William Howard Taft & the First Motoring Presidency book reviews
Book Reviews
Book Reviews, "William Howard Taft & the First Motoring Presidency, 1909-1913
So say critics, right and wrong, but mostly right, at least in praise...
Contents:
Flashbacks, June 18, 2007
OHIOana Quarterly, Vol XLIX, No. 1, Spring 2006, pp. 64-65History: Review of New Books, Vol. 32, No. 2, Winter 2004
Washington Times "Auto Notes"
Reference and Research Book News
Horseless Carriage Gazette (by John C. Meyer III)
The Arrow (by Keith Marvin)
Antique Automobile (by Keith Marvin)
Leroy Cole (correspondence)
SAH Journal (by Beverly Rae Kimes)
Hamilton College
Automobile Quarterly (by Tracy Powell)
Old Cars Weekly
Reader Comments
With special thanks to Prof. David Burton, editor of Collected Works of William Howard Taft:
"Now a part of the Taft history. It cannot be ignored."
Flashbacks by Patrick Reynolds
William Howard Taft and the First Motoring Presidency by Michael L. Bromley
Here is an off-beat look at the oft-maligned presidency of William Howard Taft which focuses primarily on his cars and the role of the automobile in the politics of his day. The appendices provide information on the White House garage and stable, Taft's speech to the Automobile Club of America, and a glossary. Unlike his predecessors, who made public their disdain for cars, Taft saw the automobile as a great source of wealth for the country. The first president to acquire a car in office (actually Congress granted him three), Taft put a garage at the White House in 1909.
See the cartoon series of Roosevelt and Taft that Reynolds ran in his DC history cartoon, "Flashbacks"!
OHIOana Quarterly, Vol XLIX, No. 1, Spring 2006, pp. 64-65
William Howard Taft was the first U.S. president to embrace the automobile. His tacit approval, simply by using the technology, was seen by American motoring enthusiasts as an official imprimatur that the age of the car was finally upon us.
Michael Bromley casts a wide net in this text, capturing not only the government’s initially reluctant embrace of what would become the American obsession with motoring, but also serving up a refreshing look at Taft, one of Ohio’s finest statesmen. In William Howard Taft and the First Motoring Presidency, Bromley superbly illustrates a snapshot in time when our love affair with the automobile matured and, arguably, our country’s most important twentieth-century industry blossomed.
Early politicking about cars, long forgotten, is recounted: politicians trying vainly to protect entrenched interests like the agri-trades that catered to horses; Army appropriation requests asking for automobiles; and lawmakers imposing stern penalties for joyriding (chauffeurs using the "masters’s" car without authorization). In 1908, Bromley notes the mayor of Cincinnati’s opinion, after barring women drivers, that "they should run sewing machines."
The book was produced in textbook-like two-columns-per-page print with such detailed footnotes that they occasionally crowd out the body of the text. This scholarly display speaks very highly of the author’s research and ability; yet, it does slow down the fascinating narrative with constant shifting between text and footnote. Stay the course, though, as the road Bromley paves is well worth traveling.
That Taft was the president during this coming-of-age for Americans and their most serious love interest to date requires readers to reflect on the amazing public service he performed. Bromley spans the years of Taft’s public service: U.S. Solicitor General, federal judge, Governor of the Philippines (after McKinley "liberated" that country from Spain), Secretary of War, President, and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. (Yes, Chief Justice after he was president.)
In an era of stern warnings about our profligate use of energy and indiscriminate despoiling of nature, it is gripping to read about our leaders being reluctant to accept the mechanized vehicle just a century ago-- although the hidebound nature of representative government to stubbornly stand by the tried and true rather than explore the possibilities of invention seem to be with us even today. What would President Taft say about our current state of affairs? Bromley leads one to believe that Taft would be tooling past us in his fuel cell car wondering why we were waiting for more oil.
Brian Perera
[Bromley comment: Very nice, so thank you, Mr. Perera. But not for the praise, much as it is enjoyable to see. Mr. Perera gets it! Taft's endorsement of the automobile brought a positive and dramatic change upon twentieth-century America. I'm so very pleased to see the point well-taken.]
History: Review of New Books, Vol. 32, No. 2, Winter 2004
Michael Bromley, a writer of political and social commentary with an infinite curiosity about automobile history, has integrated the arrival of "automobilia" in the United States into his narrative about the politics and problems of William Howard Taft’s presidency from 1909-1913.
Taft was the first president to be enthusiastic about the automobile; the first to recognize its significance for the American economy and its impact on American society. The Taft administration saw the first White House garage; its initial occupants were a 1909 White model M steamer -- Taft’s first favorite -- two 1909 Pierce-Arrows, a forty-eight horse power limousine and a thirty-six horse power landaulet. Early purchases also included a Baker electric to be driven by Mrs. Taft. Taft loved being driven by his chauffeur around Washington and nearby Virginia. Summers in Beverly, Massachusetts, were as often given to tours of the New England countryside as they were to golf and affairs of state.
The author points out early that this is not a book about automobiles. Rather he uses the automobile as a theme by which to arrive at his very flattering revisionist interpretation of Taft’s political and administrative skills, previously described by historians as leadership on a modest scale. Former President Theodore Roosevelt does not appear well here, perhaps - one suspects -- because this vigorous outdoorsman and horseback rider was a late comer to acceptance of the automobile. Bromley admires Taft; he is always on Taft’s side in the political imbroglio that led to the three-way election of 1912. Although Taft does deserve respect for his constitutional acumen and his penchant for orderly administration, only the most charitable interpreter would characterize his modest presidency as anything outside the ordinary.
Most distinguished about this book is the author’s thorough research. Bromley has a command of the vast periodical literature, both about the automobile and contemporary politics. He wisely uses material to embellish his account, often providing the read with copious explanatory footnotes, fortunately at the bottom of the page. Any writer will envy his capacity for using The New York Times as a primary source. Readers curious about the real Taft will want to compare Bromley’s interpretation with the much earlier "The Life and Times of William Howard Taft" by Henry F. Pringle (1964) and a more recent study by Paolo Coletta titled "The Presidency of William Howard Taft" (1973). A good place for anyone to begin reading about the automobile is James J. Flink’s "America Adopts the Automobile, 1895-1920" (Cambridge MA, 1970). Most general readers will find Bromley’s Taft interesting, students of progressive era politics will find it intriguing, and automobile enthusiasts will find it fascinating.
Neil Thorburn
Austin Peay State University
[Bromley comment: Yea, Mr. Thorburn gets it! Well, almost. I'm gratified that the reviewer appreciates the context of the automobile story, in that it is how we get to understanding Taft, even if he doesn't go there himself. Just the same, he dismisses my criticism of Roosevelt because Roosevelt didn't like automobiles. He gets it with Taft, but he doesn't get it with Roosevelt. The point of the automobiles is -- I mean, aside from the fact that nothing changed America more than the automobile, and Taft was on the right side of it and Roosevelt was not -- the point of the automobiles is that Roosevelt's stupid populism kept him from automobiles, just the same as it led him astray into his ex-presidency and his 1912 assault upon Taft. No, I do not dislike ex-President Roosevelt because he didn't like cars. That just adds to it. I dislike him for his knee-jerk populist politics.
So thank you, Mr. Thoburn, for seeing through the cars, and I appreciate that you've taken the thesis seriously enough to review it. Maybe I'll get through to you on the second reading. As you like my reliance on The New York Times, then you'll learn to like my view of Taft, for the Times and I generally agree on Taft during his presidency, and on Roosevelt during the same. Also, thanks for enjoying the footnotes -- that's what they're there for!
Oh, Pringle's book was published in 1939, not 1964, which was a re-print year, and Coletta's book isn't worth a dime -- nothing new in it. While Pringle's is thorough and the accepted authority, in my book I documented all my arguments with him, whom I believe to have unfairly judged Taft by his own New Deal politics and correlative antipathy for the 1920s. Pringle's is a great book, but it ain't the final say. For the "real" Taft, you're gonna have to go my way.]
[A note on Taft and autos: Mr. Thorburn credits Taft for recognizing the Motor Age -- but not for contributing to it. Since he sends readers to Flink's "American Adopts the Automobile," he yet shares Flink's utter ignorance of the role of politics in the Motor Age. Flink was downright bewildered by it. (Here for thoughts on Flink)]
Washington Times, "Auto Notes," Dec 19, 2003
Taft brought cars to the White House
"I'm sure the automobile coming in as a toy of the wealthier class is going to prove the most useful of them all to all classes, rich and poor."
Sound like a Henry Ford quote? Wrong. The comment was made by William Howard Taft. He was the first president to acquire a car while in office. He even added a White House garage in 1909.
A new book, "William Howard Taft and the First Motoring Presidency, 1909-1913" takes a look at his tenure, his cars, and the role of the automobile in the politics of his day. The book, by Bethesda writer Michael L. Bromley, sells for $49.95. For more information, call McFarland & Co. publishers at 800/253-2187 or 336/246-4460 or send a fax to 336/246-4403. Also, look online at www.mcfarlandpub.com.
Reference and Research Book News, Nov/03
Bromley combines his interest in political and social and in automotive history by describing how the US president embraced the newest transport technology. He seems not to mention any campaign contributions in return for his highly visible endorsement. Drawing on the same material biographers have used, he changes the context and attitude.
[Bromley comment: This is the first non-automotive press review in so far (more on the way), and it's most gratifying to see an appreciation for the book's synthesis of political, social, and automotive history. Indeed! This next line, though mystifies: I am to understand that Taft endorsed the automobile in exchange for campaign money? LOL!!! Okay, okay. It's ludicrous and here's why: during the 1908 election nobody knew Taft had anything to say on automobiles, and he endorsed them three years before the 1912 election. Not much room there for Detroit to get into the ballgame, and no benefit to Taft in it. No, electioneering had nothing to do with it, and on behalf of Mr. Taft, I take offense. His endorsement of the automobile was a brave action, one his supposedly brave predecessor hid from like a scared pussycat, and for blatantly political reasons to (puss in) boot(s). I will take this bit about "drawing on the same material... he changes context and attitude." Well, a bit of new material, especially automotive, but also political. Nevertheless, yes sir, yes sir!]
John C. Meyer III, Horseless Carriage Gazette, Nov/Dec 2003
Among the people Michael L. Bromley acknowledges for their assistance with this book are brass-era automotive enthusiasts Keith Marvin, Beverly Rae Kimes, Kit Foster, Sinclair Powell, Leroy Cole, Henry Merkel, Charles LeMaitre, Richard Wells, Nick Howell, Pat Farrell and Ron Thurbur. Hooray!
In fact it is this connection with automobiles that makes William Howard Taft and the First Motoring Presidency decidedly different from all other biographies about Taft. William Howard Taft was elected President of the United States on his own merits and, eight years after leaving the presidency, he was so well thought of that he was made Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court. Michael L. Bromley explains why.
Taft was also the first president who embraced the automobile. Theodore Roosevelt, his predecessor, had remained loyal to horses and carriages believing tht it made him look more masculine. Tying al these facets into one textbook may add an exciting dimension to it but it does not make it any less scholarly. William Howard Taft and the First Motoring Presidency is jam-packed with statistics, notes, glossaries, and appendices. The illustrations are not crucial to the story in and of themselves, but are most welcome.
What was Taft's relationship to the automobile and the role of the automobile in the politics of the day? The answer can be told quite satisfactorily in just 447 pages.
[Bromley comment: These next two reviews are written by the legendary Keith Marvin, the automotive maniac and great mind. Marvin's fame comes of automotive history, so those familiar with him may be unaware of the incredible range of his expertise, particularly in politics and history. His father a newspaper publisher in Troy, NY, Marvin grew up with the news and politics. While he was born after the Progressive Era (1901-1917), his father was right in there, and Marvin lived all the stories and names through his father. That is to say, Marvin is an expert on the automobiles and politics of the Taft era. This review appeared in an automobile club journal, so the focus is the cars.]
Keith Marvin in The Arrow, Pierce-Arrow Society, Vol 3, No. 1 (Dec/03)
This is a masterful contribution to both automotive and presidential history and covers every inch of ground, so to speak, of President William Howard Taft's presidency (1909-1913) in general and the White House automobiles in particular during that four-year period. The author has researched his subject with great care and thanks to various sources, it is as complete as would be possible.
.... There is a lot here and I've found it all fascinating, my only criticism being the fuzziness of a few photos.* Otherwise it's "A-O.K."! Recommended!
Keith Marvin in Antique Automobile, the Antique Automobile Club of America, Dec/ 03
President-elect William Howard Taft had a vision into the future when he decided to order automobiles for White House transportation to replace the horses and carriages much preferred by outgoing President Teddy Roosevelt.
.... William Howard Taft and the First Motoring Presidency is all that the title implies but it is far more than just that... Besides Taft’s pleasure and interest in motoring and motoring matters, it gives an accurate description of the President’s daily life as well as his thoughts on various subjects. His opinions on the multi-sided and overall values of the automobile may be seen in his address to the Automobile Club of America in December 1911.
Besides the text and accompanying illustrations this book includes four appendices, two glossaries, and a bibliography. It is a valuable contribution to automotive history as well as Presidential history in general and of Taft in particular. It is marred slightly by a fuzziness in a few of the photos* but I can’t fault it otherwise.
I recommend it as a carefully written glimpse of the 4 years comprising the administration of our 27th President.
[* Bromley comment: Please note: indeed, a very few photos are, indeed, fuzzy. I had to fight with my publisher to keep them. I insisted because of they are unique and to my knowledge never before reprinted in a history of the period.]
In reply to the question posed by author Bromley regarding which specific automobiles most impacted society, automotive historian Leroy Cole replied with what constitutes an endorsement of Bromley's theory that Taft launched the Motor Age; Mr. Cole has graciously allowed his comments to be used in this reviewers section.
Leroy Cole, automotive historian, Dec/03:
Social impact would indeed be what our Hero Taft achieved for and in America. He made the car socially acceptable and needful. The genteel loved the "carriage" with all of its generations of social status. One's social standing was so judged. Limousines later filled that "need" but first the automobile had to be seen as politically correct. It had detractors and despisers from the beginning, as now. Taft drove the motor car through, over, and by this barrier. Cars were respectable because Taft was respected. No one person did more for their national acceptance and for good roads.
[Just in is this important review from one of the greatest automotive historians, Beverly Rae Kimes, as published by the Society of Automotive Historians:]
Beverly Rae Kimes, SAH Journal, Nov/Dec, 2003:
Bless William Howard Taft. This historian has fallen in love with the first President who ordered an automobile while residing at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, the fellow who created the first garage for the White House, the proselytizer who championed the automobile's cause with elegance and enthusiasm. Michael Bromley made me do it.
The awareness of most of us to Taft's place in automobile history heretofore probably hasn't extended much further than seeing photos of the man after he had settled his ample girth into the tonneau of, say, a mighty Pierce 66. A formidable motorcar was required to enshroud WHT comfortably. The Pierce-Arrow was a Presidential favorite, more so was the White Steamer. Mrs. Taft had a Baker Electric.
This is simply a wonderful book. Its scholarship is impeccable and the tale told is fascinating .... Except for the fact that this book is so much fun to read, it could be a PhD dissertation. In addition to scrupulous citations, William Howard Taft and the First Motoring Presidency boasts exemplary appendices that include the text of Taft's 1911 speech to the Automobile Club of America, an annotated inventory of the White House garage during the Taft years as well as the stables and stablehands(!), political chronologies, industrial statistics, glossaries of terms and names, a huge bibliography and comprehensive index. The author could have "defended" this piece of scholarship in a New York minute.
Setting the scene of the book amidst the cultural, social and political milieu of the era adds another dimension. Michael Bromley obviously is fond of his subject and argues persuasively that, despite the ineffectual label history has given him, Taft was a "hero to progress." Certainly the automobile is in his debt.
[Full version available here: AutoHistory Online]
Hamilton College, October 2003:
...a sprightly written political and social history centering around President Taft and his tenure in the White House. The book emphasizes the place of the automobile in that political era, and especially in relation to the Taft presidency, which is sympathetically reappraised.
Tracy Powell in Automobile Quarterly, Second Quarter 2003:
A studied historian, Bromley allows us to sit next to President Taft in presidential motorcades, in the White House, even crossing flooded streams-turned-rivers in Virginia, much to the fright of a car full of Senators. A rare glimpse is seen of the personal side of one of America's most prominent figures, as he effective impacted the automobile's rise in popularity the world over ... As educational as it is entertaining, Bromley's book masterfully conveys the top-level politics that drove the Motor Age. Readers can better understand how the face of the automotive industry changed with the times during early 20th-century America."
Old Cars Weekly News and Marketplace, September, 2003:
Author Michael Bromley loves early 20th century political history, and it shows in this 439 page, hard bound book with 86 black and white photos. The scope of information and details about Taft is quite broad, from period pictures to frequently long footnotes to appendices. Of course, cars and other forms of motorized transport have a big part in the book .... Regardless of its seemingly countless references to cars, the reader of political science will probably love the book even more for all the multitude of references to America and matters of state .... A detailed glossary will probably be greatly cherished more by the political reader than the car nut. I admire the author's research and eye to detail.
Reader Comments:
"First non-fiction book I've finished in years!"
"Wow!!!!"