William Howard Taft: Performs a Mental Status Examination at Ellis Island

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	William Howard Taft: Performs a Mental Status Examination at Ellis Island

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There were two instances in which, as President, Taft was called upon to make a medical judgement. Had he disagreed with his medical advisors in both cases, he would have been right 100% of the time. As it was, his average was only 50%.

Taft at Ellis Island, October 1910
Taft and the 1912 pardon of Charles W. Morse, who "deserves a prominent place in the crowded gallery of American rogues." [More]

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On October 18, 1910, President Taft and his military aide, Major Archie Butt, visited Ellis Island in New York. Here is Butt's account of the visit, as he wrote to his sister-in-law that evening [9b1]:

This morning we went to Ellis Island, where we tramped around for several hours -- without learning much, I fear, for this cut-and-dried inspection is never very illuminating.
We spent one hour in the room where special cases were being considered. I should hate, myself, to be forced to decide whether immigrants should be deported or whether some members of a family should be admitted or sent back. But I believe I would be able to do it with more [start page 549] intelligence than was shown this morning. One incident was very amusing. A Welshman with his seventeen-year-old daughter and five small children were brought in. He had a slight hernia, and it was therefore recommended that he be returned. The pathetic picture of the young girl taking care of all these young brothers and sisters rather appealed to the President. But the Commissioner, in order to make his case good, proceeded to ask a lot of stock questions to indicate that the immigrant was too ignorant to be admitted even if he had sound health. He asked him if he knew what form of government we lived under, and the immigrant said he did not know. He then asked him if we had a monarchial form, to which he also got an ignorant reply. The President, evidently thinking that even the majority of Americans did not know what "monarchial" meant, began to interrogate the immigrant himself, and the first question was:
"Do you know who is the chief of this country?"
And the reply was promptly given: "The President."
"Do you know who the President is?" asked the President.
"Yes, sir; Mr. Taft," answered the immigrant.
The President then turned, laughing, to the Commissioner, and said:
"Mr. Commissioner, you cannot convince me of this man's total ignorance. He seems to know more than a good many Americans I have met. I think you might admit this family."

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Abbott, Lawrence F. (ed.). The Letters of Archie Butt: Personal Aide to President Roosevelt. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, Page & Company, 1924. [a] p. 165
Anderson, Judith Icke. William Howard Taft: An Intimate History. New York: W. W. Norton, 1981. ISBN 0-393-01462-2 @ Amazon [a] p. ??? [b] p. 28 [c] p. 68
Arnebeck, Bob. White House Workout: William Howard Taft's good fight against the 54-inch waistline. Washington Post Magazine. September 15, 1985: 17, 19.
Barker, Charles E. With President Taft in the White House. Chicago: A. Kroch and Son, 1947. [a] pp. 50-51 [b] pp. 17-18
Boller, Paul F. Jr. Presidential Anecdotes. New York: Oxford University Press, 1981. ISBN 0-19-502915-1 @ Amazon [a] p. 214
Bromley, Michael L. William Howard Taft and the First Motoring Presidency. Jefferson, NC: MacFarland, 2003. ISBN 0-7864-1475-8 @ Amazon [a] p. 76 [b] p. 350 [c] p. 183 [d] pp. 182-183 [e] p. 200
Bromley, Michael. Personal communication. Email to Dr. Zebra Sept. 15, 2005.
Bromley wrote: "Taft never drove. He always had a driver. His driver in Washington in the Twenties was named Tom Ford." It is not clear, however, when Ford was hired or if he was behind the wheel when this incident occurred.
Bumgarner, John R. The Health of the Presidents: The 41 United States Presidents Through 1993 from a Physician's Point of View. Jefferson, NC: MacFarland & Company, 1994. ISBN 0-89950-956-8 @ Amazon [a] p. 172 [b] p. 167 [c] p. 168
Devotes one chapter to each President, through Clinton. Written for the layperson, well-referenced, with areas of speculation clearly identified, Dr. Zebra depends heavily on this book. Dr. Bumgarner survived the Bataan Death March and has written an unforgettable book casting a physician's eye on that experience.
Butt, Archibald W. Taft and Roosevelt: The Intimate Letters of Archie Butt, Military Aide. Garden City, NY: Doubleday (1930). Volume 1: pages 1-432. Volume 2: pages 433-862. [a] p. 326 [b] p. 760 [c] p. 172 [d] pp. 70,75, 76 [e] p. 70 [f] p. 73 [g] p. 75 [h] p. 76 [i] p. 88 [j] p. 39 [k] p. 92 [l] pp. 206-207 [m] p. 45 [n] p. 189 [o] pp. 543 [p] p. 449 [q] p. 457 [r] p. 543 [s] p. 544 [t] p. 788 [u] p. 606 [v] p. 670 [w] pp. 764-765 [x] p. 721 [y] p. 209 [z] pp. 687-688 [a1] p. 819 [b1] p. 547
Butt, an Army officer, was military aide first to President Theodore Roosevelt and then to President William Taft. On April 14, 1912, Butt was at sea aboard the Titanic returning from a European vacation that Taft had insisted he take. President Taft later said: "When I heard that part of the ship's company had gone down, I gave up hope for the rescue of Major Butt, unless by accident. I knew that he would certainly remain on the ship's deck until every duty had been performed and every sacrifice made that properly fell on one charged, as he would feel himself charged, with responsibility for the rescue of others." Taft was correct. Butt did not survive the sinking.
Coletta, Paolo E. The Presidency of William Howard Taft. Lawrence, KS: The University Press of Kansas, 1973. ISBN 7006-0096-5 @ Amazon [a] p. 9
Dole, RJ. Great Presidential Wit. NY: Scribner, 2001. ISBN 0-7432-0392-5 @ Amazon [a] p. 134
Hicks, F. C. William Howard Taft, Yale Professor of Law & New Haven Citizen. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1945. [a] pp. 111-112 [b] pp. 113-114
Manners, William. TR and Will: A Friendship that Split the Republican Party. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc., 1969.
Marx, Rudolph. The Health of the Presidents. New York: GP Putnam's Sons, 1960. [a] p. 301 [b] p. 300 [c] p. 306 [d] pp. 306-307 [e] p. 305
Montgomery-Massingberd, Hugh (ed). Burke's Presidential Families of the United States of American. 2nd ed. London: Burke's Peerage Limited, 1981. ISBN 0-85011-033-5 @ Amazon
Enumerates the ancestors and descendants of American presidents up through Ronald Reagan.
Pringle, Henry F. The Life and Times of William Howard Taft: A Biography. New York: Farrar & Rinehart, Inc., 1939. [a] p. 24 [b] p. 3 [c] p. 1072 [d] p. 21 [e] p. 35 [f] p. 287 [g] p. 334 [h] p. 39 [i] p. 375 [j] pp. 208-209 [k] p. 214 [l] p. 215 [m] p. 219 [n] p. 226 [o] p. 235 [p] p. 253 [q] p. 377 [r] pp. 442-444 [s] p. 543 [t] p. 857 [u] p. 884 [v] pp. 781, 784 [w] pp. 763-764 [x] p. 766 [y] pp. 781-782 [z] p. 854 [a1] p. 1073 [b1] p. 1001 [c1] pp. 1074-1078 [d1] p. 1074 [e1] p. 967 [f1] p. 963 [g1] p. 1044 [h1] pp. 1071-1072 [i1] p. 1077 [j1] pp. 626-637
Braisted, William C.; Bell, William Hemphill; Rixey, Presley Marion. The Life Story of Presley Marion Rixey: Surgeon General, U. S. Navy 1902-1910: Biography and Autobiography. Strasburg, VA: Shenandoah Publishing House, Inc., 1930. [a] p. 265
Rixey was the White House physician for both William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt.
Ross, Ishbel. An American Family: The Tafts - 1678 to 1964. Cleveland, OH: World Publishing Co., 1964. [a] p. 143 [b] p. 221 [c] pp. 327-328 [d] p. 326 [e] p. 317
Sargent, Shirley. Yosemite's Famous Guests. Yosemite, CA: Flying Spur Press, 1970. [a] pp. 20-21
Smith, Ira R. T.; Morris, Joe Alex. "Dear Mr. President:" The Story of Fifty Years in the White House Mail Room. New York: Julian Messner, 1949. [a] pp. 66-69
Ira Smith was a peppery fellow who ran the White House mail room from 1897 to 1948. He started working during the administration of William McKinley and was the only mail room staffer until the volume of mail made it necessary to hire help during the administration of Franklin Roosevelt.
Sotos, JG. Taft and Pickwick: sleep apnea in the White House. Chest. 2003;124:1133-1142.
Sullivan, Mark. Our Times: 1900-1925 (Six volumes). New York: Charles Scribners' Sons, 1926-1940. [a] p. III-14 [b] p. III-14 quoting Arthur Brisbane [c] pp. III-15-16 quoting Frederick Palmer [d] pp. III-14-15 [e] p. III-15 [f] p. IV-408
Taft, Horace Dutton. Memories and Opinions. New York: Macmillan, 1947. [a] p. 7 [b] pp. 107-108
Taft, Mrs. William Howard (Helen Herron Taft). Recollections of Full Years. New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1914. [a] p. 57 [b] pp. 57-58 [c] p. 365
Taft, William Howard. Papers of William Howard Taft. On file in the Library of Congress and selected other research libraries. [a] WHT to Charles P. Taft, August 31, 1908 [b] WHT to Helen Herron Taft, September 24, 1905 [c] WHT to Helen Herron Taft, June 15, 1907 [d] WHT to N. E. Yorke-Davies, Dec. 9, 1905 [e] WHT to Helen Herron Taft, May 7, 1908 [f] WHT to Helen Herron Taft, Sep. 23, 1908 [g] WHT to Helen Herron Taft, Sept. 27, 1909 [h] WHT to Helen Herron Taft, Oct. 3, 1909 [i] WHT to Helen Herron Taft, Oct. 10, 1909 [j] WHT to Helen Herron Taft, Oct. 24, 1909 [k] WHT to Helen Herron Taft, Oct. 28, 1909 [l] WHT to Helen Herron Taft, Oct. 28/29, 1909 [m] WHT to Helen Herron Taft, Oct. 31, 1909 [n] WHT to Helen Herron Taft, Nov. 2, 1909 [o] WHT to George Blumer, Jan. 19, 1914 [p] WHT to Thomas Claytor, Aug. 1, 1926 [q] WHT to Helen Herron Taft, July 11, 1911 [r] WHT to Helen Herron Taft, Aug. 1, 1911 [s] WHT to Helen Herron Taft, Sept. 27, 1911 [t] WHT to Helen Herron Taft, July 29, 1912 [u] WHT to Helen Herron Taft, Aug. 16, 1912 [v] WHT to Helen Herron Taft, August 7, 1917 [w] WHT to George B. Edwards, September 8, 1917 [x] WHT to George Blumer, July 11, 1913 [y] WHT to Annie S. Taft, July 8, 1926 [z] WHT to Thomas Claytor, August 6, 1924 [a1] WHT to Thomas Claytor, Sept. 3, 1926 [b1] WHT to George Blumer, Jan. 2, 1923
Watson, James. As I Knew Them: Memoirs of James E. Watson. Indianapolis, IN: Bobbs-Merrill, 1936. [a] p. 133
The William Taft web page at the White House.
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