Taft's Heart Was in the Philippines

                                     Ringing in 2014 Lightly and Positively

            On Christmas Morning I received a present, a book that has quite a bit to do with the Philippines: Bully Pulpit.  Doris Kearns Goodwin, the author, writes about two presidents, Teddy Roosevelt and William Howard Taft.  As I read through about half of the book, I had mixed reactions about how Kearns Goodwin depicted the U.S. take-over of the Philippines.  My first idea for this column was to take issue with her, but while I was taking my New Year’s Day shower (I do get some of my best ideas in the shower) I changed my mind.  My wife regularly chides me for being negative, so a good resolution for the New Year would be to be more positive.  Several positive ideas followed this thought in quick succession, and my mood lightened.  I decided to start off 2014 lightly and positively.

     

           While I still have reservations about Doris Kearns Goodwin’s Bully Pulpit, it does contain a number of positives, particularly about William Howard Taft, the first Governor of the Philippines as a U.S. colony (1901-1904).  Unlike his friend Teddy Roosevelt who pressured President McKinley into colonizing the Philippines, Taft opposed the take-over from the outset.  He accepted McKinley’s appointment to lead the Philippines Commission and then to become the first governor only because “we were there” and should do a proper job of helping the people toward an independent and democratic government.

            As Kearns Goodwin points out, Taft and his wife and family were very egalitarian.  Taft crafted the expression, “our little brown brothers,” without being patronizing.  The Tafts’ positive attitude toward Filipinos made them popular with the local population but created much tension with the U.S. military.  The U.S. Army was waging a notably brutal and racist-tinged campaign in the Philippines.  Despite this, Taft managed to get the U.S. to buy the 400,000 acres of land held by the “friars” (Catholic Church) and distribute the land to the people.

This entry is excerpted from an article I wrote yesterday (Jan. 1, 2014) for VIA TIMES Newsmagazine (see the link).  RHB