling is. To William's utter surprise, Foraker contacted William with a job offer.

A position had opened up to become a judge in the Ohio Superior Court. His dad's old position. Did William want to temporarily fill it until the next election for the post? I bet even though he was on the other side, he was very obvious he was good at his job and he'd be ashamed not to have that talent.

Yes, that's it. And not only that, it turned out that Foraker remembered William from when he was a court reporter and had liked him then. And then when he saw this young man come out in the trial, was actually quite impressed at how well he'd gone against his friend.

So yeah, Farrakhan decided to appoint William to the position. A bit of politics behind it. Farrakhan also saw this as a way to modify the reformers in the party. William had just made a bit of a splash fighting corruption, put him in the seat before the next election for a year. Reformers in the party will the next election for a year, reformers in the party will stop moaning quite so much. At 29 years old, William becomes the youngest judge on the bench. That's a young age. Meanwhile, William had met somebody. This person was a woman named Nellie Heron. The Heron family, much like the Tafts, were a prominent family in Ohio.

Nellie's father was also a very good friend with Robert Fudd Hayes. However, the Herrons had fallen on hard times recently and were struggling financially. Because they were struggling financially, this meant that their daughter, Nellie, despite having a thirst for reading and education, was told that there was not the money for her to go to college. Instead, she was expected to find a husband who she could settle down with. Of course. Now, Nellie wasn't too impressed with this news.

She wanted an education, but there was not much she could do. Then, at the age of 16, she went with her parents to the White House to attend Hayes' wedding anniversary. Like I say, close family, friend to the White House to attend Hayes' wedding anniversary. Like I say, close family, friend to the Hayes. And this makes an impression on Nellie, a huge impression. So impressed with the president, who she called Uncle Rutherford, she told Hayes that if she had to marry, which she'd been informed she must recently, she wanted to marry a man who would become the president one day. Hayes apparently replied to her, I hope that you may, and make sure it's an Ohio man. And then he probably

said splendid, and then just did a big wink and walked off. So yeah, like I say, this trip, huge impact on Nellie's life. She writes later, I quote, Nothing in my life reached the climax of human bliss than which I felt as a girl of 16 when I was entertained at the White House. So she had a good time. However, all parties must come to an end, and she went home. Depressed Nellie was at a party a few months later when she met William. He impressed her with his polite ways, but that was about it. It was just someone she met and he seemed nice enough. There was nothing else there, apparently.

And then the weeks and the months passed on. She spent her time attempting to seem like the dutiful daughter, but actually was waiting for times that she could sneak away from the house so she could smoke and drink with her friends. She sounds great. Yeah, like I say, we're actually starting to see some feminist movements kicking in here. Now, at last, much to her relief, her family started to do a bit better and she was told that she would be able to enroll into a couple of classes at Cincinnati University. So she did that with much glee and then also joined a walking club that happened to have one of William's closest friends in it.

A walking club? Yeah, I know. Walking club. Simpler times, isn't it? Well, Nellie and William's close friend became close, but no more than friends, apparently. But because they were friends, William started hanging around in Nellie's

circle again. And, again, William and Nellie found that they got on quite well. But by this point, Nellie had given up. She had decided much to the horror of her parents to become a teacher in a boys' school. This essentially meant giving up on ever marrying,

as it would have been seen as a scandal. Because times back then. They had these rules about female teachers and what they couldn't do. Yeah, exactly. Marrying was one. Yeah, so she was essentially giving up the idea of getting married. She would just go and become a spinster somewhere. That was her idea in fact i quote her

of course a woman is happier who marries but then she further wrote if she marries exactly right but how many do and she just didn't want to make that gamble which is a very fair fair enough by this point however william had obviously really enjoyed his time in this walking club and had realised that he had fallen in love with his new friend. Quote him, I was wakened to the fact that I loved her with an overwhelming force. Knowing that Nellie loved to read, he started just carrying books around with him just so he had a reason to talk to her.

I'd like to think ostentatiously just dog yeah just holding out spot the dog in front of him as he walked down the street oh this old thing yes i went to my third page two weeks it took me well apparently this works because the two become closer until 1885 and william proposed nelly was. She had not thought of William in this way whatsoever. William was her friend. She was going to become a teacher. She did not want to get married. He'd been friend

zoned but didn't realise. Yeah, yeah, very much so. She had fully in her head decided that she was going to make her own way in the world by this point and didn't have to rely on the tradition of having a man to look after her. So she said no and then told William never raise this issue ever again. Now William got the hint. What Nellie was trying to say was why don't you propose again shortly? In front of lots of people at the party. Well he wasn't going to give up. I have seen in one history book that saying no was just

an accepted custom at this time, which could explain why Roosevelt was turned down in the last episode. But I can't help but feel this might just be historians trying to save face for the people they're studying. I don't know. Who knows? So maybe it's all part of the courtship ritual, but I get the feeling Nellie just was not sure. Still, William's not going to give up. And again, having his mother, Louise, as a teacher helped him because he was able to write to Nellie and show her that he fully understood her reluctance to marry. He wrote that when a man marries and chooses to do something wrong, and in fact I'll quote him here, it does not involve his whole life.

With a woman, a mistake is worse than death, for in marriage she gives all. So just acknowledging the fact that actually, yeah, marriage is different for men and women, and I fully understand that for you this is a big commitment, which is a good thing to acknowledge. And then a few days later he tried again, this time stressing how the marriage would be a joint venture of equal parts. Again I'll quote, I love you Nellie, I will labour for our joint advancement if only you let me. And then he praised her character, her intellect and her

empathy and the fact that she could not be won over in the space of a moment. Basically, he did a damn good job at coming across as a very reasonable person. And eventually, Nellie's resolve broke. She agreed that they could wed. However, she insisted that no one know about it, even their families, until they were ready to formally announce it. Guessing giving herself a bit of wriggle. Yeah, keep it a secret on anyone knowing they're not friends.

Yeah. No one needs to know. William, however, over the moon. He found it very hard to keep quiet. But he managed, and eventually it was revealed. And their friends and their families were delighted. They thought the two were very well suited to each other. And the two wed in 1886.

Isn't that nice? It worked. Yeah. So it was a year later that William received that news that there was the seat on the Superior Court for him if he wanted it. Supreme or Superior? Superior. This is state rather than national.

Still, highest court in his area, basically. The job his dad used to do. Now, as we've seen, being a judge was a dream come true for William. But Nellie wasn't the kind of woman to lightly dream of marrying someone who would occupy the White House and then just throw it to one side. She was serious when she said this was her ambition. And she saw something in her husband and was convinced that he could go far enough if he took the right path. However, being

a judge was not the right path. Being a judge tends to mean that you're going to stay a judge. But in Nellie's eyes, it just wasn't quite glamorous enough. In fact, I'll quote her, I dreaded seeing him settled for good and missing all the youthful enthusiasm which a more general contact with the world would have given him. William, however, was not deterred. He took the job. He was very excited by it. And after a year, he was elected for another five years. Remember, he was just filling in temporarily for a year until the next election.

But when the next election rolled around, he got it. That's pretty good. Yeah. He obviously did a good job, or his leader's boss's thought. Yeah, exactly. Democracy. Anyway, over this time, William and Nellie had a son. And over time, they'd have three children together over the next few years. And this generally was a very happy time for William.

He was doing a job that he enjoyed. He had his new family. He had his wife. Things were good. And then in 1889, a seat opened up in the United States Supreme Court. And this is a job for life, isn't it? You get it basically, you die. Yeah, this one is for life.

And it is, you don't get higher as a judge. This is, this would be his dream come true. He's only 31 at this point, though. Wow. Yeah, and he recognised that his chances were slim to non-existent. He compares it to the likelihood of him being able to get to the moon. But he pulled some strings, and he managed to get word to President Harrison. Is there any chance, any chance at all, I might be considered for this seat?

He soon got a reply. I just said, ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. Ha. P.S. Ha ha. No, he wasn't quite that harsh. I mean, it was a simple no. I mean, you're still a kid. However, some people have started to notice your work, William. You're keen. You're young and you're keen. And some of us in the Republican Party like that. So why not become the Solicitor General?

This would place William in a high-ranking place in the Department of Justice. The job of Solicitor General is to represent the government before the Supreme Court. So he'd still be involved in the Supreme Court, but he'd actually be prosecuting the cases. For a 31 year old, this is a very good job indeed. Again, I mean,

the doors are just being smashed open for him. And he is just skipping through them. William was disappointed he didn't get the judgeship, but not surprised. Nellie, meanwhile, was very, very pleased. This was the family's chance to get out of Cincinnati and make a name for themselves in Washington. So a nervous William started his job, and over the next couple of years steadily improved he did well enough again didn't make any huge waves just got on with the job his biggest impact came from his love of being a

judge actually even though technically he wasn't one if there was one thing that taft loved like really loved it was the constitution and the rule of law therefore 1891, when a case came to him to prosecute, he realised that actually this case shouldn't have won before. It shouldn't have been pushed this far. It is just inconstitutional that this case is in the courts. So rather than trying it anyway and just purposely throwing it, which would be dodgy, he did something called confess error. anyway, and just purposely throwing it, which would be dodgy.

He did something called confess error. The United States were wrong to prosecute the case. We shouldn't have done it. Shouldn't have got this far. Oops, sorry. Throw the case out. And this actually set a precedence for solicitor generals to confess error that continues to this day. So there you go.

He made a mark. So he's getting on with this. He's doing his job. Nelly's happy. He's happy. But then Alfonso dies. Oh no. William obviously had been shaped by his mother in many ways as we've seen. But his fear of disappointing his father was

very obvious. But they parted on good terms. Despite being distraught at his father's death, there must have been part of William pleased that Alfonso expressed his love for his son just before he died. Anyway, William continues his work. He befriends a Supreme Court judge at this time called John Marshall Harlan. He was already well known for fighting for civil rights

disagreeing with the rulings of the rest of the supreme court's frankly dodgy decisions. In fact Harlan dissented so often he became known as the great dissenter. So that's the kind of person William's hanging around with in Washington. But then one one day, as is quite regular in William's life, he was suddenly offered a new job. A seat on the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Basically, this is as high as a judge you can get without going to the Supreme Court. It's the step below. You're in charge of judging cases looking over Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky, and Tennessee. So it's bigger than just state, but you're not quite in the Supreme Court, yeah. Again, William, very, very pleased. Judging was where his heart lay. He wanted to do it. And again, Nellie was disappointed. She thought

that William was on the right track where he was. he shouldn't go back to Cincinnati and then become a judge. However, William was determined, and they do move back, and for the next eight years, Taft happily serves the court. Even Nellie admits later in life that this eight-year period was probably the happiest Taft ever was. Oh, he just wants to be a judge, doesn't he? That's all he wants to do, yeah. Most of the big profile cases at the time were around the increasing problems with labour strikes, which we have covered in bits over the last few episodes. The biggest case Taff was involved in

was the Pullman railway strike that we have covered before. If you remember, Pullman was the rubber-barren factory owner who made the Pullman rail cars. He ran work camps and slashed his workers' wages. They went on strike trying to get enough food to be able to feed themselves. The strike was being pushed back hard, so the strikers begged the railway union to help them out. The union did so, refusing to work on any train with a Pullman carriage on it, so essentially all trains in the country came to a standstill.

Now, all of that's happened a few years ago, and it's taken a while to go through the courts, and this is when it lands in front of Taft. Now, Taft was okay for strikes to occur, obviously. That's all very legal. We're in America, freedom of speech, etc, etc. However, he had certain limits. Strikes could occur, according to Taft, as long as they stayed within the boundaries of the law, and this meant that workers could only strike from their own

employers, but not support other strikes. Oh. Yeah. As you can strike on behalf of somebody else. Yeah. So the railway union striking in solidarity with a factory dispute was illegal. And Taft had no time for that kind of shenanigans. Not only this, but also if any violence broke out whatsoever, in Taft's mind, that violated the entire strike movement. As soon as someone threw a brick at a window, that's it. Everyone's lost the right to strike. Yeah.

Now, as a result, despite supporting legal strikes, in the reality of the time, he was very unsympathetic towards strikers. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the man who had been handed everything to him his entire life just couldn't understand why these workers were so angry and violent. All you need to do is work hard and things work out for you. He'd worked hard all his life and things have worked out for him. Yeah, I never got a leg up. I did it all by myself. Well, no, you didn't. You got inherited money. You opened lots of doors. You you did you've done nothing the problem is and you see this with taft taft did work hard from everything we can see he worked

hard all his life however but that's not why he's doing really really well he's doing really really well because of his name he just so happened to work hard on top of that um but unfortunately taft and people who thought and think like him seem to think the only reason why they're achieving is because of the hard work. And yeah, so because of that, he just could not see eye to eye with workers who were striking. So much so that he wrote to Nelly about one strike in 1894.

It will be necessary for the military to kill some of the mob before the trouble can be stayed. Topical. If you're listening to this, years in the future, there has just been a New York Times opinion piece that sounds very similar to that. Just been released.

Again, hashtag second gilded age. Anyway, by 1900, that's right, we're in the 1900s, Jamie. Yes. And he's not even president. By 1900, Taft was not only a judge on the Court of Appeals, but he was also given a job as the dean and professor of property law at Cincinnati University. Oh, that sounds so dull.

A job that required him to teach for an entire two hours a week. And you know he got a fortune for it. Yeah. Anyway. Property law. Oh my goodness. It's exciting stuff. And then, out of the blue,

as just happens again and again, he was contacted with yet another job offer. Well, he works hard for it. He does. President McKinley was present by this point. Not for long. He's got a little bit to go, don't worry.

And he wrote to Taft asking him to come to the White House. Now, Taft was confused. There was no seat to open on the Supreme Court. Why else would the president be contacting him? He'd made it very clear that's what he wanted. So a confused Taft headed to the capital. He was astonished when the president met him and offered him a certain job. McKinley had just created a commission to oversee civil government in the Philippines.

Is this the same time where they're sending ships there? The ships have already been. Oh, this is the fallout then. Yeah. This shocked Taft. As a judge, he'd kept out of politics formally, but he'd made it clear, his opinions, that after the Spanish-American War, which has just happened, he felt that the United States should not annex the Philippines. In fact, he had written,

we have not solved all the problems of popular government so perfectly as to justify our voluntary seeking more difficult ones abroad, which is a very good point. Yeah, yeah. So he told McKinley as such, it's like, you don't want me. I disagree with us being there in the first place. McKinley apparently replied,

you don't want the Philippines any less than I do, but we have got them and in dealing with them, I think I can trust the man who didn't want them better than the man who did't want them better than the man who did which is a quote i guess it's a quote i wish i'd come across when looking into mckinley but like i say that mckinley research was a nightmare um a lot of waiting yeah um but that that's uh some good thinking from mckinley there i must admit anyway taft wasn't convinced he loved his job he was really happy with his life he had literally no experience of anything like going halfway across the world

trying to establish a civil government he couldn't even speak spanish uh which would really hinder him but then mckinley dangled the carrot if taft this, and if the opportunity opened up, maybe, just maybe, I'll appoint you to the Supreme Court when you get back. Things could happen. Oh, and that's his dream job. Exactly. Now, it pained Taft to do it, but this carrot was too good. It looked like a very tasty carrot. So, Taft resigned from the Court of Appeals, Nellie and his brothers convincing him that this was definitely the right move. Nellie hoping again that this was a stepping stone for perhaps

maybe a future run at the presidency. So there we are. We're now in April 1900. William, Nellie Taft, and their three children set off from San Francisco and sailed to the Philippines. Lovely weather right here.

Oh yeah. So let's catch up on what's been going on in the Philippines, shall we? Just as I said in Roosevelt's episode. We'll deal with that another time. Well, that time is now. Let's do it. So a quick summary of what's been going on in the Philippines since 1565. Brief summary, obviously.

But it's all very interesting stuff. So in 1565, the Spanish discovered the Philippines and took them, as the Spanish did. It was seen as an extension to their holdings in the Americas, and therefore it was ruled from New Spain, not directly from Spain itself. However, when New Spain revolted and turned into Mexico, the rule of the Philippines transferred to Spain in 1821. Under Spanish rule in the Philippines, schools were built, hospitals were built, churches were built, roads were built,

slavery was abolished, basically all the excuses you hear for colonialism. However, as ever, these excuses for colonisation ignore the fact that the native population were ruled over in an oppressive regime that was quite brutal. Revolts against the Spanish were common, as were wars with other European and Asian powers in the region. In general, it's safe to say the Philippines were not doing too well under Spanish rule. The revolts increased, and as they did, Spain attempted to maintain their hold on the area by increasing the number of Spanish-born officers on the islands. Most of the officers before were Latino men from the Americas,

but now it was being ruled directly from Spain. Native Spanish-born officers were being sent over, and you can just imagine the problems that leads to. We covered the problems with Spanish rule in Cuba in Roosevelt's first episode, so you can just transfer that information into the Philippines, essentially. Things weren't good. Then, in 1872, three priests in the country were accused of sedition, of fueling ideas of rebellion, and they were executed by the Spanish government. Wow. Yeah. Who'd have thought it? Executing priests doesn't go down well. No. Unrest bubbles along for the next couple of decades until 1892 when a militant

secret society was formed with the aim to kick the Spanish off the island. We are going to gain our independence. Then in 1896 this group declared their intent to gain our independence. Then in 1896, this group declared their intent to gain their independence from Spain publicly. After infighting for some control with this militant secret group, which resulted in one of their leaders being executed, a convention was held and a man named Iguanaldo was placed in charge. I apologise if I am butchering that name. was placed in charge. I apologize if I am butchering that name. However, this new government that had been established was a government of a republican name rather than reality. It had no real control over the islands. The Spanish did. And over the course of the following year, fighting Spanish forces, they did not do well, and the Spanish forces managed to take back control of the country. Aguinaldo was forced

into exile. Some unrest was still going on and the Spanish were attempting to put this unrest down when the Spanish American war broke out. And out of nowhere, an American fleet suddenly appeared in Manila Bay and destroyed the Spanish fleet

which we covered in Roosevelt's episode. Aguinaldo rushed back to his country to lead the Philippine resistance fight once more. The Spanish hadn't suddenly disappeared, their fleet had been destroyed, there was still Spanish on the island, and Iguanaldo wanted to fight them and gain independence for the Philippines. So, with the United States holding Manila, the fight had gone out of the Spanish and within three months, the Philippine forces had taken the islands.

They had won their independence. Iguanaldo declared independence formally, a convention was held, and he was chosen as president. A constitution was drafted. There we go. They've got their government. They've got their country back.

However. Hey there. Despite some informal reassurances from several prominent Americans to the leaders of the Philippines, in 1898, the Treaty of Paris was signed and control of the Philippines was formally handed from the Spanish

to the United States. We didn't agree to that. Yeah, that was essentially what Aguinaldo said. He made it very clear that the newly established Filipino government saw this as none less than an invasion and an act of war. If the United States wanted the Philippines, they would have to fight for it. Okay. So fighting breaks out in the city of Manila. The United States general in charge, a man named Otis, declared,

fighting, as begun, must go on to the grim end. Otis refused to talk to the Filipino Republic again. All ideas of negotiation goes out of the window and Otis cracks down hard. The United States used their navy to bombard one of the major cities in the country. However, the Filipino government soon realized that they were outgunned, if not outnumbered. So they returned to the guerrilla tactics that they had been using against the Spaniards. The US, adapting to this, started using the same tactics that

the Spanish had been using in Cuba that the United States press had been denouncing just months before. This included segregating large portions of the population in an attempt to cut out the rebellion, to make sure they couldn't be supplied. Due to these large, and I'll quote here, zones of protection,

dysentery starts to spread. Civilian casualties start to vastly outnumber any of the soldiers from either side. Things are not good. Otis, the general in charge, continues to attempt to put down any resistance refusing any negotiation guinaldo meanwhile attempts to gain international support by inviting the red cross to come and see what was going on hoping that he'd be able to spin the war in a very positive Filipino light. Otis, however, wanted none of this,

and when a representative from the Red Cross arrived in the Philippines, Otis stopped him and refused him from seeing anything. The representative was taken on selective tours, but did manage to see enough that he became convinced that the United States were systematically burning down villages. Harsh curfews were then put into place to make sure that the rebellion couldn't spark up again, that the United States started to feel like they had a handle on this situation. When I say harsh, I mean harsh.

Anyone seen breaking the curfew was shot on sight. Bloody hell. Due to this, the United States really managed to get a hold on the country. As one soldier put it, and I'll quote here, we make everyone get into their house by 7pm and we only tell a man once. If he refuses, we shoot him. We killed over 300 natives the first night. They tried to set the town on fire. If they fire a shot from the house, we burn the house down and every house near it and shoot the natives. So they're pretty quiet in town now. Yeah, you're looking quite horrified there.

That sounds almost very British. Oh, we are full on colonial now. That's insane. We have gone full circle from the revolution. Oh my goodness. Anyway, this is where we get the opening this is when taft is arriving and this is what taft and his family are walking into now just to be clear taft will uh arrive in manila uh and set up uh in a presidential mansion essentially a lot of the resistant fighting was going on

on different islands in the Philippines. So he's not walking necessarily into a hot war zone, but the country is very much on edge and people are still dying in warfare when Taft arrives. To complicate things, the military is still in charge when he arrives. Otis, the general, is still in charge. It's under military control.

Taft's job is to go over there and figure out how to set up civilian governance. Right. So at some point, the power needs to transfer from the military to Taft and whatever government he helps to establish. So he arrives, he gets set up. General Otis is soon replaced with a man named General MacArthur, but for all intents and purposes of our story, they might as well be the same person. Yeah. Taft, like I say, represented a civilian government, and MacArthur represented the military one, and the two men did not necessarily see eye to eye when it came

to the details of annexing this country. The military view was, you might be shocked to learn, quite hideous. The locals must be crushed and beaten into submission. Taft, however, not believing in an expansionist United States, had different views. In hindsight, it's not great, Taft's views, to say the least. But in the context of the time, it was certainly better than the military's view. To sum up, Taft essentially wanted the Philippines to be a willing, self-governing colony of the United States, a little bit like Canada and Australia were to Britain at the time. Independent almost completely, but not quite.

Yeah. However, in Taft's view, Filipinos were just not capable of governing themselves right now. In fact, Taft figured it would take at least three generations to get them to the point where they could govern themselves. In fact, I'll quote him here, it would take the training of 50 or 100 years before they realised what Anglo-Saxon liberty is.

Yeah. Oh, arrogance. Yeah. Like you say, we're getting to British levels of arrogance now, aren't we? Yeah. Anyway, Taft, you'll be unsurprised to learn, was practically overflowing with his casual racism at this time. He referred to the Filipinos as, I quote, our little brown brothers, and generally had a very patronising air. Yeah. You get the feeling,

reading about this period, that Taft had no malice towards the local population but the racism's just so ingrained within him he just did not notice it. It's sort of like maybe he didn't see it as racism so he'd assume racism against is against black people. Possibly more the fact that he genuinely believes as long as you have good feelings towards someone you can't be racist yeah i'm not racist but sort of thing yeah it's like how could i possibly race be racist i want them to be independent in a hundred years time yeah still as uncomfortable reading and patronizing as this is it's nothing compared to the military at the time who were just going full-on with their all-out-and-out racism. Upon hearing Taft's words about the brothers thing,

the common reply came from many in the army, quote, the Filipino might be a brother of William H. Taft, but he ain't no friend of mine. Oh. Yeah. Now, although Taft was certainly more sympathetic with the local Filipino population

than the military, he still fought against any independence movement on the island. Like I said, he just didn't feel like the island was ready. Give him a century. So after settling into his mansion and getting a lay of the land,

Taft became convinced that most of the population, actually, now he looked at it, were in fact fairly ambivalent to the idea of independence. In fact, he wrote home to the war secretary saying, as long as McKinley beats Bryan in the upcoming election, all this talk of independence will just fade away. Good US-centric view of things there. Yeah, yeah. Well, if you remember, Brian, the leading

Democrat at the time, was very anti-expansionist, and he had made it very clear that if he was the next president, he would give independence to the Philippines. Taft, therefore, for some reason, managed to convince himself that as long as Brian lost, everyone fighting for independence in the Philippines would suddenly just go, oh, fair enough then. Someone in America lost an election. In fact, I'll quote Taft here, the insurrection as a political movement

will fade out in the course of 60 to 90 days, should McKinley win. The sheer hubris of this is shocking. Well, McKinley won that election, as we know, and you will be shocked to learn the resistance didn't stop. There were people still fighting for independence. Election? What election, they were saying? Literally, what election are you talking about? There was an election in America, was there? Oh, OK.

Oh, our enemies. Wonderful. Well, Taft starts to get nervous at this point. General MacArthur was still pushing for more crackdown. MacArthur was convinced, unlike Taft, that a majority of the Filipinos were actually hardcore independence radicals who were just itching to kill American soldiers at the drop of a hat. Of a different view to Taft's. So MacArthur just wanted to crack down

on any insubordination taft however wanted to get to grips with creating this civilian government that's supposed to be being set up he might even include one or two of the locals you know just to show to teach them how to do it essentially what's his. He wrote in his official report in January 1901 that the military presence was becoming a problem. It was the face of aggression and betrayal to the native population. He could not stress enough that a civilian government really needs to take over completely. We need to take away the military presence. And his worries were well-founded, because in September of 1901, we're talking roughly the same period as McKinley being shot here, by the way, a town that was being occupied

by United States forces rose up against the company holding them. Now, this town was a port town that the US thought were supplying the resistance. The supplies were being fed through this town. So for a month, the United States moved in and just locked the town down. To begin with, not too harshly, but then one night, 80 men of the town were rounded up and placed in two small tents under armed guard and just kept in there. This isn't going to get better, is it?

No. The resistance movement by this time had created a plan to liberate the town. They'd managed to smuggle themselves into the town dressed as women carrying coffins, hoping that soldiers wouldn't inspect the coffins too much. And it worked. On the dawn of 27th September, they attacked.

The 44 US troops in the town were taken completely unaware and were almost entirely wiped out by the ambush. Only four soldiers in the town escaped unscathed. Wow. The town then, understandably, was abandoned by the locals because they expected retaliation. Now, news of this spread throughout the Philippines. Many had started to believe that the United States hold on the islands was complete. The resistance seems to be fading out, but suddenly it

looks like fighting's gonna flare up once again. People even in Manila started wearing sidearms openly, expecting fighting to break out once more. Taft sent his family to Hong Kong, worried that things were about to go wrong. Now, MacArthur had just been replaced as military governor by a man named Chaffrey. Chaffrey may as well just be MacArthur for all purposes of our story. Chaffrey was outraged that his soldiers had been killed, understandably, and then placed a man named General Smith in charge

of sorting the mess out. Smith issued his orders, and I'll quote, I want no prisoners. I want you to kill and burn. The more you kill and burn, the better it will please me. The interior of the island must be made a howling wilderness. He went further to say that all capable of holding a gun should be killed. When questioned on this, I mean, what do you mean holding a gun? What do you mean by capable?

This is a bit vague, sir. Smith replied that anyone over the age of 10 should be shot oh my now the island the town was on was cut off no food was to be delivered starve the local population

and the resistance out US troops then poured onto the island and essentially were given free reign to do whatever they wanted now you won't be shocked to learn that we have no clear picture of the death and destruction that happens after this. One soldier who was there reported that 39 Filipinos were killed, but that's just one report from a US soldier. We just don't know the actual number. Not pleasant though. Towns burnt to the ground, people indiscriminately killed. It should be said, just for full transparency though,

a majority of the soldiers just ignored this order from Smith, apparently. It was seen as going too far, even at the time. But even if a lot of soldiers ignored this order, it's still giving free pass to anyone who was willing to do it. Yeah, you got a few psychopaths on your team. Yeah, I mean, there is no denying that war crimes were then committed. Reports of this atrocity got back to Taft and then were sent on to the War Secretary. In fact, questions were starting to be asked, generally, of the military. For example, both Otis and MacArthur's official report stated that for every

wounded prisoner taken, 15 enemy soldiers had been killed. And the reason why this is noticeable is that this is three times higher than the normal amount in wars of that period. It strongly suggested to anyone looking at these numbers that US troops were systematically killing wounded soldiers. Otis explained this anomaly by stating that his soldiers were just damn good shots. Many of them were hunters from the south, don't you know? And we're good, we're good at fighting. We're just too efficient at slaughter, that's the problem. Yeah. MacArthur went further though and just simply stated that the filipinos were an inferior race and succumbed to their wounds much quicker than white men yeah

anyway taft not happy with the military power uh in the country um was still nervous he's still trying to uh set up a government, but he was worried that if the military just disappeared, the rebellion would spring back. So in November, he passed the Sedition Act. It became illegal to speak for or act with any independence movement whatsoever. Despite this, however, Taft's popularity in the Philippines had started to grow quite a lot. He was clearly critical of the hated military. And most people in the country, like most people everywhere in the world, just want a roof over their heads, their children to be safe, and food to eat.

I mean, that's what most people want. This Taft fella seems a lot better than these military types. Also, obviously the Philippines weren't just one blob of people with all the same opinions. It's obviously far more complex than this. You had different class systems going on in the country who all have their own views and opinions on what should be going on. The elite class of the Philippines soon started to cozy up

to this civilian governor and the new civilian government being created, hoping to gain favour in a newly created government. Taft was cautious of this elite class, thinking that they were all corrupt. In fact, I'll quote him.

They are born politicians, they're as ambitious as Satan and as jealous as possible of others' preferment. I think we can make a popular assembly out of them for the islands, as long as we restrain their actions. So, again, Taft is very, very cautiously thinking maybe giving some power to the local population because they probably don't understand how to rule. Oh, God.

He was worried that giving too much power to this elite class would create an oligarchy who would not provide for the everyday person. I'm guessing Taft was just ignoring the massive irony gong smashing away in the background, as he had lived through the Gilded Age. Yeah. But, yeah, there you go. Anyway, Taft helped create a political party at this time

called the Federal Party, who stated that their aims were to accept US rule, thank you very much, and then who knows, maybe one day a statehood. Taft downplayed the statehood part. He realised that there was... No, no, no, no, no, no, no. Well, yeah, he realised there was no way in hell

that a US government was about to give the rights of a state to a country halfway around the world made up of people who were not white. It just wasn't going to happen. So Taft downplayed that part, but generally it was a very pro-U.S. party. He created the party and he attempted to make it grow as much as possible, whilst at the same time suppressing any other political parties from growing who had ideas of independence. To Taft's disappointment though, the federal party for some reason were just not as popular as he thought they would be. Taft spent his time surrounded by Filipinos who constantly were trying to get in with him. So everyone he met kept saying, oh yeah, we love you, S. Rool. He wasn't quite in touch or as in touch

with the common Filipino person as perhaps he thought he was. Still, his civil government had managed to create several rights for the citizens after a while, which is good. Taft was able to introduce the right for prisoners to challenge their arrest, a genuinely good thing.

And generally some decent rights are brought in under this new government that's been created. However, Taft drew short of introducing the right to be tried by a jury of peers, stating that they just weren't ready for that kind of responsibility on this island. Also, it's probably not sensible to give them the right to bear arms, thought Taft, because just allowing everyone to just wander around with guns is obviously going to lead to disaster. Anyway, back in the United States, as I said, McKinley had been shot. I mean, that happened at the same time with all the atrocities that were going on. And anyway, as we have learnt,

Roosevelt had become the president. Now, one thing I've not covered, because it just didn't naturally fit in, is that when Taft was in Washington, he got to know Roosevelt quite well, and the two had become firm friends. So Taft was very pleased when he found out that his good friend Teddy had become president. Meanwhile, Taft's popularity in the Philippines grew. Again, the elite Filipino class saw him as a way to gain power, and the majority of the population saw him as an alternative to the military. So he genuinely did develop a good following.

Then, in the end of 1901, Taft suddenly became ill. Abscesses were discovered in his intestines. How did they discover? A rummage. I'm guessing a rummage. Oh. Well, he became ill. He headed back to the United States to get this looked at more. And then it was discovered the abscesses were there and he needed surgery.

So he went through surgery. No grisly or fascinating tales, unfortunately. It just was a fairly straightforward surgery. But he's in Washington to recover. When he was there, he met his friend and the new president. Roosevelt wanted two things from Taft. First of all, come home. Properly.

Come home from the Philippines. Because number two, I want you, Taft, on the Supreme Court. That's right. You've earned your dream job. Well done. He's like, oh my god, oh my god, oh my, on the Supreme Court. That's right. You've earned your dream job. Well done. He's like, oh my God, oh my God, oh my God, oh my God. However, despite this being his dream job, Taft was unsure.

He felt that he had unfinished business in the Philippines. I mean, it just hadn't been settled yet properly. And he couldn't just abandon them in the Philippines. They loved him over there. You get the feeling that Taft had become used to essentially being the president of a country. And yeah, he was enjoying it. So he said as much to Roosevelt,

thank you very much, but I really think I need to go back to the Philippines. Meanwhile, in the capital, ongoing at the time were congressional hearings into the atrocities that had taken place on the islands and since Taft was in Washington he was called to speak before the senate committee. What exactly was going on over there? Are these stories we're hearing true? Taft felt very flustered and uncomfortable while he attempted to defend the actions of the men under his government. He took it personally and became worried

that he was not suited to politics because as much as he understood that this committee was just doing its job, he became angry and frustrated that he was being attacked. It's hard to take criticism sometimes. Yeah. Still, the committees go ahead. As you can imagine, nothing really happens.

Then Taft was sent to Rome, interestingly. Oh, that's a massive high five. Yeah, massive high five there. He's off to visit the Pope because part of the Philippines was owned by the Catholic Church still. And the United States were more than happy to just take the rest of the Philippines, but maybe we should actually offer to buy this bit that belongs to the Church. So Taft and his family headed over to Rome. They met the Pope. They discussed the

transfer of land. They didn't get anywhere in this trip, but they laid the foundations because a couple of years later, the Catholic Church agreed to the terms. Meanwhile, however, Taft had headed back to the Philippines and continued his attempt to mould the civilian government. Aguinaldo, remember the leader of the resistance, had been captured the previous year. Many had hoped that this would put an end to the unrest, but it didn't. However, Aguinaldo's replacement was a man named General Malva. He had taken over, the resistance had continued, but then in April of 1902, Malva surrendered. The war was officially declared over in July 1902. So there you go.

The United States now has full control over the Philippines. Between 16,000 and 20,000 Filipino soldiers died, and between 4,000 and 5,000 U.S. soldiers had died. And thanks to the disruption and the zones of protection and the also, let's just be blunt here, war crimes, an estimated quarter of a million to one million civilians died due to famine and disease. That's a feather for the cap.

But still, the war was won and it's over. Yeah. Taff then got word from Roosevelt. I know you want to be involved in the Philippines still. I fully understand that. So why don't you come home and become the war secretary? That way, you're still in charge of the Philippines.

Because the Philippines is under the jurisdiction of the War Department. Yeah, war's over but still. So, come on back. That's good enough for Taft. Nellie saw it as yet another stepping stone so she was happy as well. The two of them agreed, it's time to head back.

So in 1903, the Tafts set sail to the United States. There you go, that is Taft Part 1. Wow. Not boring. No. Depressing. Yeah. That's a good way of putting it. I mean, let's face it, Taft's life is essentially people opening doors and saying,

here, would you like this job? Yeah. But then you've got the whole Filipino-American war, which is just such an under-reported war. And it is, I mean, I've had to leave so much out. It is a fascinating war that really deserves a Mike Duncan treatment. It's interesting, fascinating stuff. And also very depressing. I was going to go into this war anyway,

because I figured this is something that's not often talked about. I need to find a time to talk about it. It was just perfect for Taff's episode, because he becomes the governor of the Philippines, which is why I brushed over it so much in Roosevelt's episode, which arguably, since he's the president when it's happening, and McKinley,

but arguably I should have mentioned it in their episodes, but I was waiting for this episode to put it in. So yeah, an important bit of history. The thing is, what happened there is probably just exactly the same what the UK did to India and the African countries we destroyed.

This is, as horrific as it is, it is not in any way unusual. This was happening all over the world by all of the imperial empires and now the United States have jumped in as well. Yay. Yeah.

I mean, there is, like I said earlier on, we've come full circle from the revolution at the start of the series. America are now essentially Britain. So there you go. On that depressing note, we'll end this episode. Yes. Well, thank you guys for listening.

Don't forget you can follow us on Facebook and Twitter. Yes, and hopefully next episode's got some more light-hearted, fun stories. I did look, honestly. I did. There's not much in the way of light-hearted, fun stories for Taft. There's a couple, but they happen in the next episode. Yeah. Anyway, thank you very much for listening everyone do

you want to tell a joke at the end cheer us all up what did the can say to the sheep i don't know i mean either i'm trying to think of a punchline tell you what dear listener you think of a punch, send it to us on Twitter or on Facebook. There we go. What did the can say to the sheep? Excellent. There we go. What a lighthearted way to end it.

Nice. There we go. Great. Thank you very much for listening. Next time will be Taft Part 2. All that needs to be said then is... Goodbye. Goodbye. Goodbye.

So, Alfonso, got a new lady I hear. Oh, she's amazing, Hugh, amazing. So, what's the lovely lady's name? Oh, her name. Oh, a beautiful name. Fanny Phelps. Fanny Phelps? Yes, yes. It's a beautiful name for a beautiful lady. Yes. Are you not seeing the pattern here?

What do you mean, a pattern? Well, with your previous girlfriends. I mean... What, as in Annie? Yeah. Oh, no. Fanny's nothing like Annie at all. Completely different. You'll have to meet her. No, but Annie's name was Annie Position. Annie Position, yes. Yes, but Annie's name was Annie Position. Annie Position, yes.

Yes, no, she just wasn't suitable for me at all. In retrospect, I regret ever... No, anyway. No, no, you seriously must meet Fanny. She's much more like Jen. You liked Jen, didn't you? You mean Jenny? Jen, yes. Taylor.

The Taylor family. Jen. Jenny. Jenny Taylor. Yes, Jenny Taylor. Yes. No, Fanny's much more like Jen. You're really like her. So you're genuinely not seeing the pattern, are you? I really don't know what you're talking about. Okay. Number one, you had Jenny Talia.

Yes. Then you had, number two, Annie Position. Yes. Number three, Fanny Phelps. No, still not getting it. Yes, but what about when you dated... ...who came from... Oh my God, you're absolutely right.

I can't believe I've never seen I Have A Type before. Hugh, you're a good friend. It's not a problem. Just remember, your friend, Hugh Jass, will always be here for you. Fanny Taft, that became her name. Yeah. Doesn't sound much better. Sounds like a disease.

Yeah. None of this can stay in.