Helen Taft

• Born: 1861
• Birthplace: Cincinnati, Ohio
• Died: May 22, 1943
• Place of death: Washington, District of Columbia

President:William Howard Taft, 1909-1913

Overview

Helen Taft, always called Nellie, is remembered as an especially ambitious First Lady, sometimes charged with having designs on a White House life from her youth. Certainly Nellie’s frankness revealed an exceptional intelligence and drive, which fueled her eagerness to experience the diversities of life. She was, therefore, a well-suited match for William Howard Taft, whose talents as a jurist were recognized early. As his career opportunities carried him to ever higher levels of power and prestige, both at home and abroad, Nellie maintained an equitable marriage partnership with him in determining his career path and their family’s experiences.

Early Life

Born to Harriet Anne Collins Herron and John Williamson Herron, Nellie was the fourth born of their eight daughters and three sons, eight of whom lived beyond childhood. Harriet, the daughter of U.S. congressman Eli Collins from upper New York State, came to Cincinnati as a young woman to live with her brother Judge Isaac Clinton Collins. John Williamson Herron, a Miami University (Oxford, Ohio) contemporary of Benjamin Harrison, enjoyed a successful law practice in Cincinnati, where he shared a partnership at times with Rutherford B. Hayes and Judge Collins and served as both a U.S. attorney and state senator.

Nellie grew up in an intellectually stimulating, socially prominent atmosphere. The large Herron family required that they live in somewhat more modest circumstances than their social standing might suggest, but all of the Herron children received the highest quality education, the sons at Harvard and Yale Universities and all the daughters at Miss Nourse’s school in Cincinnati.

Mid-nineteenth-century Cincinnati culture was a contrasting mix of prosperous businessmen flourishing at the door to Western expansion and the rough, smog-bound life of riverfront workers laboring for them. Enriching the Queen City was the conspicuous German influence on local customs and arts, which provided exceptional musical training and performance opportunities. Nellie benefitted from this musical presence, displaying a lifelong talent and discipline for music, especially the piano, and believed it could become her life’s work.

Because of the close friendship between the families, seventeen-year-old Nellie visited President and Mrs. Hayes in the White House, the single most notable event she cherished from her youth. Whether her remarks about wanting to live there herself were the casual response of a typical young girl’s fancy or the determined statement of a goal cannot be known. Her upbringing certainly prepared her for a future as First Lady.

After completing her education, Nellie taught school and gave piano lessons. At a sledding party in 1879, she first met the recent Yale graduate William Howard Taft and the two immediately experienced a mutual attraction of quick minds and humors. By 1883, Nellie, wishing to elevate her social life, had formed a literary salon with several of her friends, both male and female, to engage in intellectual discussions. Among the group was Will Taft.

Marriage and Family

The salon occasions brought Nellie and Will closer. An engagement was announced in May, 1885, leading to their marriage in the Herron family home on June 19, 1886. Their one-hundred-day honeymoon in Europe cost just one thousand dollars, much to the pride of frugal Nellie. On the trip, Nellie did, however, indulge her love of attending musical performances until reaching the limit of her good-natured groom.

Will’s career continued to quickly advance. Shortly after the 1889 birth of their first child, Robert Alphonso, Will was appointed solicitor general of the United States. Nellie was delighted to be moving to Washington, D.C. While the Tafts resided there, a daughter, Helen, was born in 1891. Nellie found life with two small children in their small Dupont Circle home to be mostly a simple routine.

The Taft family returned to Cincinnati after Will’s appointment to the Federal Circuit Bench by President Benjamin Harrison. Nellie feared her husband, much younger than his fellow jurists and very happy in this position, would lose his youthful ambitions. During this eight-year period, she directed her energy toward the organization of the Cincinnati Orchestra Association. She garnered support from the city’s music lovers, who raised adequate funds to provide financial stability for a high-quality orchestra with a capable director. The other highlight of this period in her life was the 1897 birth of her youngest child, Charles.

In 1900, when President William McKinley asked Taft to go to the newly acquired Philippine Islands to end U.S. military rule, Taft was certain the sultry climate, disease, and primitive conditions would repel Nellie. Instead, she was eager for adventurous travel in Asia. While her husband traveled ahead to make living arrangements for his family, Nellie, with her children, sister, and other ladies of the party, passed several weeks of sightseeing in Japan. There Nellie acquired great appreciation of the Asian aesthetic, particularly in the design of living spaces and gardens. When honored by an audience with the Japanese Empress, she regretted to see that the Palace in Tokyo was furnished with heavy, ornate Victorian pieces—an attempt to modernize by adopting Western styles.

Although living conditions in Manila, Philippines, equaled their unpleasant reputation, Nellie took a kind of First Ladyship role there. For more than three years Nellie, living first in a house on Manila Bay, then in the Malacañang Palace, struggled to stretch a limited budget. Her social events presented a blend of local and Western customs. The palace provided a grand scene for her frequent receptions, at which everyone was welcome, regardless of race or social standing. For greater adventure, she traveled to outlying areas of the Philippines and witnessed its diverse indigenous cultures.

By 1904 an exhausted Nellie sought respite in China, only to hear that her husband had to be rushed to surgery for an abdominal abscess. Only weeks later, when Will required a second surgery, was his need to return to the States apparent. Nellie, too, was further strained by news of her mother’s life-threatening stroke. Without much-needed rest, the family took leave and headed home. Sadly, the Tafts were confronted by weather delays and received word of Mrs. Herron’s death before reaching Cincinnati. Nellie completely broke down, unable to attend her mother’s funeral once they arrived in Ohio.

Before returning to the Philippines, the Tafts took time to recover from their misfortunes. At President Theodore Roosevelt’s request, Will visited Rome to resolve Philippine land ownership issues with the Vatican. Nellie and the children joined him and were granted an audience with Pope Leo XIII. Upon returning for a final year in Manila, they were threatened by a devastating cholera epidemic. The Taft family was spared the disease but witnessed overwhelming death, famine, and the resulting social unrest. However, by the time Roosevelt convinced Taft to return to Washington to accept the post of secretary of war, Nellie was able to plan a lavish farewell gala, assured that the Filipinos recognized the benefits they gained through her husband’s efforts.

During his term in the cabinet, Nellie and Will traveled around the world on U.S. affairs. By this time, she saw the presidency within her husband’s reach and actively intervened to divert Roosevelt’s offer of a Supreme Court seat to her husband. She also grew distrustful of Roosevelt’s promise not to seek reelection. Taking nothing for granted, Nellie hovered over her husband’s nomination and campaign, and was joyfully relieved at his 1908 election. At last, Nellie Taft would be First Lady.

Presidency and First Ladyship

Once her husband was inaugurated, Nellie turned her energies to the duties of First Lady. Because of the additions and restorations to the White House during the Roosevelt years, Nellie found the building to be in acceptable condition. She did, however, rule that formally costumed footmen should be at the doors to greet and guide visitors, and she replaced the position of steward with that of housekeeper, believing that only a woman could attend to so many domestic details.

The Tafts retained Major Archie Butt, who had served as Roosevelt’s military aide. His forebodings about Mrs. Taft quickly dispelled; he liked her straightforward honesty, and the two developed a deep mutual respect. With Major Butt’s help, Nellie purchased the first White House automobiles. Congress had appropriated twelve thousand dollars for such a purchase, but Nellie wanted four cars—more than the sum could cover. Ever frugal, Nellie negotiated with the automakers. She would get her four autos at a reduced price; they could advertise that their cars were used by the White House. The deal was settled.

After only two months as First Lady, Nellie experienced a cruel irony. While entertaining on the presidential yacht, she suffered a severe stroke that removed her from public life for one year and affected her speech for the remainder of her life. During that year, her daughter Helen and Nellie’s sisters fulfilled her social duties, with Nellie often directing events from her second-floor private quarters. Her husband devoted much of his time to her rehabilitation. Always reliant upon Nellie’s advice, the president became careful not to burden her with his official problems, for fear of a setback to her health.

By spring of 1910, she was able to institute weekly garden parties, a favorite custom she continued each spring that the Tafts were in the White House. None of these, though, approached the extravagant celebration of the Tafts’ twenty-fifth wedding anniversary in 1911. More than four thousand guests greeted the couple, amid glittering illumination of the White House and gardens. Perhaps Nellie especially savored the occasion, aware that her husband’s chances for reelection were perceptibly fading.

After the White House years, Nellie busied herself by writing her memoirs, Recollections of Full Years. She enjoyed observing the successes of her children and their families and became very active in the National Society of the Colonial Dames. Along with her husband, she is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Legacy

The particulars of Nellie Taft’s legacy provide insight into her character. Her memoirs, Recollections of Full Years, elaborate on the happier details of her life as wife and First Lady and reveal her disappointments and sorrows in conspicuous brevity. Having long sought a prominent role in American political circles through her husband’s career, Nellie had perfected the habit of putting on the composed, pleasant exterior necessary to stand by a world leader.

Thoroughly proud to have realized her dream of being First Lady, Nellie was first to contribute her gown and personal endorsement when the Smithsonian Institution created its First Ladies Collection in 1912.

As the first president of the Cincinnati Symphony Association, Nellie’s goal was to secure and maintain a fine musical organization for her hometown. To this day, civic leaders and volunteers have continued that work. The Cincinnati Symphony and Pops Orchestras have earned an international reputation for consistently superlative performances. That a Midwestern orchestra can boast being among the best financed in the United States is testimony to the strong foundation initiated under Nellie’s watch.

No political ambitions ever exceeded Nellie’s devotion to her children. Her high expectations for their success were equally balanced by frequent indulgences and boundless love. Whether intentional or not, Nellie reared another generation of Tafts into lives of public service. Her firstborn, Robert A. Taft, earned the title of Mr. Republican in his lifetime by serving in both houses of the Ohio legislature, then advancing to a long career in the U.S. Senate. Daughter Helen, who attended Bryn Mawr College on an academic scholarship, became an outspoken proponent of suffrage and safe working conditions for women. She earned a doctorate in history from Yale University and distinguished herself in an academic career at Bryn Mawr, in time rising to the position of dean. Charles Phelps Taft II, named for his father’s brother, built a distinguished law practice in Cincinnati, served in city council, and worked for the Federal Security Agency and the State Department during World War II.

The glorious cherry blossom display in Washington, D.C., is, undoubtedly, Nellie’s most picturesque gift to our nation. While living in Manila, she experienced the pleasure of the Luneta, an oval carriage path with a bandstand nearby. On warm evenings, music played as the social elite drove around to share greetings and gossip. In Washington, Nellie saw that Potomac Park could accommodate a similar function. A bandstand was erected and Marine Band concerts scheduled. The park also offered a favorable location for Japanese cherry trees, another of Nellie’s favorite memories from the East. She ordered that all domestic stock be found and planted along the Tidal Basin. The mayor of Tokyo, flattered that the First Lady was honoring Japanese custom in this way, sent another two thousand trees. The annual Cherry Blossom Festival endures as one of the most beautiful American festivities.

Bibliography

Anderson, Judith Icke. William Howard Taft. New York: Norton, 1981.

Anthony, Carl Sferrazza. Nellie Taft: The Unconventional First Lady of the Ragtime Era. New York: William Morrow, 2005.

Butt, Archie. Taft and Roosevelt: The Intimate Letters of Archie Butt, Military Aide. 2 vols. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Doran, 1930.

Pringle, Henry F. The Life and Times of William Howard Taft. New York: Farrar & Rinehart, 1939.

Ross, Ishbel. The Tafts: An American Family. Cleveland: World Publishing, 1964.

Taft, Helen (Mrs. William Howard). Recollections of Full Years. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1914.