William Howard Taft: Automobile Accidents and Near Misses

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	The Health and Medical History of President
	William Howard Taft: Automobile Accidents and Near Misses

car accidents

Taft was the first sitting President to use automobiles regularly. And he was nearly the first President killed in a car accident. In March 1910 Taft's car was struck by a trolley in New York City and carried a half-block down Eighth Avenue. No one was hurt, but the President was shaken [6c].

Taft had several other mishaps in cars and trains during his public life

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Taft's near misses were reported in the newspapers on the dates noted below [6d]:

Aug. 28, 1907 Taft's train derailed. He was unharmed. Then Secretary of War, "Taft aided in reassuring timid passengers."

Oct. 20, 1907 Horses pulling his carriage in Manila bolted. A bodyguard was able to grab the reins and steer the horses into a ditch.

Oct. 14, 1908 Taft, campaigning for the Presidency, was in another train derailment. He was up, smiling, and asking what happened by the time others reached him.

July 7, 1909 Near Ft. Ticonderoga, NY, Taft's car skidded on a wet road, its wheels locked. The crowd watched in "tense silence," followed by relief as the chauffer regained control.

Mar. 17, 1910 Taft rose from his car seat to warn his driver about a pedestrian. The driver veered, and almost hit a trolley.

Mar. 29, 1910 President Taft's car was rammed by a trolley in New York.

Taft achieved more dubious vehicular firsts while President. In September 1909 his car (with him as passenger) was caught in a speed trap in Newbury, MA, on a stretch of road where the speed limit had been recently reduced from 20mph to 8mph. He was apparently able to talk his way out of the ticket, once the police realized his identity [6e].

In 1921 Taft badly bruised his knees when his car skidded on a rainy Washington road [18f].

Resources

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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
Boller, Paul F. Jr. Presidential Anecdotes. New York: Oxford University Press, 1981. ISBN 0-19-502915-1 @ Amazon
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] pp. 86-91 [k] pp. 91-93 [l] p. 99 [m] p. 108 [n] pp. 101-102 [o] p. 123 [p] p. 129 [q] p. 173 [r] p. 175 [s] p. 209 [t] p. 179 [u] p. 193 [v] pp. 210-211 [w] p. 247 [x] p. 376 [y] p. 585 [z] p. 615 [a1] p. 620 [b1] p. 642 [c1] p. 650 [d1] pp. 651-652 [e1] p. 653 [f1] pp. 656-657 [g1] p. 787 [h1] p. 39 [i1] p. 92 [j1] pp. 206-207 [k1] p. 45 [l1] p. 189 [m1] pp. 543 [n1] p. 449 [o1] p. 457 [p1] p. 543 [q1] p. 544 [r1] p. 788
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. [a] p. 95
Marx, Rudolph. The Health of the Presidents. New York: GP Putnam's Sons, 1960. [a] p. 301 [b] p. 300
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
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. 221-222 [d] p. 393 [e] pp. 327-328 [f] p. 326
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 [d] p. 233
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
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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