William H. Taft Assembles His Campaign Team for the 1908 Election

Taft thanks Bliss for “expressing a willingness to serve as one of the Advisory Committee at the New York Headquarters…I regard this as a very great favor…it only adds another reason for the warm place that you have in the bosom of every Republican who values patriotism and sense of duty.”

The biggest announcement in the run-up to the 1908 presidential election came in 1904 when, on the evening of his election, President Theodore Roosevelt announced that he would not seek another term in office. Roosevelt was extremely popular as president, and many thought he might reconsider and run as 1908 neared. However, after careful consideration of potential successors, Roosevelt threw his support behind William Howard Taft in early 1907. Taft was Roosevelt’s secretary of war and a trusted adviser, and the two seemed to have similar political ideas. Having been handpicked by the president, Taft easily won the Republican nomination on the first ballot when the Republican convention met on June 19, 1908 in Chicago. At his wife’s urging, Taft then announced that he intended to drop thirty pounds off his 300 pound plus weight for the campaign fight ahead. He retreated to the golf course at a resort in Hot Springs, Virginia, where he stayed for much of the next three months.

On July 10, almost a month after Taft’s nomination, the Democrats nominated William Jennings Bryan in Bryan’s third and final attempt to win the presidency. No sooner was Bryan nominated than Taft moved to finalize his campaign team. One of those he called upon to join his team was Cornelius N. Bliss.

Cornelius N. Bliss was a partner in one of the largest wholesale dry-goods firms in the country. He was also chairman of the Republican committee in New York in 1887 and 1888, and contributed much to the success of the Benjamin Harrison ticket in his state in the 1888 election. He served as treasurer of the Republican National Committee from 1892 to 1904. He turned down the offer of becoming Secretary of the Treasury under President McKinley, but accepted the post of Secretary of the Interior, maintaining that position until February 1899. While in office, Bliss focused on forestry and Indian affairs. Offered by McKinley the vice presidential slot in his 1900 reelection campaign, he declined, so the nod went instead to Theodore Roosevelt. In 1904, Bliss was Roosevelt’s campaign manager. Now in 1908 he would assist Taft as a member of his Advisory Committee, and by finding a treasurer for the Republican National Committee.

Typed letter signed, on his letterhead, from his retreat in Hot Springs, Va., July 11, 1908, the day after Bryan’s nomination, to Bliss. “I wish to express to you my deep sense of obligation for your kindness in assisting us to find a Treasurer of the National Committee, and also in expressing a willingness to serve as one of the Advisory Committee at the New York Headquarters. After your experience in doing so much for the party as you have, I regard this as a very great favor, and appreciate it most highly. When a gentleman has reached your time of life, and has done as much work as you have done for the public, without reward, he is certainly entitled to leisure, but if your interest in the Republican Party continues to the point of enabling us to avail ourselves of your valuable experience and advice, as your willingness to act on the committee indicates, it only adds another reason for the warm place that you have in the bosom of every Republican who values patriotism and sense of duty. Please also accept my personal thanks for your action.”

We obtained this letter directly from the Bliss family, and it has never before been offered for sale.

Taft hit the campaign trail personally in August, when he embarked on a tour largely in the Midwest and the South. President Roosevelt also spoke out on Taft’s behalf. Bryan started strong, giving many speeches, though his campaign’s strength dwindled in the crucial last weeks before the election. During this time, Republicans thrust their most influential speakers into the spotlight. Although Bryan swept the Southern vote, his third and final run was not strong enough to win him the presidency. Taft defeated him 321 electoral votes to 162.