Controversies/Crises
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The controversies faced by Taft during his presidency were mostly domestic in nature, and in reality were not often national in scope. Taft, as the successor to the extremely flamboyant and charismatic Roosevelt, was in some ways fated to be a disappointment--Taft was an effective and insightful administrator, but a poor and boring politician. His party, however, did not make his job easier. The Republican Party in the early twentieth century was a hodge-podge confederacy of progressive firebrands, reactionary ideologues, and the vast range of political actors that fell between the two extremes.
This tenuous alliance had been held together by Roosevelt's charisma alone--and this was a poor adhesive. As soon as the Bull Moose was out of power, the loose alliance of business leaders, financial elites, environmentalists and populist reformers devolved into vicious infighting. Taft, as a political moderate who nonetheless erred on the side of progressivism, tried to make calculated compromises to hold his party together, but in vain. In his attempt to hold a central position, he inevitably failed to hold to either wing of his party. This lead to a total breakdown of Republican power nationwide; progressives bolted to support Roosevelt during the 1913 election, and the business leaders and elites of the party, who still controlled the establishment, supported Taft lukewarmly. This fracturing resulted in Woodrow Wilson's decisive victory in the election.
This tenuous alliance had been held together by Roosevelt's charisma alone--and this was a poor adhesive. As soon as the Bull Moose was out of power, the loose alliance of business leaders, financial elites, environmentalists and populist reformers devolved into vicious infighting. Taft, as a political moderate who nonetheless erred on the side of progressivism, tried to make calculated compromises to hold his party together, but in vain. In his attempt to hold a central position, he inevitably failed to hold to either wing of his party. This lead to a total breakdown of Republican power nationwide; progressives bolted to support Roosevelt during the 1913 election, and the business leaders and elites of the party, who still controlled the establishment, supported Taft lukewarmly. This fracturing resulted in Woodrow Wilson's decisive victory in the election.