President Taft Breaks From Teddy Roosevelt -- His Closest Friend

After hunting in Africa, he and his wife, Edith, went to Europe.

The Roosevelts visited Italy and met the king and queen. They visited Vienna and met the ruler of Austria and Hungary. In Germany, they met Kaiser Wilhelm the second.

The two men were photographed shaking hands. On the back of the photograph, the Kaiser wrote: "When we shake hands, we shake the world."

VOICE TWO:

He had led the Republican Party with great success. Now, the party seemed to be falling apart. It had split into two groups. One group included conservatives who supported President William Howard Taft. The other group included progressives who opposed Taft.

VOICE ONE:

He was a big, slow-moving man. He refused to make quick decisions. As a former judge, he depended on facts, not emotion, to make decisions.

VOICE TWO:

"I do not know if I have had harder luck than other presidents," he said. "but I do know I have succeeded far less than others. I have been trying to carry out your policies. But my method of doing so has not worked smoothly."

To president Taft, Roosevelt wrote: "I will make no speeches or say anything for two months. But I will keep my mind open. . . as I keep my mouth shut."

President Taft invited Theodore Roosevelt to visit him at the White House. Roosevelt said he could not. However, he did meet with many of the progressive opponents of the president.

VOICE TWO:

He traveled west by train. He stopped in many towns and cities to make speeches. He spoke of party unity. He tried to heal the split that had weakened the Republican Party. But the policies he proposed were progressive. Conservatives refused to support them.

VOICE ONE:

For a year after the party's defeat in the congressional elections, Theodore Roosevelt remained silent. Then, near the end of nineteen eleven, America's political parties began to prepare for the presidential election that would be held the following year.

So, Theodore Roosevelt began to speak out again in opposition to many of the things President Taft was doing. For example, President Taft had proposed treaties with Canada, Britain, and France. Roosevelt criticized them.

Taft was troubled. He told a friend: "It is very hard to take all these blows from Roosevelt. I do not know what he is trying to do, except to make my way more difficult. It is very hard to see a close friendship going to pieces like a rope of sand."

Earlier, this would have pleased Taft. He would have been happy to leave the White House. But the situation was different now. Roosevelt had changed. Taft felt that the policies he proposed seemed too extreme. Taft decided it was his duty to oppose Roosevelt and the progressives. He would seek re-election.

VOICE ONE:

Then Taft made a strong statement against the progressives. "They are seeking," he said, "to pull down the temple of freedom and representative government." A reporter asked Roosevelt to answer Taft's statement. Roosevelt said: "my hat is in the ring." That meant he was a candidate. Now, the conflict was in the open. And Roosevelt was ready to fight.

In his speeches, Roosevelt criticized Taft bitterly. In a voice shaking with hatred, he said Taft was controlled by conservative politicians. He said taft stood in the way of progress. He said Taft was disloyal.

After the speech, a reporter looked for the president. He found him sitting alone, his head in his hands. His eyes were filled with tears. "Roosevelt was my closest friend," Taft said.

VOICE ONE: