Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1912-06-22
TAFT THE
PROBABLE
NOMINEE
A BRIEF RESUME OF HIS OFFI-
CIAL LIFE AS WELL AS HIS
HOURS OFF'-IS SOMEWHAT OF
4 PRECEDENT BUSTER.

Somebody once said Colonel Roose
welt was the greatest little precedent
buster that ever Presldented at the
White House. 1t didn't look like
Roosevelt had left single solitary
measly little precedent unshattered
when William Howard Taft moved
into the White House. Remains of the
dead and decaying precedents Uttered
the lawn, or were decently packed
away in the cellar and a miscellaneous
collection of 559 big sticks, which
adoring friends had forwarded the
Unprecedented Predecessor.
Hurriediy moving over to the Exec
utive offices, with copy of the Con
stitution under his arm, Taft started
right in on March 4, 1909, for a little
precedent punishment himself. Dur
ing the next three years Taft has Jug
gernauted over more preeedents thar
T. r. ever dreamed Of doing. AS a
matter of fact, before he made that
"trip to the executive office with the
constitution under his ARM he had
already scored one. Nobody ever
heard of a presidents wife riding down
Pennsylvania avenue with her hus-
band following the Inauguration. II
wasn't customary But Taft saw that
It was done. He always admitted that
II 1t hadn't been for Mrs. Taft he
would have accepted Colonel Roose-
velt's opportunity to place him on the
supreme bench, and never entered the
presidential race. So he wanted Mrs
Taft to enjoy his Inauguration.
Just as he was getting acquainted
, with the job, Taft discovered that T
r. had made it a precedent that a
chief executive should write long mes
sages to congress Several thousand
words was about right.
But Taft's first message, convening
an extra session of congress, was a
measly little 150 words. Credible wit
nesses assert that when Secretary Lat
, ia, his arms all sinewy with the heft-
! ing Of ponderous communications un'
; der the old regime, almost tainted
when told that single sheet of paper
! was message"
e Well, Taft kept that precedent bust
I ing stunt up. He attended private
: dinners at the home of friends II
Washington - something "stern Gus
tom" never permitted before. HI
coaxed congress, rather than bullieC
H. He made General Leonard Wood {
/, doctor and not a West Pointer, heac
q of the army. He served refreshments
: at the state receptions. He discarded
White House carriages, and persuaded
|, congress to appropriate for automo
q biles. He appointed two democrats I,
). the supreme bench, making one o
them chief justice. He started tn
mo luncheon" fad He added GOV
z to the landscape features Of his bacl
l yard. He put an economy commission
to work He got congress to lay on
a fine boulevard on the Potomac an
ordered the Marine Band to play ther
regularly He cut out foreign serv
ants at the White House, and installe
Sons of Ham. He busted to infinitesi
NAL molecules all previous records 70
presidential travelling He made 7
RS strenuous feats of train hustlin
look like a frayed imitation.
There are so many other little pre-
cedents all dead and gone that
would require the space Of one Of tn
Roosevelt messages to chronicle then
And the peculiar part of 1t is, this
Taft never did very much precedeT
smashing before he became presiden
He had the judicial temperament
He came by Il naturally His fatht
was a lawyer and at one time seer,
tary OF war The son started lawyC
after graduating, with honors and {
the age Of q, from Yale, in rs, Il
got his first political Job in 1881, an
has been holding appolntive or electi'
offices ever since.
He was "Roosevelt's candidate" fC
the presidency, The Strenuous Or
got behind him, helped his campaig
and reiolced In his election II Roos
welt had his renown for certain dent
characteristics, Taft's smile has b,
come catch phrase. II is contaglou
THAT smlle--it begins with an inwar
chuckle that wobbles the third an
lowermost presidential chin, and the
crops out with subdued chortle.
grayish moustache doesn't hide
either.
One OF the preoedents T, R. estal
lshed that was continued around II
White House, was the physical cultur
stunt But where Roosevelt mixed
with iiu jitsu artists, wrestlers, prize
fighters and fencers In the Whit
House gym, Taft has an "exercisin
expert"-Dr Barker II is one lon