ELECTION #31,1908. The NASTY-METER is 5.

QUOTE - a Democratic joke in the 1908 campaign: "What does Taft stand for, by the way? Why, T.A.F.t. means 'Take Advice from Teddy!'"

Teddy Roosevelt was a great president, he is always mentioned as one of our top five and he is one of the four on Mount Rushmore. His successes were winning the Nobel Peace Prize for helping end the Russo-Japanese War, started building the Panama Canal, helped pass the Pure Food and Drug Act, and further curbed big business excess with anti-monopoly legislation. But the biggest mistake he made was announcing on his election night that, "Under no circumstances will I be a candidate for or accept another nomination for a second term." That was dumb as he could have been reelected again with no problem.

The CANDIDATES in 1908.

REPUBLICAN: WILLIAM HOWARD TAFT.

Taft was well-liked, jovial politico who had risen high in the ranks of the Republican Party, in large part due to his friendship with Teddy. Taft weighed 330 pounds, and his VP, James "Sunny Jim" Sherman, weighed 200 pounds - pound for pound, they offered the most political tonnage of any presidential ticket in history. When the Republicans met in their convention in Chicago the delegates really wanted Teddy to run again, in fact their was a 49 minute demonstration of "Four, four, four more years." But Teddy kept his promise to not run again and endorsed his good friend Taft - Taft was nominated on the first ballot.

DEMOCRAT: WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN (again).

There was something sad about seeing Bryan running again. He had no chance but he hit the campaign trail swinging along with his VP mate, an Indiana state senator named John Kern.

The CAMPAIGN in 1908.

The Republicans launched a personal attack, with
Teddy himself describing Bryan as "a kindly man and well-meaning in a weak way...but he is the cheapest faker we have ever proposed for president." Teddy carefully managed Taft's campaign by telling him to not let the people see him play golf or go fishing - he said the American people regard the campaign as serious business. Teddy also told Taft's advisors not to let the 330 pounder get on a horse because it would be "Dangerous for him and cruelty to the horse."

Bryan struck back with his main theme of "Shall the people rule?" and he hammered the argument that far too many politicians were still in the pockets of big business. And they repeatedly said that Taft was a mere proxy for Teddy, which was true. Democratic religious newspapers(and some Republican ones) attacked Taft about his religious beliefs - he was a Unitarian and it was considered barely a religion by some. One paper said, "Think of the U.S. with a President who does not believe that Jesus Christ was the Son of God, but looks upon our immaculate Saviour as a common bastard and a low, cunning imposter." Teddy was so worried about this that he actually went to a Unitarian church service with Taft. Teddy explained, "that it would attract the attention of the sincere but rather ignorant Protestants who support me." Taft made no apologies for his religious beliefs: "If the American public is so narrow as not to elect a Unitarian, well and good. I can stand it."

Even though Taft wasn't a good speaker, for the most part, the voters liked and trusted him and they would show it on election day.

The WINNER was WILLIAM HOWARD TAFT and he would be the 27th president of the U.S.

Taft got 7,676,320 popular and 321 electoral.

Bryan got 6,412,294 popular and 162 electoral.

Bryan had been beaten 3 times but he would go on to be Woodrow Wilson's secretary of state and gain fame arguing against Darwinism (and Clarence Darrow) in the famous Scopes Monkey Trial in the mid-1920s in Tennessee.

Taft, as a Republican, had big business in his pocket and they helped him by pulling a couple of shenanigans before the election. The vice president of the N.Y. Central Railroad instructed that 2,500 freight and passenger cars be repaired -whether they needed it or not - to give jobs to numerous employees and make the economy appear healthier. And a Missouri steel company added 400 men to its payroll just before election day in order, the chairman said, to pick up votes for Taft.