SEPTEMBER 15 — 1857 Happy Birthday William Howard Taft; 1971 Heald Square Monument of Washington, Morris and Solomon becomes a Chicago landmark; 1954 marilyn Monroe films skirt scene
SEPTEMBER 15
1857 – Happy birthday #27, William Howard Big Lub Taft. Born September 15, 1857, Taft was born to a loving mother and distinguished judge in Cincinnati. Actually, his dad was Attorney General for President Grant, and William Taft followed his footsteps. He graduate from Yale second in his class, and then getting his law degree from Cincinnati Law School. Like his father who also attended Yale, William Taft was a member of the Skull and Bones secret society, which his father co-founded. Skull and Bones was some Yale Phi Beta Kappa thing which allegedly has ties to a branch of the Illuminati, which secretly controls world powers. But that’s a discussion for another time.
By the time he was 29 years old, William Taft was already superior court judge for the state of Ohio. He married Nellie Herron in 1886, who was a childhood friend of his sister’s that he met while sledding.
He continued to rise up the political ranks, but was more interested in the judicial branch than the executive branch. But Nelly had visited Washington D.C. as a child, and wanted to live there. So executive branch for Taft it was. In 1900 President McKinley appointed Taft governor of the Philippines, which was purchased by the U.S. from Spain. In 1904 Teddy Roosevelt appointed Taft as Secretary of War. After much endorsement from President Teddy Roosevelt, Taft easily won the presidency again William Jennings Bryan in 1908. “Roosevelt has cut enough hay” they said, “Taft is the man to put it into the barn.” Check out his campaign slogan: Shout then for Taft, he is on the safest craft,
Working for the right and you,
“Bull Moose” may blow, Woodrow Wilson he may row,
But ’tis Billy puts the “Old Ship” trough.
Taft’s single term in office found him caught in the raging battle between the Progressive and Conservatives and won respect from neither. Conservatives were glad to get rid of Teddy “The Mad Messiah”Roosevelt, but Taft wasn’t Roosevelt, and as lawyer, was hesitant to push the political envelop and overreaching his presidential powers, saying that Roosevelt “ought more often have admitted the legal way of reaching the same ends.”
Bill Bill Taft was jovial and a distinguished judicial president and lacking savvy politician skills. He was a big man known for constantly eating, and had a tendency to burp and fart during meetings. Most of the time that was funny to Big Lub, but often other attendants would burst into laughter. His lack of knowledge about big business led to allies losing respect for him, and when he tried to lead Congress to lower tariffs on goods entering America, went up against traditional high tariffs that dominated Congress, and failed miserably. His lousy handling on the tariff issue led to the Payne-Aldrich (aldritch )act.
Taft also separated himself from Roosevelt by trying to break up U.S. Steel, which Roosevelt had approved as Taft’s predecessor. Uh oh: watch out JP Morgan and Andrew Carnegie, here comes Charles Schwabb! Definitely a story for another day. And as if that weren’t enough, at 6 feet 2 inches tall and weighing 332 lbs, urban legend has it, Big Bill Taft got stuck in the White House bathtub. And had to get a bigger one installed. By the time the midterm election came, Taft lost the Republican Majority in Congress.
Throughout the rest of his term, Taft’s administration initiated 80 anti-trust suits and was able to pass through Congress the so beloved income tax. During the first year, that tax raised $13M in revenue. Isn’t that something. Also under Taft’s administration, a postal savings system, and the Interstate Commerce Commission was created to set railroad rates. Also as president Sleeping Beauty Taft had a couple cows grazing at the White House. Why, because he loved milk that much. In fact, true story, the two cows he had, Mooly Wooly and Pauline Wayne, were able to produce 64 quarts of milk a day that Taft sold for $80. Good girls!
During his administration, two states entered the Union, New Mexico and Arizona. At baseball games, he began a tradition by throwing the first pitch of the season. He appointed Julia Lathrop to lead the Children’s Bureau. She would be the first woman to head a federal bureau. As the first President to own an automobile, he converted the White House horse stables in to garages.
In foreign policy, Taft used shirt sleeve diplomacy, open door policy and dollar diplomacy when dealing with China and Latin America. Dollar Diplomacy with Latin America guaranteed loans to stimulate growth, trade and prosperity. Something like that. In 1912, when the Republicans renominated Taft, Roosevelt checked out of the party and created the Bull Moose Party, or the Progressives, thus guaranteeing the election of Woodrow Wilson. Roosevelt came in 2nd, Taft came in 3rd.
Taft didn’t want to be president anyway, calling it the loneliest job in the world. He went back to teaching Law at Yale, when in 1921 got the some of the best news he’d ever received: that President Warren Harding hasa appointed Big Lub Taft as as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. It was his lifelong dream and he was the only president who served both seats. From there he retired due to two heart attacks. He reconciled his differences with Teddy Roosevelt, who acknowledged that during his four year term, Taft busted more trusts than Teddy did in eight years. Taft died at home in Washington D.C. on March 8, 1930. He would be the last president to have facial hair. Happy birthday Big Lub!
1971 The — Heald Square Monument of Washington, Morris and Solomon become a Chicago landmark.
If you haven’t been there to read the plaque, let me explain. George Washington, general of the American continental Army who won the American Revolution, used help from war superintendent of finance and entrepreneur Robert Morris.
When General Washington’s men were ready to desert his beloved Continental Army, Morris’s money would arrive just in time to keep the fight going. In fact, Morris was the fella who financed the transportation of French and American troops down to Yorktown where they cornered Lord Cornwallis and won the victory. He actually used his own personal credit and good name when he ran out of cash, which was a monetization called Morrisnotes. But when Morris needed help of his own to finance the war, he turned to a Jewish broker from Philly named Haym Solomon.
Haym Solomon, born April 7 1740 in Poland, knew a thing or two about religious persecution and fled to New York where he became a broker for merchants doing overseas trade. During the Revolution, Solomon was arrested by the British redcoats twice and escaped the second time to Philadelphia where he continued financing the patriot cause. He brokered the sale of a majority of the French and Dutch generous financial aid for the war selling bills of exchange to American merchants.
In addition, he lent money to James Madison, Thomas Jefferson and James Monroe, to the tune of some $600,000 worth of notes. He didn’t even charge interest. He would also not get any of his money back and died penniless January 6 1785. His descendants tried to collect as well but no love there either, brother. That’s why my friends, for what it’s worth, he is immortalized in this bronze statue along with Morris and Washington, right there in the Michigan-Wacker historic district of Chicago.
Solomon’s legacy continues on in as the name of a battleship in WWII, a square in Kew Gardens in Queens NY, a memorial park in Frazier, PA and other depictions.
1954 – Marilyn Monroe is filmed in the famous skirt scene.
…I might still have a poster of that somewhere. She was standing near a subway vent while filming The Seven Year Itch when a gust of wind blew her skirt up. Oops! Husband and baseball legend Joe DiMaggio was furious. Not sure why, considering Marilyn had already posed naked for a calendar before they were married. At any rate, and divorced her shortly thereafter; a decision he would probably regret. After Monroe died in 1962, DiMaggio put flowers on her grave everyday for the rest of his life.