Description
Description: On September 10, 1922, former U.S. President William Taft (1857-1930) kindly acquiesced with a fan’s request for his autograph. The letter from Kate Warner Geller of Bryn Mawr reads in part: “My dear Pres. Taft – May I have the honor of having your autograph”, to which Taft dutifully responds (entirely in his hand) below her letter: “With very great pleasure I comply with your request Wm H. Taft”. He also indicates that he was in Pointe-au-Pic Canada at the time of this letter. According to a September 4, 1926 New Yorker “Talk of the Town” article, Taft spent his summers in Murray Bay, Quebec, which is very close to the village of Pointe-au-Pic, where he was regarded as “an unofficial mayor of the town”.
Taft began his career as a lawyer in Cincinnati, Ohio and was appointed a judge while still in his twenties. His meteoric rise continued when he was named Solicitor General of the United States (1890-1892) and then a judge of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals (1892-1900). He went on to serve as Governor-General of the Philippines, Provisional Governor of Cuba, and Secretary of War under Theodore Roosevelt. Roosevelt supported Taft to succeed him as the 27th President of the United States, though after only one term, their relationship soured and Roosevelt ran against him in the 1912 campaign, ultimately splitting the vote and helping Woodrow Wilson secure a victory. Taft was appointed Chief Justice of the United States by President Warren G. Harding in 1921, becoming the first and only person to have held both the office of President and Chief Justice.
6 ½” x 5 ¼”. Item #A01427
Condition: Mailing fold line, two black photo mounting corners still affixed at bottom of letter. Generally very good condition with a neat, bold signature.
