Recollections of Full Years is a 1914 memoir by Helen Taft, a First Lady of the United States and wife of William Howard Taft. The memoirs were the first to be published by a first lady. The book serves as "the most important source of information" about Helen Taft. [1] [2]
Helen Herron Taft was the wife of William Howard Taft and the First Lady of the United States from 1909 to 1913. She married William in 1886, and lived with him as he served as a justice on the Ohio Superior Court and was made Solicitor General of the United States in 1890. Helen involved herself in the Washington social life and was involved in her husband's political career, for instance playing a major role in convincing William to decline appointment to the Supreme Court of the United States as she wanted him to become president. She was then 'first lady of the Philippines' as William led demilitarization of the islands. The couple moved back to Washington when William was made Theodore Roosevelt's Secretary of War. She next supported William's bid for the Presidency in 1908. She was involved in Taft's political career and the social fabric of D.C. [3]
The idea of publishing her memoirs was first proposed by The Delineator , a women's magazine. The journalist Eleanor Franklin Egan proposed that Helen write several articles for the magazine in early 1913. Taft did not like the proposal, instead suggesting that her daughter, Helen Taft Manning, undertake a similar project. Egan and the younger Helen worked to write a narrative about the former First Lady's time in office, drawing upon a memoir by Archibald Butt and Helen herself. The two made the story a first-person narrative and took the project to the publishing company Dodd, Mead & Co., proposing the title to be Recollections of Full Years. [4]
Staffers at Dodd, Mead & Co. suggested changing the title to Recollections of a President's Wife, a title which they thought would sell better, telling the Tafts they were "awfully keen to make a great killing with Mrs. Taft's book, and we feel that just the right title is a very important point." The Tafts considered the proposed alternate title to sound "foolish or cheap" and attempted to not go through with publication. However, Helen eventually signed a contract providing for a $2,000 advance and 50% of profits on April 20, 1914. [4] Over half of the book focuses on the Tafts' time in the Philippines. [5] It was published in late 1914 around the outbreak of World War I. Despite being "advertised widely", the book had only sold 2,300 copies after two years, and had not earned the advance back as late as 1921. Lewis Gould, a biographer of Helen Taft, concludes that the book "soon faded from memory", noting that when Henry Steele Commager reviewed Edith Wilson's My Memoir in 1939 he described it as "the first volume of memoirs [...] ever written by the wife of an American President". [4]
The New York Times considered some revelations in the book to be "of startling interest". [4] A review in The Oakland Tribune described the book as "a most interesting and intimate account of her exceptionally prominent life, politically and socially". [6] The New York Sun wrote that it contained "bright, witty, delightfully entertaining reminiscences". [7] Frederic L. Paxson, writing in The Mississippi Valley Historical Review in 1915, noted that "although this book gives only the lighter and less controversial elements of [William Howard Taft's] career, and although it is based largely upon recollection and inaccurate domestic sources, it is full testimony as to the quality of the Taft family." [8]
Lewis Gould, a biographer of Helen Taft, wrote that "the book has a sense of missed opportunity to be more candid about what she went through between 1909 and 1913, but in parts her narrative is interesting and informative". [4]
The first lady of the United States (FLOTUS) is the title held by the hostess of the White House, usually the wife of the president of the United States, concurrent with the president's term in office. Although the first lady's role has never been codified or officially defined, she figures prominently in the political and social life of the United States. Since the early 20th century, the first lady has been assisted by official staff, now known as the Office of the First Lady and headquartered in the East Wing of the White House.
William Howard Taft was the 27th president of the United States (1909–1913) and the tenth chief justice of the United States (1921–1930), the only person to have held both offices. Taft was elected president in 1908, the chosen successor of Theodore Roosevelt, but was defeated for reelection in 1912 by Woodrow Wilson after Roosevelt split the Republican vote by running as a third-party candidate. In 1921, President Warren G. Harding appointed Taft to be chief justice, a position he held until a month before his death.
Edith Wilson was the first lady of the United States from 1915 to 1921 and the second wife of President Woodrow Wilson. She married the widower Wilson in December 1915, during his first term as president. Edith Wilson played an influential role in President Wilson's administration following the severe stroke he suffered in October 1919. For the remainder of her husband's presidency, she managed the office of the president, a role she later described as a "stewardship," and determined which communications and matters of state were important enough to bring to the attention of the bedridden president.
Helen Louise Taft, known as Nellie, was the wife of President William Howard Taft and the first lady of the United States from 1909 to 1913.
West Potomac Park is a U.S. national park in Washington, D.C., adjacent to the National Mall. It includes the parkland that extends south of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, from the Lincoln Memorial to the grounds of the Washington Monument. The park is the site of many national landmarks, including the Korean War Veterans Memorial, Jefferson Memorial, Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial, George Mason Memorial, and the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial.
William Howard Taft III was an American diplomat who served as United States Ambassador to Ireland from 1953 to 1957, and was a grandson of President William Howard Taft and First Lady Helen Louise "Nellie" Taft.
Charles Phelps Taft II was a U.S. Republican Party politician and member of the Taft family. From 1955 to 1957, he served as Mayor of Cincinnati, Ohio. Like other members of his family, Taft was a Republican for the purposes of statewide elections. However, when running for municipal office in Cincinnati, Taft was a member of the Charter Party. During his term as mayor, Fortune magazine ranked Cincinnati as the best managed big city in the United States. As mayor, he gained the nickname "Mr. Cincinnati".
Helen Herron Taft Manning was an American professor of history and college dean. She was the middle child and only daughter of U.S. President William Howard Taft and his wife Helen Herron.
Pauline Wayne was a Holstein cow that belonged to William Howard Taft, the 27th President of the United States.
Helen Churchill Candee was an American author, journalist, interior decorator, feminist, and geographer. Today, she is best known as a survivor of the sinking of RMS Titanic in 1912, and for her later work as a travel writer and explorer of southeast Asia.
The Taft family of the United States has historic origins in Massachusetts; its members have served Ohio, Massachusetts, Vermont, Rhode Island, Utah, and the United States in various positions such as U.S. Representative (two), Governor of Ohio, Governor of Rhode Island, U.S. Senator (three), U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, U.S. Attorney General, U.S. Secretary of War (two), President of the United States, and Chief Justice of the United States.
The inauguration of William Howard Taft as the 27th president of the United States was held on Thursday, March 4, 1909, at the Senate chamber inside the United States Capitol, Washington, D.C. instead of the regular East Portico due to blizzard. This was the 31st inauguration and marked the commencement of William Howard Taft's only term as president and James S. Sherman's only term as vice president.
The following are some of the books and papers which have been written concerning William Howard Taft, the 27th president of the United States:
Eleanor Franklin Egan was an American journalist and foreign correspondent for the Saturday Evening Post.
Helen Woodrow Bones was Woodrow Wilson's first cousin and also, from her childhood, a friend of Wilson's first wife, Ellen. Bones moved to the White House as Ellen Wilson's private secretary after Wilson's 1912 election as US President. After Ellen Wilson's death in 1914, Bones served as a "surrogate First Lady" in the Wilson White House until his second marriage sixteen months later.
Isabella Louisa Hagner James was the first White House Social Secretary. She served in the administrations of President Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and Woodrow Wilson.
Lucy Hayes Herron Laughlin Lippitt was an American socialite and amateur golfer.
The following is a list of works about the spouses of presidents of the United States. While this list is mainly about presidential spouses, administrations with a bachelor or widowed president have a section on the individual that filled the role of First Lady. The list includes books and journal articles written in English after c. 1900 as well as primary sources written by the individual themselves.
Lewis Ludlow Gould is Eugene C. Barker Centennial Professor Emeritus in American History at the University of Texas at Austin. He is a specialist on 20th century American political history, the history of the Republican Party, and presidential administrations since 1896. He pioneered the scholarly study of presidential spouses.