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The Election
On November 4,1908 William H. Taft was elected to be the 27th president with 321 electoral votes and 7,679,006 popular votes with his running mate James S. Sherman. Taft also had a lot of support from Teddy Roosevelt because Teddy thought Taft would continue what Teddy had started. -
The First Day of Presidency
This is the day that William H. Taft began his presidency that caused him so much stress. During his presidency he developed sleep apnea as a result of his obesity. He was also the first president to throw the first pitch to start the baseball season. -
The Payne-Aldrich Tariff Act
Taft had promised to slash tariff rates and that's pretty much the first thing he did when he got into office. The tariff act wasn't that helpful and it only lowered rates on a few goods while others got even higher as a result of the tariff act. -
The First Motoring Presidency
Taft is responsible for a garage being installed in the White House in 1909. He was the first president to get a car during his presidency. Congress granted him three cars. -
The Publicity Act
This act made it so that political parties had to deal with the expenses of it's members campaigns. -
The Mann- Elkins Act
This act extended the Interstate Commerce Commision. It also made the government regulations for the railroads more strict. -
A New State!!
In January of 1912, New Mexico became th 47th state to join the Union. -
Another New State
Arizona became the 48th state to join the Union In February of 1912. This was about a month after New Mexico became a state. -
The Sinking of the Titanic
On April 14, 1912 the Titanic had begun to sink by about 2:45AM the next morning the Titanic had been fully submerged. Only 705 people survived out of the 2,228 passengers and crew members that were on board.Taft really didn't do anything about the horrible tragedy. -
The Election Of 1912
Taft tried to run again but he'd lost the support of Teddy Roosevelt. Teddy now supported Taft's oppenent, Woodrow Wilson, who ended up winning by a lot. Taft only got 8 electoral votes. -
The 16th Amendment
Because of a supreme court case named Pollock vs. Farmer's Loan and Trust and other cases like it, the 16th Amendment was ratified. The 16th Amendment said that the government could levy income taxes on the people of the US. -
The Last Day Of Presidency
"I'm glad to be going. This is the loneliest place in the world."-William H. Taft.Taft never really wanted a career in politics but his wife had pushed him in that direction. He had always wanted a path in law. So after he left the presidency he followed that path. He also lost 80 pounds and his sleep apnea disappeared. -
The 17th Amendment
The 17th Amendment changed the way that our senators are elected. Before the Amendment the state legislatures chose our senators but now we get to vote for the people we want to represent us. -
The Department of Commerce and Labor
Taft had the Department of Commerce and Labor become two different departments. -
Chief Justice
After his presidency, President Warren Harding made Taft's dream come true when he appointed Taft to be a Chief Justice. This made him the only person to achieve the top spot in both the executive and judicial branches.
