Taft called the fresh air taken on a motor ride,
 "atmospheric champagne."

Taft was the first President to officially employ
 motor cars. He used them for convenience, fun --
 and politics. He took congressmen for long rides
 throughout Washington. Rhode Island Senator
 Nelson Aldrich, the "czar" of the Senate, was
 subjected to this particular torture in Taft’s open
 touring car in March of 1910. Captain Butt
 described the moment: "It had turned very cold,
 and the wind was very high and the Chairman of
 the Finance Committee of the Senate was
 almost frozen and asked if the top could not be
 put up as he was not accustomed, as we were,
 to these open-air rides. I fished him out a
 sweater from under the seat, one belonging to
 the President, and the President made him put it
 on. It would have encircled his body twice. With
 this compromise we went on with the top down,
 but owing to the wind it was disagreeable to all
 except myself, who took off my hat and let the
 cold wind do as it might with my hair."

Taft loved the "joy ride," the faster the better. In
 1909, he hit 52 mph on a Savannah, Georgia,
 race course. The press noted that he "seemed to
 enjoy the ride immensely." Earlier that year,
 however, he was taken to account for speeding
 by constables at Newbury, Massachusetts. The
 town’s speed trap, where the 20 mph limit
 dropped to 8 mph, snagged the President’s car.
 "President Taft expressed regret that his car had
 been traveling at a speed considered above the
 limit, and he instructed his chauffeur to drive
 more slowly for the rest of the trip," went a report.
 

Although editorials condemned the President’s
 automobile "scorching," the headlines glorified it.
 News articles of Taft’s motoring regularly
 included the start and finish times of his trips --
 that is, you do the math. On one such trip, which
 triggered an editorial fit at The New York Times,
 the President’s car averaged 32.5 mph across
 Pennsylvania country roads: "He traveled
 sixty-five miles over typical Western  Pennsylvania hills... a smooth but dangerous
 highway, and covered the distance in two hours.
 The police cars, wrapped in a heavy blanket of
 white dust, were compelled to drop behind, and
 the Secret Service men were at times cut off.
 The President’s car passed small hamlets,
 bowled over hills, swept through valleys, rounded
 sharp curves with the rear wheels sliding, and
 kept up such a hot speed that he was not
 recognized at all. The high-powered police cars
 were outdistanced and caught up only by driving
 recklessly down grades on which Mr. Taft’s car
 slowed up a little. The President is said to have
 urged the speed... After returning to Pittsburgh,
 the President drove in a circle, compelling the
 four cars which followed him to pass in review.
 He laughed long and heartily at the plight of the
 police and Secret Service men. All were white
 with dust from head to foot, and their faces were
 unrecognizable. ‘Took our dust,’ he cried
 between bursts of laughter."

The Secret Service chief was not amused
 by this and similar stories. In 1911 he issued a
 memorandum to the agents ordering a halt to the
 joy rides: "It is not right to hurtle the President
 over country roads at forty or fifty miles an hour.
 Thirty miles an hour is the limit of safety for a
 conservative motorist; anything in excess of that
 simply invites disaster... The speed with which
 the President’s car has been driven at times...
 has been the subject of much unfavorable
 comment... I feel that if as a result of the bursting
 of a tire or the breaking of a steering connection
 or an axle, the President should be hurt, you
 would be censured for permitting fast driving..."

Late in his term, Taft was visited by a small town
 mayor. "Oh yes, I passed through your town on
 our trip two years ago," Taft said in greeting the
 man. "Yes, you did, Mr. President," replied the
 mayor. "And the dust has not settled down yet."

Taft’s enthusiasm for automobiling graced the
 industry with his office’s most important political
 and social patronage. He promoted the building
 of roads and the development of good road law.
 Taft predicted that automobiles would benefit the
 nation as greatly or more than the telephone, the
 railroad, and other advances. He praised the rich
 motorists as "gentlemen who are making it an
 industry that contributes so greatly to the wealth
 of this country, and adds so much to its
 manufacturing product," while at the same time
 foreseeing that, "the automobile, coming in as a
 toy of the wealthier classes, is going to
 prove the most useful of them all to
 all classes, rich and poor."

Taft also leant his enormous prestige to another
 fledgling industry that was before then seen as a
 useless rich man’s sport, aeroplaning.
On  presenting a medal to the Wright brothers
 Taft told his audience, "There may be some
 reasons why some Presidents have not figured
 in aeronautics. I see that these gentlemen who
 have flown in the air are constructed more on the
 plan of the birds than some of us..."

Later, to the Aero Club of New York, Taft said,
 "When I entered this hall, the thought occurred to
 me as I looked about at the many sitting here:
 how many of these men really live in the air?"

Wander or Bust

Taft was the most traveled president up to his
 time. He visited the Panama Canal twice while in
 office. He conducted two tremendous,
 month-long, "Western Tours" across the country,
 logging about 15,000 miles each time. All told, it
 was estimated that he put in 114,559 miles while
 in office. Between these trips Taft kept a
 merciless schedule of overnight and days- to
 week-long trips that, along with the "Western
 Tours," exhausted aides, Secret Servicemen
 and reporters. During his vacations, the
 President also pursued his wanderlust by taking
 automobile trips across New England. On one
 such trip in the Fall of 1912, smack amidst the
 election campaign, Taft and his wife motored for
 an entire week, which must yet stand as one of
 the longest presidential motor rides ever. On
 other occasions he ventured up and down the
 coast in the presidential Yacht. His ability to
 withstand the strain of the non-stop traveling,
 speeches, and banquets was astonishing to
 those around him. After the first Western Tour,
 Captain Butt attributed the President’s powers of
 endurance to "two reasons chiefly: he has no
 nerves, and he really and sincerely likes people."

Taft loved a laugh line about the role of the
 President and repeated it frequently. To a Yale
 audience one version went, "Since March 4, I
 have learned a number of things, and I am
 making no reference to the Weather Bureau,
 either. I have learned that in the opinion of the
 American people one of the chief functions of the
 President of the United States is to increase the
 box receipts and the sale of excursion tickets."

Another function of the President was
 to receive visitors. "It is understood, of course,"
Mrs. Taft wrote, "that one of the chief
 occupations of the  President of the
 United States is shaking hands."

Taft recalled how in Birmingham in 1909 the
 Governor asked him in public for the Ministry to
 China, and the crowd responded with great
 approval. "I never saw a more comical situation
 than the moment when he realized that the crowd
were laughing at him instead of with him."

Butt thought the funniest thing that happened
 during that trip was when a voice called out from
 the crowd, "We love you, Bill." Taft didn’t hear
 and asked for the person to say it again. The call
 was repeated by several others in unison, "We
 love you, Bill!" Taft laughed at the sudden display
 of affection. "It might have been right to
 dissemble your love, but why did you kick me
 downstairs? The fact that you had so little to do
 with putting me where I am makes me
 appreciate the warmth and sincerity of your
 reception all the more."

While making arrangements for a visit to
 the Grand Canyon, Captain Butt and Taft’s
 friend, John Hays Hammond, refused to let the
 President descend into the Canyon, obviously on
 account of his size. Taft was furious. "See here!"
 he yelled at the Captain. "You go to hell! I will do
 as I damn please sometime." Butt laughed it off
 as the "braggadocio of a big boy." Taft insisted
 the next day, and was again told by his Aide
 that  he was too big to take a horse down the
 trails. "Well, damn it," Taft finally said, "you can
have your way; but I’ll tell you one thing.  I will get
 even with you some day -- and with John
 Hammond, too."

Butt concluded his description of this
 episode with, "But on the whole he has a
 wonderfully equable temper and a very sweet
 disposition."

In Colorado Taft was asked to bathe at a public
 pool. "I understand I was to have the privilege of
 a bath in your wonderful pool," he laughed.
 "I thank you, but I must decline that privilege.
 The last time I took a bath in public I overheard
 two men saying, ‘Well, if I was as fat as that man
 I’d do my bathing in private.’ Since then bathing
 in public has not been my strong suit. There are
 members of my party who would cut a good
 figure in your pool, but I would not."

In Dallas Taft said, "I was asked to-day if I had
 any doubt by this time about Texas being a part
 of the Union. I replied that the only doubt I had
 was whether the Union was not a part of Texas."

In South Dakota Taft descended 1,100 feet into a
 gold mine where he was shown a stack of gold
 bricks, each 125 pounds and worth $30,000.
 Taft lifted one without effort. Not to be outdone,
 Senator Gamble tried the same. He failed
 miserably. Later, Taft was given a small gold
 brick in commemoration of the visit.
 "It’s a great pleasure to be gold bricked
 in this way," he told his hosts.

It seems that even Taft got dizzy from the travels
 once or twice. To an audience in Norwich,
 Connecticut, the much-traveled President began,
 "I want to say that I am very much in favor of the
 weather of Massachusetts to-day." A gruff voice
 called out, "This is Connecticut." Laughing
 heartily, Taft continued, "I’ll have to study
 up my geography..."

During a 1910 trip, Taft tried to compliment a
 small town. "I hear your locomotives works are
 running day and night. Aren’t you glad for that?"
 "No," rang a voice from the crowd. "Well,"
 replied the President, "there is generally
 somebody around to register a protest."

Taft passed through Coffeyville, Kansas, and into
 its rival city, Independence, where he told the
 crowd, "I’ve been studying your history and I
 know you have to come through to hell to get to
 heaven. I have been in Coffeyville this morning."

During his travels Taft attended innumerable
 banquets, which meant listening to the long-
winded speeches of local politicians who took the
 opportunity of the President’s visit to score
 points. Taft and Captain Butt joked about
 forming a society for the "Prevention of Cruelty to
 Presidents" and of asking Congress to pass a
 law for the execution of tiring speakers.

One man, at least, sympathized with the
 President’s treatment by local committees.
At Wilmington, NC, Taft was subjected to a full
 day of banquets and speeches. To Taft’s great
 amusement -- and the embarrassment of the
 hosts, at one point an old man stepped out in
 front and yelled out, "Fo’ God, folks, ain’t you
 through with that poor man yet?"

Taft’s goal with banquets was to get as many in
 as possible in a night and each over with as
 quickly as possible. He became a master of the
 extemporaneous and light "banquet speech."
 One trick he used to get away with a short
 speech went, "I have just come from a dinner
 where I inflicted a forty-minute speech on those
 present, and I have no intention of
 repeating my cruelty on you."

Golf was a pastime, refuge, and passion forTaft. After receiving a group of contentious congressmen with whom he disagreed, Taft said, "They have my last word, and now I want to show my scorn for further negotiations by spending the afternoon on the golf links."

A satirist wrote that Taft would be a good golfer, "Were it not for his figure which, unfortunately, has a tendency to get in the way of his stroke..."

On being presented with a golf club,"eucalyptus wood, gold mounted," Taft described the essence of golf: "I don’t know of any game that is so provocative of profanity as golf. I don’t know any game that makes one so ashamed of his profanity."

"Mr. President, how do you like the new club-
house?" asked Major Butt, as they approached the Chevy Chase Country Club. "Excellent," replied the President. "It is the finest example of early penitentiary colonial architecture I have ever seen."

Taft is credited with being the first President to  throw out the first baseball at a game and to  have initiated the "seventh inning stretch." He threw out "strike one" at the opening of the season in 1910. The seventh-inning stretch came about when Taft joined the crowd by rising during the "lucky seventh" at a game in  Chicago where it was reported, "Mr. Taft received many hearty cheers when he stood up with the rest of the fans at the beginning of the ‘lucky seventh.’" When he became President, Taft hardly knew the game. It all started when Captain Butt arranged for him to attend a game at Washington in the Spring of 1909. "I thought it would be a popular thing for him to appear at one of the opening games," Butt wrote. Taft agreed to go so long as it didn’t interfere with his afternoon horseback ride. And he loved it!  Following a call that offended the home team fans, Butt was heard to say to the  President, "No Sir, they never kill the umpire till the seventh inning."

Taft loved pretty girls. At a fair in 1910 his  aides had to move him along from loitering, first, from "drinking everything in sight" that some girls kept offering him, then, at the "beauty booth... where were smilingly  clustered some of the most beautiful women on the stage." A news report noted, "There was no mistaking the fact that the President had made a sensation among the actresses and chorus girls..."

At the end of a lengthy 1909 voyage down the  Mississippi River Taft complimented the ladies of New Orleans. He said that if the delegates to the River Convention remained here two or three days, "they would forget that there was such a thing as a river."

Taft was given a medal by an actors’
 association. To the man who presented the
 award Taft quipped, "There was one thing I
 thoroughly enjoyed, and that was the expression on your face when you made
 your speech. You looked just like a
 man going to execution."

A small scandal arose when some newspapers
 got hold of the story of a  rambunctious boy
who stepped in the  Presidential soup at a
banquet. Taft squelched the story and upheld the
boy’s  honor with an official "certification" that the
boy did not disturb his soup. "I do not want to spoil
a good story," the President said, "but it seems 
hardly fair that the kid should be forever charged
 with the thing that he did not do..."

One child was overjoyed when Taft was elected President. He wrote,"I am a boy
eleven years old and I am big and fat like you.
 The boys at my school call me Taft and when
 you were elected they hauled me around in
 an old buggy and had a reception
 with me representing you."

Four years later, children again gave Taft their
 electoral support. One wrote, "I have read in the paper that this is your birthday. It is my birthday too and I am eleven years old today. I wish I were ten years older so that I could vote for you. I wish you a happy
 birthday and hope you will be elected President again. I would like to come to see you sometime. I am going to be a lawyer when I am a man."

That lawyerly ambition must have warmed the
 Judge President’s heart, but Taft received one of the sweetest endorsements ever during the 1912 Massachusetts primary: "I am your little cousin, Betty B. Higgins. Your sixth grandfather, Deacon Samuel Chapin, was my seventh great-grandfather, so one-ninth of you and one-tenth of me are alike, but ten-tenths of me hopes that nine-ninths of you will
 be President again."

Shortly before leaving office, Taft received a visit from a little girl from Wyoming who had refused to leave the city without a kiss from the President. The mother pleaded with the White House to grant the request of the obstinate child. Soon after, Taft’s appointment calendar read, "Phyllis Westrand, Lander, Wyo., (to be kissed)." He told her, "So you want to be kissed
 by the President... Well, I hope you will remember that."

In a speech to Washington, DC, bankers Taft
 was given cheers of "seven, seven, seven
 years." He responded, "Well, judging by the
 influence of the electoral vote of the District of
 Columbia, my head is not likely to be swelled
 any by your indorsement."

On another occasion in 1911 Taft was
 introduced with, "Three cheers for the next
 President of the United States." Taft replied,
 "My friend, I fear you are not a prophet."

During an acrimonious tariff fight, lobbyists
 came down hard on Taft. He typically turned
 them away with a story. To wool industry
 lobbyists he told the story of a train ride he took in Tennessee with a local politician
. Passing a stream Taft asked its name.
 "The Chairman mumbled something that was
 unintelligible. I asked him to repeat it.
Again he mumbled so that I couldn’t catch
 what he said. ‘I beg your pardon,’ I said,
 ‘but I didn’t understand. Will you
 spell it?’ ‘Waal, I don’t reckon as how I kin,’
 he replied. ‘Some folks spells it one way;
 other folks spells it different. In my pore
 jedgement, Jedge, they ain’t no
correct way to spell it."

Of a Senator who opposed his legislation, Taft
 told Capt. Butt, "Archie, the trouble with that
 Senator of yours is that one of his mental legs is shorter than the other, and when he starts at
 a given point he travels only to come back to
 the starting point."

In 1911 Roosevelt and Taft got into a public
 fight over peace treaties Taft had negotiated
 with England and France. Roosevelt accused
 the President of being unmanly, saying,
 among things, "there are other persons
 whose ingrained personal timidity is such
 that they are more afraid of war than of any
 dishonor, personal or natural." To this and
 other Roosevelt slanders, Taft sublimely
 retorted, "We are not looking for insults from
 other nations, and we don’t fear insults from
 other nations. We are big enough even if we
 should be insulted by anybody to just do what
 a great strong man does when he is insulted
 under conditions where he can restrain
 himself at all. He holds himself in and says,
 ‘I am a greater man because I resist the
 temptation to lick your pusillanimous
 little body.’"

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