| Robert Taft | |
| |
| Historical Figure | |
| Nationality: | United States |
| Year of Birth: | 1889 |
| Year of Death: | 1953 |
| Cause of Death: | Cancer |
| Religion: | Episcopalianism |
| Occupation: | Lawyer, Politician |
| Parents: | William Howard Taft, Helen Herron Taft |
| Spouse: | Martha Wheaton Bowers |
| Children: | Robert Jr., Horace, William |
| Political Party: | Republican Party |
| Political Office(s): | United States Senator from Ohio |
| Fictional Appearances: | |
Robert Alphonso Taft (September 8, 1889 - July 31, 1953), was an American conservative politician, lawyer, and scion of the Taft family. A member of the Republican Party, he represented Ohio in the United States Senate and briefly served as Senate Majority Leader.
The elder son of William Howard Taft, the 27th President of the United States, Robert Taft was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. He pursued a legal career in Cincinnati after graduating from Harvard Law School in 1913. Taft entered politics in the 1920s, serving in the Ohio House of Representatives from 1921 to 1931 and in the Ohio Senate from 1931 to 1933. Though he lost re-election in 1932, he remained a powerful force in state and local politics, securing election to the United States Senate in 1938. He became a leader of the conservative coalition of Republicans and conservative Democrats who successfully opposed expansion of the New Deal after 1938. He also emerged as a prominent non-interventionist and opposed U.S. involvement into World War II prior to the Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor. After the war, he opposed the creation of NATO and criticized President Harry Truman's handling of the Korean War. He also cosponsored the Labor Management Relations Act of 1947, which banned closed shops and other labor practices.
After winning election to the Senate, Taft repeatedly sought the Republican presidential nomination, often battling for control of the party with the moderate faction of Republicans led by Thomas Dewey. Taft's non-interventionist stances damaged his 1940 candidacy, and the 1940 Republican National Convention nominated Wendell Willkie. Taft sought the presidency again in 1948, but he lost to Dewey at the 1948 Republican National Convention. Taft sought the presidential nomination a third time in 1952 and was widely viewed as the frontrunner. However, Dewey and other moderates convinced General Dwight D. Eisenhower to enter the race, and Eisenhower narrowly prevailed at the 1952 Republican National Convention and went on to win the 1952 presidential election. Taft was elected Senate Majority Leader in 1953 but died of pancreatic cancer later that year.
Robert Taft in The Hot War[]
| The Hot War POD: November, 1950 | |
| Appearance(s): | Bombs Away; Fallout† |
| Type of Appearance: | Contemporary references |
| Date of Death: | 1952 |
| Cause of Death: | Killed in an atomic bombing (World War III) |
| Political Office(s): | United States Senator from Ohio |
Senator Robert Taft (1889-1952) was a vocal opponent of President Harry Truman during the first months of World War III.[1] However, by May 1951, Taft's criticisms had been surpassed by the more bombastic Senator Joseph McCarthy. Truman had initially assumed McCarthy was Taft's stalking horse, but began to reconsider, and even wondered if McCarthy was angling for a run at the presidency in 1952. Truman knew that Taft was also positioning himself for a run, and while he disagreed with Taft's isolationist stance, he believed Taft was a man of principle, and therefore preferred the idea of a Taft presidency to a McCarthy one.[2]
As the war continued, and the Republican field increased, Taft remained a viable candidate.[3] However, throughout the first months of 1952, McCarthy started to gain on Taft, even securing the allegiance of two convention delegates from Ohio.[4] Taft was further hindered by his perceive cold intellectualism.[5] Still, the fact that he was nothing like the demagogue McCarthy led even Democrats to look favorably on Taft.[6]
The course of the war rendered the matter moot: Taft and McCarthy were among the many killed by the Soviet atomic bombing of Washington, DC in May, 1952.[7]
Robert Taft in The Man With the Iron Heart[]
| The Man With the Iron Heart POD: May 29, 1942; Relevant POD: May, 1945 | |
| Type of Appearance: | Direct |
Senator Robert Taft was a vocal opponent of the Truman Administration's policies in Germany when the German Freedom Front put lie to the idea that the war in Europe was over in 1945.
Taft and Indiana Congressman Jerry Duncan joined a protest organized by Diana McGraw in Washington in 1946. Taft even carried a picket sign.[8] This act actually made him a more attractive candidate for the 1948 presidential election, as did his subsequent speeches lambasting Truman, claiming that Truman had won the war but lost the peace. In response, Truman likened Taft to a man yelling from the bleachers at a baseball game who's never been a manager or a player.[9]
Robert Taft in Joe Steele[]
| Joe Steele POD: 1878; Relevant POD: July, 1932 | |
| Novel or Story?: | Novel only |
| Type of Appearance: | Direct |
Robert Taft was the final Republican presidential candidate to run against Joe Steele.
Taft was nominated in 1952 after a vicious floor fight at the party convention in Chicago.[10] An isolationist, Taft called for bringing U.S. troops back from Europe and South Japan, and argued for directly arming those areas instead.[11] Incumbent Joe Steele, seeking his sixth term, forcefully argued that the U.S. was a part of the world whether it wanted to be or not, and that the march of progress would one day make it possible for the country's enemies to attack the U.S. with rockets.[12]
Taft went down to defeat. He carried his home state of Ohio, and a few other states, but Steele carried the rest and won his sixth and final term. Taft conceded to Steele a little before midnight on election night[13].
Literary comment[]
Taft is not mentioned in the short story, where Steele ran unopposed in 1952.
Robert Taft in Southern Victory[]
| Southern Victory POD: September 10, 1862 | |
| Appearance(s): | The Victorious Opposition; Drive to the East; The Grapple† |
| Type of Appearance: | Direct |
| Date of Death: | 1943 |
| Cause of Death: | Killed by a people bomb (Second Great War) |
| Political Party: | Democratic Party |
Robert Taft (1889-1943) was a Democratic senator representing the state of Ohio in the United States Senate. He was the son of former Congressman William Howard Taft.
Taft was the Democratic presidential nominee in the 1940 election and he ran on a promise that he would not honor the Richmond Agreement which his opponent, the incumbent President Al Smith, had signed with Confederate President Jake Featherston the previous summer. Though the Richmond Agreement was unpopular throughout much of the US, Taft was narrowly defeated. The once and future Confederate states of Kentucky and Houston, which normally followed conservative voting patterns, voted for the Socialist Smith because they were concerned that Taft's hard line would prevent them from rejoining the Confederacy.[14]
From 1941 to 1943, Taft served on the Congressional Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War. He strongly protested President Charles W. La Follette's decision to receive an emissary from the Mormon separatist movement in Utah. He was surprised when liberal Socialist Congresswoman Flora Blackford joined him in his criticism of the administration.[15] Taft realized that the once-dovish Blackford now shared his hard line views on the US's national security, and the two began both a friendship and a professional cooperation.[16] This included jointly rendering first aid to victims of automobile bombs in the streets of Philadelphia.[17]
As General Irving Morrell led the U.S. Army deep into the heart of the C.S., Taft prepared legislation that would readmit the captured states of Kentucky and Tennessee. He secured support from Blackford after some minor political wrangling.[18]
Taft was killed in the late summer of 1943 by a people bomber in Philadelphia as he walked to work. The bomber, who may or may not have been targeting Taft specifically for assassination, was never identified, but widely believed to be a Mormon. Taft was mourned by his colleagues, particularly his friend Blackford.[19]
See Also[]
- Dwight Eisenhower, the Republican Party nominee for President of the United States in 1952 in OTL.
References[]
- ↑ Bombs Away, pg. 91, HC.
- ↑ Ibid., pg. 389.
- ↑ See, e.g., Fallout, loc. 4199, ebook.
- ↑ Ibid., loc. 5541.
- ↑ Ibid., loc. 5561.
- ↑ Ibid., loc. 6091.
- ↑ Ibid. loc. 6782.
- ↑ The Man With the Iron Heart, pgs. 150-53.
- ↑ Ibid., pgs. 190-92.
- ↑ Joe Steele, pg. 397.
- ↑ Ibid., pg. 398.
- ↑ Ibid., pg. 399.
- ↑ Ibid., pg. 400.
- ↑ The Victorious Opposition, pgs. 467-477.
- ↑ Drive to the East, pgs. 130-31.
- ↑ Ibid., pg.168-173.
- ↑ Ibid., pg. 377-382.
- ↑ The Grapple, pg. 409-412.
- ↑ Ibid.,pgs 508-10.
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