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86-699: The first Miscellaneous Division was created in 1887, and it assumed the functions of the Division of Captured Property, Claims, and Lands, and the Mercantile Marine and Internal Revenue Division. In 1906, the Division's main functions were transferred to the Division of Bookkeeping and Warrants, the Office of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, and the Office of the Chief Clerk. At some point,

172-458: A Bachelor of Laws in 1880. While in law school, he worked on The Cincinnati Commercial newspaper, edited by Murat Halstead . Taft was assigned to cover the local courts, and also spent time reading law in his father's office; both activities gave him practical knowledge of the law that was not taught in class. Shortly before graduating from law school, Taft went to Columbus to take the bar examination and easily passed. After admission to

258-476: A Bryan victory, but he could do nothing but worry. McKinley was elected ; when a place on the Supreme Court opened in 1898, the only one under McKinley, the president named Joseph McKenna . From the 1890s until his death, Taft played a major role in the international legal community. He was active in many organizations, was a leader in the worldwide arbitration movement , and taught international law at

344-425: A New Southern Menace is remembered for its portrayal of "the cocaine-crazed negro" who was invulnerable to bullets. The use of the term "fiends" by Dr. Edward Huntington Williams, the author of the article, is understood to connote the demonization of the non-white drug user. According to historian David F. Musto public opinion about cocaine turned negative as newspapers and even Good Housekeeping scapegoated

430-635: A chief engineer, and when in February 1907 John F. Stevens submitted his resignation, Taft recommended an army engineer, George W. Goethals . Under Goethals, the project moved ahead smoothly. Another colony lost by Spain in 1898 was Cuba, but as freedom for Cuba had been a major purpose of the war, it was not annexed by the U.S., but was, after a period of occupation, given independence in 1902. Election fraud and corruption followed, as did factional conflict. In September 1906, President Tomás Estrada Palma asked for U.S. intervention. Taft traveled to Cuba with

516-706: A month before the Portsmouth Peace Conference , which would end the Russo-Japanese War with the Treaty of Portsmouth . Taft met with Japanese Prime Minister Katsura Tarō . After that meeting, the two signed a memorandum . It contained nothing new but instead reaffirmed official positions: Japan had no intention to invade the Philippines, and the U.S. that it did not object to Japanese control of Korea . There were U.S. concerns about

602-740: A new judgeship for each of the United States Courts of Appeal and Harrison appointed him to the Sixth Circuit , based in Cincinnati. In March 1892, Taft resigned as Solicitor General to resume his judicial career. Taft's federal judgeship was a lifetime appointment, and one from which promotion to the Supreme Court might come. Taft's older half-brother Charles , successful in business, supplemented Taft's government salary, allowing William and Nellie Taft and their family to live in comfort. Taft's duties involved hearing trials in

688-516: A pledge he quickly regretted. But he felt bound by his word. Roosevelt believed Taft was his logical successor, although the War Secretary had initially been reluctant to run. Roosevelt used his control of the party machinery to aid his heir apparent. On pain of the loss of their jobs, political appointees were required to support Taft or remain silent. A number of Republican politicians, such as Treasury Secretary George Cortelyou , tested

774-678: A small American force, and on September 29, 1906, under the terms of the Cuban–American Treaty of Relations of 1903 , declared himself Provisional Governor of Cuba, a post he held for two weeks before being succeeded by Charles Edward Magoon . In his time in Cuba, Taft worked to persuade Cubans that the U.S. intended stability, not occupation. Taft remained involved in Philippine affairs. During Roosevelt's election campaign in 1904, he urged that Philippine agricultural products be admitted to

860-512: Is not the slightest suggestion that Congress intended to change this". He says the public hysteria surrounding contemporaneous press reports about violent "dope fiends" probably distorted the Congressional intent and turned addicts into criminals. The "professional practice" clause was interpreted after 1917 to mean that a doctor could not prescribe opiates to an addict. Addicts and doctors were jailed for decades under theories adopted by

946-693: Is the large number of women who have become involved and were living as common-law wives or cohabitating with Chinese in the Chinatowns of our various cities". Dr. Christopher Koch of the State Pharmacy Board of Pennsylvania testified of the dangerous "cocaine-crazed" blacks in the South: "Most of the attacks upon the white women of the South are the direct result of a cocaine-crazed Negro brain". Writing in 1953 Rufus G. King explained that

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1032-592: The Chinaman cannot get along without his dope we can get along without him." Heroin use became widespread among low-income immigrants in the early 20th century. In the 1890s, the Sears & Roebuck catalogue started offering a syringe and a small amount of cocaine or heroin for $ 1.50. Cocaine was first isolated in 1855. Within a few decades public opinion had associated cocaine use with crime sprees committed by black men. There were many hysterical news reports in

1118-698: The Coast guard and the military were focused specifically on products being introduced into the country from overseas, the narcotics agents of the Miscellaneous Division were vested by the Harrison Act to investigate narcotics within US borders. The federal "Narcotics Agents" of the Miscellaneous Division, numbering at 160, are considered the first narcotics agents in the United States, and

1204-593: The Hay–Bunau-Varilla Treaty , the United States had secured rights to build a canal in the Isthmus of Panama . Legislation authorizing construction did not specify which government department would be responsible, and Roosevelt designated the Department of War. Taft journeyed to Panama in 1904, viewing the canal site and meeting with Panamanian officials. The Isthmian Canal Commission had trouble keeping

1290-627: The Narcotics Division that addiction could not be successfully treated in a clinical setting. A number of doctors were arrested and some were imprisoned. The medical profession quickly learned not to supply opiates to addicts. In United States v. Doremus , 249 U.S. 86 (1919), the Supreme Court ruled that the Harrison Act was constitutional, and in Webb v. United States , 249 U.S. 96, 99 (1919) that physicians could not prescribe narcotics solely for maintenance. The impact of diminished supply

1376-1024: The Ohio bar , Taft devoted himself to his job at the Commercial full-time. Halstead was willing to take him on permanently at an increased salary if he would give up the law, but Taft declined. In October 1880, Taft was appointed assistant prosecutor for Hamilton County, Ohio , where Cincinnati is. He took office in January 1881. Taft served for a year as assistant prosecutor, trying his share of routine cases. He resigned in January 1882 after President Chester A. Arthur appointed him Collector of Internal Revenue for Ohio's First District, an area centered on Cincinnati. Taft refused to dismiss competent employees who were politically out of favor, and resigned effective in March 1883, writing to Arthur that he wished to begin private practice in Cincinnati. In 1884, Taft campaigned for

1462-592: The Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906, which required labeling of patent medicines that contained opiates, cocaine, alcohol, cannabis and other intoxicants. By 1914, forty-six states had regulations on cocaine and twenty-nine states had laws against opium, morphine, and heroin. In the 1800s opiates were mostly unregulated drugs. Morphine addiction had spread rapidly during and after the Civil war. The consumption of household remedies and marketed syrups containing morphine

1548-797: The Taxing and Spending Clause based on the earlier License Tax Cases (1866). The act's applicability in prosecuting doctors who prescribe narcotics to addicts was successfully challenged in Linder v. United States in 1925, as Associate Justice James Clark McReynolds ruled that the federal government has no power to regulate medical practice. William Taft Defunct Newspapers Journals TV channels Websites Other Economics Gun rights Identity politics Nativist Religion Watchdog groups Youth/student groups Miscellaneous Other William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857 – March 8, 1930)

1634-790: The United States Department of State and in 1906 President Theodore Roosevelt called for an international conference, the International Opium Commission , which was held in Shanghai in February 1909. A second conference was held at The Hague in May 1911, and out of it came the first international drug control treaty, the International Opium Convention of 1912. Between 1895 and 1900 there were probably more morphine addicts in

1720-480: The 'coke habit. ' " A well-known article published in The New York Times on February 8, 1914 claimed cocaine use caused blacks to rape white women. This article and similar articles of the era, however, do not provide examples of such crimes. The people who made such allegations used racism to manipulate public opinion, but their allegations were unfounded. The article titled Negro Cocaine 'Fiends' Are

1806-416: The 1907 Tillman Act , and Bryan proposed that contributions by officers and directors of corporations be similarly banned, or at least disclosed when made. Taft was only willing to see the contributions disclosed after the election, and tried to ensure that officers and directors of corporations litigating with the government were not among his contributors. Taft began the campaign on the wrong foot, fueling

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1892-695: The Act of April 16, 1862, proving that certain black Americans had petitioned for freedom prior to the 14th Amendment . By 1947, the Miscellaneous Division was now organized within the Miscellaneous Tax Unit, responsible for the administration of taxes on; And the adjustment of claims for refund of taxes paid under the Agricultural Adjustment Act and related legislation. Harrison Narcotics Tax Act The Harrison Narcotics Tax Act (Ch. 1, 38  Stat.   785 )

1978-741: The Cincinnati Law School, a post that required him to prepare and give two hour-long lectures each week. He was devoted to his law school, and was deeply committed to legal education, introducing the case method to the curriculum. As a federal judge, Taft could not involve himself with politics, but followed it closely, remaining a Republican supporter. He watched with some disbelief as the campaign of Ohio Governor William McKinley developed in 1894 and 1895, writing "I cannot find anybody in Washington who wants him". By March 1896, Taft realized that McKinley would likely be nominated, and

2064-562: The Filipinos partners in a venture that would lead to their self-government; he saw independence as something decades off. Many Americans in the Philippines viewed the locals as racial inferiors, but Taft wrote soon before his arrival, "we propose to banish this idea from their minds". Taft did not impose racial segregation at official events, and treated the Filipinos as social equals. Nellie Taft recalled that "neither politics nor race should influence our hospitality in any way". McKinley

2150-497: The Filipinos. Roosevelt had Taft go to Rome to negotiate with Pope Leo XIII , to purchase the lands and to arrange the withdrawal of the Spanish priests, with Americans replacing them and training locals as clergy. Taft did not succeed in resolving these issues on his visit to Rome, but an agreement on both points was made in 1903. In late 1902, Taft had heard from Roosevelt that a seat on the Supreme Court would soon fall vacant on

2236-534: The Harrison Act was "intended partly to carry out a treaty obligation , but mainly to aid the states in combating a local police problem which had gotten somewhat out of hand." When Representative Francis Burton Harrison of New York placed HR 1966 for debate before the full House of Representatives on June 26, 1913, he began by noting that the Smoking Opium Exclusion Act of 1909 failed to limit importation of opium because it regulated

2322-561: The Miscellaneous Division was reestablished within the Bureau of Internal Revenue. With the passage of the Harrison Narcotics Tax Act in 1914, the narcotics unit of the Miscellaneous Division became first federal law enforcement agency in the United States dedicated specifically to the investigation of the possession, trafficking, distribution, and consumption of narcotics such as heroin , cocaine and opium . While

2408-603: The Philippines . In 1904, President Theodore Roosevelt made him Secretary of War, and he became Roosevelt's hand-picked successor. Despite his personal ambition to become chief justice, Taft declined repeated offers of appointment to the Supreme Court of the United States , believing his political work to be more important. With Roosevelt's help, Taft had little opposition for the Republican nomination for president in 1908 and easily defeated William Jennings Bryan for

2494-493: The Philippines beginning in 1901. He convened a Commission of Inquiry, known as the Brent Commission, for the purpose of examining alternatives to a licensing system for opium addicts. Although Governor William Taft supported this policy, Brent opposed it "on moral grounds". The Commission recommended that narcotics should be subject to international control. The recommendations of the Brent Commission were endorsed by

2580-548: The Republican Party's conservative wing, with which Taft often sympathized, and its progressive wing, toward which Roosevelt moved more and more. Controversies over conservation and antitrust cases filed by the Taft administration served to further separate the two men. Roosevelt challenged Taft for renomination in 1912. Taft used his control of the party machinery to gain a bare majority of delegates and Roosevelt bolted

2666-543: The Republican candidate for president, Maine Senator James G. Blaine , who lost to New York Governor Grover Cleveland . In 1887, Taft, then aged 29, was appointed to a vacancy on the Superior Court of Cincinnati by Governor Joseph B. Foraker . The appointment was good for just over a year, after which he would have to face the voters, and in April 1888, he sought election for the first of three times in his lifetime,

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2752-605: The Taft effort. In April, Taft made a speaking tour, traveling as far west as Omaha before being recalled to straighten out a contested election in Panama . He had no serious opposition at the 1908 Republican National Convention in Chicago in June, and gained a first-ballot victory. Yet Taft did not have things his own way: he had hoped his running mate would be a midwestern progressive like Iowa Senator Jonathan Dolliver , but instead

2838-582: The U.S. without duty. This caused growers of U.S. sugar and tobacco to complain to Roosevelt, who remonstrated with his Secretary of War. Taft expressed unwillingness to change his position, and threatened to resign; Roosevelt hastily dropped the matter. Taft returned to the islands in 1905, leading a delegation of congressmen, and again in 1907, to open the first Philippine Assembly . On both of his Philippine trips as Secretary of War , Taft went to Japan, and met with officials there. The meeting in July 1905 came

2924-494: The United States . They met again when Taft went to Washington in January 1902 to recuperate after two operations caused by an infection. There, Taft testified before the Senate Committee on the Philippines . Taft wanted Filipino farmers to have a stake in the new government through land ownership, but much of the arable land was held by Catholic religious orders of mostly Spanish priests, which were often resented by

3010-547: The United States . When Taft arrived in Washington in February 1890, the office had been vacant for two months, with the work piling up. He worked to eliminate the backlog, while simultaneously educating himself on federal law and procedure he had not needed as an Ohio state judge. New York Senator William M. Evarts , a former Secretary of State, had been a classmate of Alphonso Taft at Yale. Evarts called to see his friend's son as soon as Taft took office, and William and Nellie Taft were launched into Washington society. Nellie Taft

3096-509: The United States in December 1903. When Taft took office as Secretary of War in January 1904, he was not called upon to spend much time administering the army, which the president was content to do himself—Roosevelt wanted Taft as a troubleshooter in difficult situations, as a legal adviser, and to be able to give campaign speeches as he sought election in his own right. Taft strongly defended Roosevelt's record in his addresses, and wrote of

3182-495: The United States than today on a per capita basis. Opium usage peaked in 1896 and then began to decline gradually. Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. , then dean Harvard Medical school, blamed the prevalence of opiate addiction on ignorance. As awareness of the addictiveness of morphine and patent medicines grew public opinion in the 1890s was in favor of state laws restricting morphine. Demand gradually declined thereafter in response to mounting public concern, local and state regulations, and

3268-477: The Yale Law School. Taft advocated the establishment of a world court of arbitration supported by an international police force and is considered a major proponent of "world peace through law" movement. One of the reasons for his bitter break with Roosevelt in 1910–12 was Roosevelt's insistence that arbitration was naïve and that only war could decide major international disputes. In January 1900, Taft

3354-568: The act was interpreted to prohibit prescribing maintenance doses for narcotics unless it was intended to cure the patient's addiction. The Harrison anti-narcotic legislation consisted of three U.S. House bills imposing restrictions on the availability and consumption of the psychoactive drug opium. House Resolution (H.R.) 1966 and H.R. 1967 passed conjointly with H.R. 6282 (the Opium and Coca Leaves Trade Restrictions Act). Although technically illegal for purposes of distribution and use,

3440-506: The act's enforcement by the Commissioner of Internal Revenue frequently prosecuted such patients. Enforcement began in 1915. The act appears to be mainly concerned about the marketing of opiates. However, a clause applying to doctors allowed distribution "in the course of his professional practice only." Physicians believed relieving the suffering of physical dependance was within the "professional practice" exception. King says "there

3526-436: The aging incumbent, Melville Fuller , who turned 75 in 1908. Taft believed Fuller likely to live many years. Roosevelt had indicated he was likely to appoint Taft if the opportunity came to fill the court's center seat, but some considered Attorney General Philander Knox a better candidate. In any event, Fuller remained chief justice throughout Roosevelt's presidency. Through the 1903 separation of Panama from Colombia and

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3612-477: The arguments of those who said he was not his own man by traveling to Roosevelt's home at Sagamore Hill for advice on his acceptance speech, saying that he needed "the President's judgment and criticism". Taft supported most of Roosevelt's policies. He argued that labor had a right to organize, but not boycott, and that corporations and the wealthy must also obey the law. Bryan wanted the railroads to be owned by

3698-466: The circuit, which included Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky, and Tennessee, and participating with Supreme Court Justice John Marshall Harlan , the circuit justice , and judges of the Sixth Circuit in hearing appeals. Taft spent these years, from 1892 to 1900, in personal and professional contentment. According to historian Louis L. Gould, "while Taft shared the fears about social unrest that dominated

3784-399: The commission was a nuisance, and their mission a quixotic attempt to impose self-government on a people unready for it. The general was forced to co-operate with Taft, as McKinley had given the commission control over the islands' military budget. The commission took executive power in the Philippines on September 1, 1900; on July 4, 1901, Taft became civilian governor . MacArthur, until then

3870-623: The convention named Congressman James S. Sherman of New York, a conservative. Taft resigned as Secretary of War on June 30 to devote himself full-time to the campaign. Taft's opponent in the general election was Bryan, the Democratic nominee for the third time in four presidential elections. As many of Roosevelt's reforms stemmed from proposals by Bryan, the Democrat argued that he was the true heir to Roosevelt's mantle. Corporate contributions to federal political campaigns had been outlawed by

3956-492: The court below but that the solicitor general thought it should have lost. At Taft's request, the Supreme Court reversed a murder conviction that Taft said had been based on inadmissible evidence. The policy continues to this day. Although Taft was successful as Solicitor General, winning 15 of the 18 cases he argued before the Supreme Court, he was glad when in March 1891, the United States Congress created

4042-617: The distribution, sale and use of cocaine was still legal for registered companies and individuals. Following the Spanish–American War and the Philippine–American War , the Philippines saw a proliferation of opium use. A cholera outbreak in 1902 further strengthened this tendency due to the astringent properties of opium. Charles Henry Brent was an American Episcopal bishop who served as Missionary Bishop of

4128-464: The drug to explain rising crime in the South: Thus the problem of cocaine proceeded from an association with Negroes in about 1900, when a massive repression and disenfranchisement were under way in the South, to a convenient explanation for crime waves, and eventually Northerners used it as an argument against Southern fear of infringement of states's rights. Despite the extreme racialization of

4214-611: The early 20th-century about cocaine-fueled rampages using hyperbole like "cocaine-crazed negro" and others exaggerating the addictiveness of cocaine saying it quickly reduced users to "another entry in Satan's ledger". In 1900, the Journal of the American Medical Association published an editorial stating, " Negroes in the South are reported as being addicted to a new form of vice – that of 'cocaine sniffing' or

4300-476: The eldest, Robert , became a U.S. senator. There was a seat vacant on the U.S. Supreme Court in 1889, and Governor Foraker suggested President Harrison appoint Taft to fill it. Taft was 32 and his professional goal was always a seat on the Supreme Court. He actively sought the appointment, writing to Foraker to urge the governor to press his case, while stating to others it was unlikely he would get it. Instead, in 1890, Harrison appointed him Solicitor General of

4386-539: The federal government to restrict what types of goods could be exported, but the chamber adopted an expansive view based on dicta from the 1904 antitrust case Northern Securities Co. v. United States . While the House agreed that the Export Clause clearly prohibits taxing exported opium, they were divided as to whether they could outright prohibit such exports. Though the 1906 Pure Food and Drug Act prohibited

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4472-424: The first opium commissioner of the United States in 1908. Wright testified at the hearing about the dangers alleging that drugs made blacks uncontrollable, gave them superhuman powers and caused them to rebel against white authority. He said cocaine was often "the direct incentive to the crime of rape of white women by Negroes". He also stated that "one of the most unfortunate phases of smoking opium in this country

4558-464: The following month. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery , the first president and first Supreme Court justice to be interred there. Taft is generally listed near the middle in historians' rankings of U.S. presidents . William Howard Taft was born September 15, 1857, in Cincinnati, Ohio , to Alphonso Taft and Louise Torrey . The Taft family was not wealthy, living in a modest home in

4644-614: The government, but Taft preferred that they remain in the private sector, with their maximum rates set by the Interstate Commerce Commission , subject to judicial review . Taft attributed blame for the recent recession, the Panic of 1907 , to stock speculation and other abuses, and felt some reform of the currency (the U.S. was on the gold standard ) was needed to allow flexibility in the government's response to poor economic times, that specific legislation on trusts

4730-546: The heavyset, jovial Taft was popular and an intramural heavyweight wrestling champion. One classmate said he succeeded through hard work rather than by being the smartest, and had integrity. He was elected a member of Skull and Bones , the Yale secret society co-founded by his father, one of three future presidents (with George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush ) to be a member. In 1878, Taft graduated second in his class of 121. He attended Cincinnati Law School , and graduated with

4816-486: The importation of adulterated or misbranded food and drugs, that law was considered a product standard, whereas the Harrison Narcotics Tax Act would not allow any form of opium as imports or exports. Congress would not attempt another restriction on the types of goods that can be exported until the 1940 Export Control Act . Representative Thomas U. Sisson of Mississippi objected to restricting

4902-592: The issue that took place in the buildup to the act's passage, contemporary research in Northern cities found relatively few cocaine users compared with alcoholics and opium addicts overall and no significant concentration among blacks. Blacks did use "patent medicines" containing opiates and cocaine for pulmonary conditions. It's possible that higher rates of disease among blacks in the early 20th century may explain why blacks consumed patent medicines more than whites. Theodore Roosevelt appointed Dr. Hamilton Wright as

4988-518: The law's effects. In June 1919, this Rainey Committee found that criminal organizations were smuggling drugs into the country across all four of the United States' coastal and land borders. Annually, the United States consumed 470,000 pounds of opium, whereas France and Germany each purchased around 17,000 pounds of opium. While the United States' 1920 population of 106 million was far larger than France's 1921 population of 39 million and Germany's 1920 population of 62 million, per capita opium consumption

5074-546: The maritime shipping industry, rather than the individual drug users. In Harrison's view, shipping companies could evade regulation by forging documents and smuggling opium across the Mexico–United States border , whereas individual drug users would struggle to dispute their role in smuggling networks. The Congressional Record showcases that the House was unsure whether the Commerce Clause actually permitted

5160-590: The market for narcotics as encroaching on state police power in violation of the Tenth Amendment . Harrison admitted that the federal authority to tax those involved in the market for narcotics under the Taxing and Spending Clause was weak because the federal government stood to earn more in import taxes without this act. Surprisingly, Sisson and Harrison were in agreement that the bill would allow physicians to continue prescribing narcotics as part of medical treatment for those with substance use disorder , yet

5246-408: The middle classes during the 1890s, he was not as conservative as his critics believed. He supported the right of labor to organize and strike, and he ruled against employers in several negligence cases." Among these was Voight v. Baltimore & Ohio Southwestern Railway Co. Taft's decision for a worker injured in a railway accident violated the contemporary doctrine of liberty of contract , and he

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5332-569: The military governor, was relieved by General Adna Chaffee , who was designated only as commander of American forces. As Governor-General, Taft oversaw the final months of the primary phase of the Philippine–American War. He approved of General James Franklin Bell 's use of concentration camps in the provinces of Batangas and Laguna , and accepted the surrender of Filipino general Miguel Malvar on April 16, 1902. Taft sought to make

5418-403: The number of Japanese laborers coming to the American West Coast, and during Taft's second visit, in September 1907, Tadasu Hayashi , the foreign minister, informally agreed to issue fewer passports to them . Roosevelt had served almost three and a half years of McKinley's term. On the night of his own election in 1904, Roosevelt publicly declared that he would not run for reelection in 1908 ,

5504-459: The other two being for the presidency. He was elected to a full five-year term. Some two dozen of Taft's opinions as a state judge survive, the most significant being Moores & Co. v. Bricklayers' Union No. 1 (1889) if only because it was used against him when he ran for president in 1908. The case involved bricklayers who refused to work for any firm that dealt with a company called Parker Brothers, with which they were in dispute. Taft ruled that

5590-524: The party. The split left Taft with little chance of reelection, and he took only Utah and Vermont in Wilson's victory. After leaving office, Taft returned to Yale as a professor, continuing his political activity and working against war through the League to Enforce Peace . In 1921, Harding appointed Taft chief justice, an office he had long sought. Chief Justice Taft was a conservative on business issues, and under him there were advances in individual rights. In poor health, he resigned in February 1930, and died

5676-400: The presidency in that November's election . In the White House, he focused on East Asia more than European affairs and repeatedly intervened to prop up or remove Latin American governments. Taft sought reductions to trade tariffs , then a major source of governmental income, but the resulting bill was heavily influenced by special interests. His administration was filled with conflict between

5762-419: The president's successful but strenuous efforts to gain election, "I would not run for president if you guaranteed the office. It is awful to be afraid of one's shadow." Between 1905 and 1907, Taft came to terms with the likelihood he would be the next Republican nominee for president, though he did not plan to actively campaign for it. When Justice Henry Billings Brown resigned in 1906, Taft would not accept

5848-555: The resignation of Justice George Shiras , and Roosevelt desired that Taft fill it. Although this was Taft's professional goal, he refused as he felt his work as governor was not yet done. The following year, Roosevelt asked Taft to become Secretary of War . As the War Department administered the Philippines, Taft would remain responsible for the islands, and Elihu Root , the incumbent, was willing to postpone his departure until 1904, allowing Taft time to wrap up his work in Manila. After consulting with his family, Taft agreed, and sailed for

5934-411: The seat although Roosevelt offered it, a position Taft held to when another seat opened in 1906. Edith Roosevelt , the First Lady , disliked the growing closeness between the two men, feeling that they were too much alike and that the president did not gain much from the advice of someone who rarely contradicted him. Alternatively, Taft wanted to be chief justice, and kept a close eye on the health of

6020-442: The spiritual fathers of the modern Drug Enforcement Administration . This division was the primary federal narcotics investigative and enforcement unit in the country until Levi G. Nutt established the Narcotics Division of the Prohibition Unit in 1920, which absorbed these narcotics agents. On at least one occasion in 1921, the Miscellaneous Division became the owner of Treasury Department documentation of petitions filed under

6106-434: The suburb of Mount Auburn . Alphonso served as a judge and an ambassador, and was U.S. Secretary of War and Attorney General under President Ulysses S. Grant . William Taft was not seen as brilliant as a child, but was a hard worker; his demanding parents pushed him and his four brothers toward success, tolerating nothing less. He attended Woodward High School in Cincinnati. At Yale College , which he entered in 1874,

6192-702: The union's action amounted to a secondary boycott , which was illegal. It is not clear when Taft met Helen Herron (often called Nellie), but it was no later than 1880, when she mentioned in her diary receiving an invitation to a party from him. By 1884, they were meeting regularly, and in 1885, after an initial rejection, she agreed to marry him. The wedding took place at the Herron home on June 19, 1886. William Taft remained devoted to his wife throughout their almost 44 years of marriage. Nellie Taft pushed her husband much as his parents had, and she could be very frank with her criticisms. The couple had three children, of whom

6278-516: The waters for a run but chose to stay out. New York Governor Charles Evans Hughes ran, but when he made a major policy speech, Roosevelt the same day sent a special message to Congress warning in strong terms against corporate corruption . The resulting coverage of the presidential message relegated Hughes to the back pages. Roosevelt reluctantly deterred repeated attempts to draft him for another term. Assistant Postmaster General Frank H. Hitchcock resigned from his office in February 1908 to lead

6364-643: Was assassinated in September 1901, and was succeeded by Theodore Roosevelt. Taft and Roosevelt had first become friends around 1890 while Taft was Solicitor General and Roosevelt a member of the United States Civil Service Commission . Taft had, after McKinley's election, urged the appointment of Roosevelt as Assistant Secretary of the Navy , and watched as Roosevelt became a war hero, Governor of New York , and Vice President of

6450-485: Was a U.S. attorney general and secretary of war . Taft attended Yale and joined Skull and Bones , of which his father was a founding member. After becoming a lawyer, Taft was appointed a judge while still in his twenties. He continued a rapid rise, being named solicitor general and a judge of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals . In 1901, President William McKinley appointed Taft civilian governor of

6536-602: Was a United States federal law that regulated and taxed the production, importation, and distribution of opiates and coca products. The act was proposed by Representative Francis Burton Harrison of New York and was approved on December 17, 1914. "An Act To provide for the registration of, with collectors of internal revenue, and to impose a special tax on all persons who produce, import, manufacture, compound, deal in, dispense, sell, distribute, or give away opium or coca leaves, their salts, derivatives, or preparations, and for other purposes." In Webb v. United States ,

6622-605: Was already banned by many municipalities. There was more hostility to opium smoking than laudanum and other widely available tonics because of anti-Chinese sentiments and accusations that proprietors lured young white girls to opium dens. Chinese immigrants were blamed for importing the opium-smoking habit to the U.S. The 1903 blue-ribbon citizens' panel, the Committee on the Acquirement of the Drug Habit, concluded: "If

6708-415: Was ambitious for herself and her husband, and was annoyed when the people he socialized with most were mainly Supreme Court justices, rather than the arbiters of Washington society such as Theodore Roosevelt , John Hay , Henry Cabot Lodge and their wives. In 1891, Taft introduced a new policy: confession of error , by which the U.S. government would concede a case in the Supreme Court that it had won in

6794-441: Was called to Washington to meet with McKinley. Taft hoped a Supreme Court appointment was in the works, but instead McKinley wanted to place Taft on the commission to organize a civilian government in the Philippines . The appointment would require Taft's resignation from the bench; the president assured him that if he fulfilled this task, McKinley would appoint him to the next vacancy on the high court. Taft accepted on condition he

6880-412: Was commonplace and mostly associated with the upper and middle class of society. Many women who were prescribed and dispensed legal opiates by physicians and pharmacist for "female problems" (probably pain at menstruation) became addicted. It's likely many who became addicted initially did not know what the syrups and concoctions contained. Although morphine syrups were easily available, opium smoking

6966-468: Was lukewarm in his support. He landed solidly in McKinley's camp after former Nebraska representative William Jennings Bryan in July stampeded the 1896 Democratic National Convention with his Cross of Gold speech . Bryan, both in that address and in his campaign , strongly advocated free silver , a policy that Taft saw as economic radicalism. Taft feared that people would hoard gold in anticipation of

7052-473: Was made head of the commission, with responsibility for success or failure; McKinley agreed, and Taft sailed for the islands in April 1900. The American takeover meant the Philippine Revolution bled into the Philippine–American War , as Filipinos fought for their independence, but U.S. forces, led by military governor General Arthur MacArthur Jr. had the upper hand by 1900. MacArthur felt

7138-564: Was obvious by mid-1915. A 1918 commission called for sterner law enforcement, while newspapers published sensational articles about addiction-related crime waves. Congress responded by tightening up the Harrison Act—the importation of heroin for any purpose was banned in 1924. Secretary of the Treasury William Gibbs McAdoo appointed Representative Henry T. Rainey to lead a special committee to investigate

7224-607: Was reversed by the Supreme Court. On the other hand, Taft's opinion in United States v. Addyston Pipe and Steel Co. was upheld unanimously by the high court. Taft's opinion, in which he held that a pipe manufacturers' association had violated the Sherman Antitrust Act , was described by Henry Pringle , his biographer, as having "definitely and specifically revived" that legislation. In 1896, Taft became dean and Professor of Property at his alma mater ,

7310-551: Was still much higher in America. Based on the US Department of Commerce's monthly summaries of foreign commerce, between July 1919 and January 1920, imports of opium increased to 528,635 pounds from only 74,650 pounds during the same period a year prior. In the 1919 cases United States v. Doremus and Webb v. United States , the Harrison Narcotics Tax Act was upheld by the Supreme Court under an expansive reading of

7396-451: Was the 27th president of the United States and the tenth chief justice of the United States , the only person to have held both offices. Taft was elected president in 1908 as a Republican and was defeated for reelection in 1912 by Democratic nominee Woodrow Wilson . In 1921, President Warren G. Harding appointed Taft to be chief justice, a position he held until 1930. Taft was born in Cincinnati , Ohio. His father, Alphonso Taft ,

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