(Top) President Taft. (Middle) Leaving Fogarty's home following the luncheon, the President is escorted by the Mayor. (Bottom) The traveling party at the dock across from the Little White House.

Wm. H. Taft
The Man In Washington

On that January day in 1912 when the train came to Key West, William Howard Taft occupied the Oval Office in Washington. No doubt Henry Flagler yearned to show off his Florida East Coast Railway to the 27th President, but it wasn't to happen. Although Taft originally planned to attend the celebration, he was kept in the capital by an international emergency in China (U.S. troops were guarding American interests in Nanking and Tientsin while revolution roared in the streets) and a personal one at home­ the start of the schism between Taft and Roosevelt that would lead to Woodrow Wilson and the Democrats taking the upcoming election.

As President, Taft concerned himself with Big Business­ in 1911, both Standard Oil and the American Tobacco Company were found in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act. Taft also questioned the inner workings of the Interstate Commerce Commission. Railroads­ the "modern" efficient method of transporting goods from point A to point B­ were suspected of overcharging vendors and maintaining different rates for rail services in each state­ and they weren't being well regulated. He barred mergers between regional railways, thus restricting industry growth. (Taft's non-attendance at the January festivities was certainly a lost public relations opportunity for the railroad industry.) Stricter regulations followed from the ICC. Taft toed a firm legal line that proved to be anti-business and led to the establishment of corporate income taxes. He urged the ratification of the Sixteenth Amendment that created the personal income tax. As his wasn't typical Republican behavior, he caused a radical party split, and Taft would serve only one term in Washington.

In December of 1912, in the lame duck days of Taft's presidency, he finally visited Key West. A special train from Washington brought him to town on Saturday, the 21st. The traveling party, including the First Lady, Col. and Mrs. George Goethals (he'd served as project engineer on the Panama Canal and would be appointed its first governor) and Taft's private secretary, Mr. Hilles, was on its way to inspect the Canal and discuss first-hand the Zone's administration.

The train left Union Station at midnight on Thursday and pulled into Key West on Saturday morning. Met with all expected pomp and circumstance, sure to equal that of the first train's arrival, the entire party adjourned to the residence of Mayor Fogarty. There, behind a facade draped with festive bunting, a luncheon was served. The traveling party departed down Caroline Street and straight to the Commander's Residence at the Naval Station. There, at the adjacent pier, they boarded the battleship Arkansas and sailed for Panama. The President and First Lady were only in Key West for a few hours­ and again on the 29th on their return trip­ but it looks as if they had a great time. Taft was just the first of the six­ so far­ U. S. Presidents to find a warm welcome in Key West. And, that Commander's Residence? We now know it as the Little White House.