William Howard Taft Administrative History

CHAPTER 2: THE WILLIAM HOWARD TAFT MEMORIAL ASSOCIATION: EARLY EFFORTS TO PRESERVE THE TAFT HOME (continued)

In order to coordinate research efforts on the property, Charles Taft placed an advertisement in the Cincinnati Enquirer for an "able researcher wanted to do historical research." The requirements included intelligence, ability to cope with details, an eye and an ear for history, and typing skills. In the fall of 1960, Taft hired Willa Busch Beall, a freelance writer whose assets included an "insatiable curiosity about everything except battles, mathematics, and space travel." [16] Beall was hired as executive director of the Memorial Association on a part time basis. With Beall on board, Taft put out a call for letters, photographs, anecdotes, and other memorabilia associated with President Taft. Beall continued to work for the Memorial Association and Taft until mid-1964, when the organization committed its resources to the restoration effort.

After a year and a half on the job, Beall had immersed herself in Taft family history. However, because restoration had not yet begun and public visitations were a more remote possibility, she admitted to Taft that, "As I see it, I have been educating myself to be a source of information--an available one--since you, the interested member of the family with the information originally, are limited in availability. For practical purposes at present, I have gone far beyond the needs for research." [17]

By 1964, Charles Taft reported to the Memorial Association that the restoration of the house would cost $92,500 plus fees. Although the architects prepared working drawings for the entire house, Taft recommended that only the structural changes for the front portion of the house be undertaken in order to "avoid disturbing Bellinger's use of his apartment." [18]

In January 1964, Congressman Robert A. Taft, Jr. wrote Charles Taft that Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall announced the recognition of forty-eight historic properties as national historic landmarks. The national historic landmark program, an outgrowth of the 1935 Historic Sites Act, designated properties of national significance according to certain historical themes. Among the group of new national historic landmarks was the Taft house which logically fell under the theme of "Political and Military Affairs." [19] In the survey form, historic sites historian S. Sydney Bradford wrote:

America has produced few men who have led such a varied and successful life as William Howard Taft. Who else has been the Solicitor General of the United States, a Federal judge, an eminently successful proconsul in the American empire, a vigorous Secretary of War, a good President, and an excellent Chief Justice of the Supreme Court? And a Yale man? [20]

Congressman Taft's notice was followed by that of the National Park Service itself which informed Charles Taft that the Taft home had been found to "possess exceptional value in commemorating and illustrating the history of the United States." The bureau invited Charles Taft to apply for a certificate and bronze marker testifying to the property's status. [21]

Charles Taft quickly submitted the necessary papers for the National Historic Landmark certificate and plaque and asked that the plaque read "Alphonso Taft Home, birthplace of William Howard Taft." [22] By April, Secretary Udall signed the certificate. In informing Charles Taft of the certificate, Northeast Regional Director Ronald F. Lee suggested that a National Park Service representative present it to him. [23] Charles Taft decided to hold the plaque and certificate ceremony on September 15, 1964, on President Taft's birthday, at the William Howard Taft School on Southern Avenue, just around the corner from the Taft house.

On the appointed presentation day, the Taft house was surrounded by scaffolding placed there by workmen who were lowering the roofline to its original height and reinstating the widow's walk and the front porch. Roy E. Appleman from the Washington Office of the National Park Service was on hand to present the plaque and certificate Charles Taft presented a short speech at the ceremony, indicating the mutual interest between William Howard Taft and Cincinnati. "All of us are proud that he came from Cincinnati and he was proud of it. To the day he died, he always was interested in what was happening here. He would rejoice to know that the old house on Auburn Avenue has been acquired and is being restored to the way it was when he grew up there." [24] Only one hitch marred the celebration.

Alphonso was spelled "Alfonso." The plaque was later replaced with one with the correct spelling.

By the time of the presentation ceremony, the Taft family had contributed more than $70,000 to the restoration work. Another $200,000 was an endowment fund for its upkeep. [25]

With the first phase in the restoration completed, Charles Taft looked to various sources for additional funding. One possibility was an Ohio State bond issue which had been passed in November 1964. Taft noted that small sums from this source were targeted for the Rutherford B. Hayes Home in Fremont. Taft thought a $25,000 contribution from the fund would be appropriate. [26] This route proved unproductive. Taft also looked into the possibility of raising funds through the issuance of a commemorative coin. However, he found Treasury officials reluctant to request new coins in face of a coin shortage. In addition, W. Marvin Watson, Special Assistant to President Johnson, observed that "the House and Senate Committees which review such matters have indicated strong opposition to legislation providing for commemorative coins." [27]

Taft first considered having the Federal Government assume ownership of the Taft Home in 1965 when he wrote to Governor James A. Rhodes, "I rather hope that we can get the Federal government to take over the operation after we get the house restored." [28] This hope was further fanned by Taft's observation that the Department of the Interior had taken control of the President Herbert Hoover birthplace in West Branch, Iowa, renamed the Herbert Hoover National Historic Site. The act creating this site included an authorization of $1,650,000 to accept the house and enlarge the area and landscaping around it. As Taft wrote to Daniel R. Porter, director of the Ohio Historical Society:

The problem of continued operation after we get the house restored is one that concerns our donors for the restoration itself. I have talked to the Department of the Interior, and I was invited to the ceremony at which the Hoover Birthplace was taken over by the appropriate division of the department. I had thought, probably, that it would be wiser for us to go to Congress where I am sure we would have no real difficulty in securing the Federal sponsorship and management with our Taft Association as the supplementary promoter. [29]

In early 1966, Taft launched his campaign for the takeover of the Taft home by the Federal Government. His first contact was made with his former opponent for the governorship of Ohio, U.S. Senator Frank J. Lausche. Taft outlined the importance of the house, the recent restoration efforts, and the difficulty in raising private funds in the face of the cost of the remainder of the restoration work, estimated at $175,000, and of the cost of future upkeep of the property. Taft wrote, "When I saw the publicity on the take over of the Herbert Hoover Birthplace . . . that seemed to me a good solution." [30] Taft also sought the support of Congressmen John J. Gilligan and Donald D. Clancy and Senator Stephen M. Young, all of Ohio.

Other like-minded lawmakers joined the Ohio delegation in support. The most important of them was Congressman Fred Schwengel of Iowa who declared himself to be "very much in sympathy with you and your friends who want to bring about a solution to what appears a problem." [31] Schwengel also noted that "Ohio and the country have done more for McKinley than for William H. Taft. McKinley was a great man, but certainly not greater than your father." [32] In the following year, Schwengel was even more emphatic about President Taft, declaring him to be "one of the greatest men in all our history." [33]

By early 1967, the bill creating the William Howard Taft National Historic Site had been drafted by Charles Taft for Senator Lausche. Senator Young joined Senator Lausche in introducing the bill. Congressmen Clancy and Schwengel introduced companion bills in the House. Taft called upon Senator Alan H. Bible of Nevada of the National Parks and Recreation Subcommittee of the Interior and Insular Affairs Committee to support the measure. He. also appealed to Congressman Roy A. Taylor of North Carolina of the House Subcommittee on National Parks and Recreation.

As the legislative efforts were working their way through the appropriate Senate and House committees, the National Park Service stood ready to fulfill its own responsibilities in considering the legislation. George B. Hartzog, Jr., Director of the National Park Service, wrote to Charles Taft that the bureau needed to study the site to determine its suitability as a unit of the National Park System and then report to the Congress. [34]

Taft appealed to Mrs. Lyndon B. Johnson for her support of his efforts for Federal stewardship. He even suggested that he might ask President Johnson to serve as Honorary Chairman of the Memorial Association. [35] Mrs. Johnson replied that "there has been no fixed Federal policy pertaining to the status to be accorded or the method of administering the sites of the birthplaces of our Presidents." However, she also stated:

It is equally clear that structures or sites associated importantly with their lives meet the criteria of being nationally significant in our history. I think all Americans should be interested in some program for preserving these sites. [36]

On February 28, 1967, Senator Lausche introduced the bill for the "Establishment of William Howard Taft National Historic Site." In the introduction of the bill, Senator Lausche listed the accomplishments of both William Howard and Alphonso Taft. He also cited the need for the bill in the insurmountable barriers encountered by the Memorial Association in completing the restoration of the house. [37] Although the bill carried strong congressional support, it languished for over a year until the National Park Service completed its studies and made its recommendations.

The most persistent obstacle to the Memorial Association's restoration plans was removed on December 15, 1967, with the death of Bellinger. Charles Taft borrowed the $35,000 purchase price, loaned it to the Memorial Association, and exercised the option to purchase the Taft home within the six months following Bellinger's death. Although the death of Bellinger meant that the Memorial Association could now proceed with the property's restoration, Charles Taft feared that one of his points arguing for a federal takeover had disappeared. As he wrote to members of his family in late 1967, "But meantime the bills will be for hearing in Congress [sic] and I'll do the best I can to get them to take it on as is. My best argument is gone--that we can't go ahead because only the government could take the old man's interest, not we." [38]

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