William H. Taft and James S. Sherman Political Campaign Button Of 1908

William H. Taft and James S. Sherman Political Campaign Button Of 1908, 1976 Reproduction.

In 1908, Sherman chaired the Republican state convention for the third time (having previously done so in 1895 and 1900). His supporters then launched a vice-presidential boom for him. President Theodore Roosevelt had announced that he would not stand for a third term and had anointed Secretary of War William Howard Taft as his successor. The New York delegation went to the convention pledged to their governor, Charles Evans Hughes, for president, but as one journalist observed, the state's delegation was actually anxious to nominate Sherman for the second place on the ticket. Fortunately for Sherman's ambitions, Governor Hughes did nothing to promote his candidacy. 

Taft won the nomination and would have preferred a progressive running mate, someone of the stature of Indiana Senator Albert Beveridge or Iowa Senator Jonathan Dolliver. But House members, led by Speaker Cannon, pressed for the nomination of James Sherman. On the surface, it seemed as though Sherman won the nomination by default after the more progressive possibilities withdrew their names from consideration. But years later, in his memoirs, Senator Chauncey Depew revealed a more Machiavellian version of what had happened. The New York delegation had lobbied hard to convince Taft's managers that New York would be a critical state in the election and that a New Yorker would most strengthen the ticket headed by a "westerner" like Taft of Ohio. Since Taft's managers had already discussed the nomination with several other potential candidates, they could not turn to Sherman without first dissuading these people and doing so without offending their states.

Item Code - BUT1E5282BCAZ3A4

Width: 7/8"  Height: 7/8"  Depth: 1/8"  Weight: 4 g