Presidential Biographies | Taft Administration - Taft's Advisers

Taft's Advisers

Unlike his predecessor, Taft relied primarily on his cabinet for advice on policy. Taft had a number of excellent advisers, particularly in the realm of foreign affairs and defense. However, his decision to replace some of Roosevelt's most favored appointees in charge of conservation, including Roosevelt's secretary of the interior, James Garfield, proved a serious political mistake. Taft's secretary of the interior, Richard Ballinger, was unpopular with many of the Progressive's strongest supporters of conservation. In particular, Gifford Pinchot, the Roosevelt appointee who headed the Department of Agriculture's Forestry Department, challenged Ballinger and Taft at every opportunity. This dispute, which lasted for the first two years of Taft's presidency and eventually forced him to fire Pinchot, played no small part in turning Roosevelt and other Progressives against Taft (See also, Domestic Issues).

...