Character Mug, William Howard Taft, 1912
name: label: associated person
content: Taft, William H.
notes: label: Description
content: In 1908, President Theodore Roosevelt made it clear that William Howard Taft was his choice to succeed him in the White House. Taft had already had a distinguished career in law and government including serving as a federal judge, Governor-General of the Philippines, the first Provisional Governor of Cuba, and Secretary of War in Roosevelt’s cabinet. As the Republican nominee, Taft handed Democratic challenger William Jennings Bryan the worst defeat of his three attempts to win the White House. Socialist candidate Eugene V. Debs finished a distant third.
label: Description
content: In his 1912 re-election campaign, Taft came in third in a four-way race that was won by the Democratic nominee Woodrow Wilson. He also finished behind his former mentor Theodore Roosevelt who, having decided Taft had not lived up to expectations, abandoned the Republicans and ran for president as the candidate of the newly formed Progressive Party. Taft managed to finish ahead of only one candidate, Socialist Eugene V. Debs making him the only sitting president to finish third in a bid for re-election.
label: Description
content: This porcelain character mug of Taft has “Germany” impressed on the back. To help protect U.S. industries, the McKinley Tariff Act of 1891 mandated that the country of origin for all ceramic imports be visible on each piece.
topic: label: general subject association
content: Political Campaigns
label: used
content: Political Campaigns
setName: label: See more items in
content: Political History: Political History, Campaign Collection
label: See more items in
content: Government, Politics, and Reform
label: See more items in
content: American Democracy: A Great Leap of Faith
label: Exhibition
content: American Democracy
label: Exhibition Location
content: National Museum of American History
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2015.0200.041
label: accession number
content: 2015.0200
label: catalog number
content: 2015.0200.041
objectType: label: Object Name
content: mug, toby
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: ceramic (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 4 3/4 in x 3 in x 4 1/4 in; 12.065 cm x 7.62 cm x 10.795 cm