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After Teddy decided

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not to run for a second full term, [Teddy hands over a baby to Taft]

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William Howard Taft became

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the next president. These days, Taft

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is most famous for being, uh,

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big. And yes, at 5 foot 11 inches,

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Taft was a tall guy in the day. [Taft with long legs appears on screen]

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But, uh, that's not the kind of "big" we're

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talking about. We mean Taft was

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a heavy guy who at times weighed about [Taft struggles to enter the door]

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340 pounds while he was

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in office. But other than that,

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Taft doesn't loom large in the annals

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of the U.S. presidency. When Taft

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won the presidency in 1908, the Republican [Image of William Taft & James Sherman]

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party and other leaders were relieved.

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After years of getting bullied by Roosevelt [Roosevelt laughs]

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from his aptly named "bully pulpit,"

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politicians were glad to see someone

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come to office who didn't push the executive [Taft walks with a big stick in his hand]

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office's powers. But Taft

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did manage to do enough stuff to tick

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off the progressive members of his party. [Taft sits in front of a board and reads it]

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For example, he signed legislation

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that didn't lower tariffs

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and had the nerve to fire Gifford [Taft fires Gifford Pinchot]

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Pinchot, a Roosevelt appointment

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to the Bureau of Forestry.

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The Progressives were like, uh, [The Progressive pops in]

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"Nobody does that to Gifford Pinchot,

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man! Nobody!" To which

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Taft said, uh, "would somebody get me out [Taft takes a bath in tub]

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of this darn bathtub?" Heh, just kidding.

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He probably said "whatever" and moved on with

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life. Pass me the butter. [Taft stands near a dinning table]

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In general, Taft became more conservative

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during his term, which continued to make

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Progressives hate him more and more.

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We're pretty sure that Taft dartboards became [dartboard with Taft's face on it]

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popular in progressive hangouts.

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Well despite all that, Taft did some awfully [Taft cuddles baby in his arms]

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progressive-sounding stuff when he was in office.

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For example, he expanded the powers of

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the central government when he gave the Interstate

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Commerce Commission the power to impose

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railroad rates. His administration

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also instigated 80 [ A list of lawsuits against Taft]

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antitrust lawsuits, including the one

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that led successfully to the breakup of

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Standard Oil in 1911. And

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it was an ugly breakup, to say the least.

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Taft also signed the 16th

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Amendment, which allowed the U.S. government to let [Article XVI of legislation empowering government to collect taxes appears on screen]

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the income taxes, and the 17th Amendment,

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which established the election of

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senators by popular vote and not by

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state legislatures.

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Finally, Taft also established the Federal [The lady holds a poster which depicts child welfare program]

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Children's Bureau to protect

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the welfare of American kids.

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A lot of people don't make a big deal out of these [A groups of boys]

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accomplishments today, but they did create lasting

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protections for consumers and for [Statue bearing label of Children' s Bureau moves in front of the mob of boys]

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children. Despite the fact that

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Taft ticked off members of the Republican party, they [An elephants moves near Taft]

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still nominated him for reelection.

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Teddy Roosevelt, though, wasn't [Roosevelt points finger]

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feeling the love for Taft. T.R.

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was so disappointed with Taft and the Republican [Taft attacks Roosevelt with knife]

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Party that he left the Republicans.

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In a kind of political hissy fit,

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he stomped off to form his own party,

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which he called the Bull Moose Party. [The symbol of Bull Moose Party]

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Because, uh, why not?

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Anyway, his plan to show up Taft

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and the Republicans by winning the presidency

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backfired, though, since his candidacy [The vote distribution among Republicans and Democrats]

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split the Republican vote between he

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and Taft. Well, this meant that the

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Democratic party candidate, Woodrow

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Wilson, who only garnered 42 [The newspaper headings displays the triumph of Wilson in the election]

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percent of the vote, won the election.

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Taft was actually glad [Taft in the bathtub]

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to leave the presidential office, and later was

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much happier serving as a Supreme Court

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Justice under President Harding. [Image of bench of Supreme Court judges]

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Taft later wrote,

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"I don't remember that I was ever

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President." To which Teddy Roosevelt

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probably said, uh, "well, that explains [Taft talks to Roosevelt in his office]

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a lot."

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