Recollections of Full Years

unless one can fix one’s memory on real progress made through the exercise of presidential power there is little real pleasure in the contemplation of the holding of that or any other office, however great its power or dignity or high its position in the minds of men.

“I beg you to believe that in spite of the very emphatic verdict by which I leave the office, I cherish only the deepest gratitude to the American people for having given me the honour of having held the office, and I sincerely hope in looking back over what has been done that there is enough of progress made to warrant me in the belief that real good has been accomplished, even though I regret that it has not been greater. My chief regret is my failure to secure from the Senate the ratification of the general arbitration treaties with France and Great Britain. I am sure they would have been great steps toward general world peace. What has actually been done I hope has helped the cause of peace, but ratification would have been a concrete and substantial step. I do not despair of ultimate success. We must hope and work on.”

List of Illustrations

1. Mrs. William Howard Taft

2. Mrs. Taft’s childhood home on Pike Street, in Cincinnati

3. Mr. and Mrs. John Williamson Herron, Mrs. Taft’s father and mother

4. Members of the salon. Mr. Taft in the center, with the author at his right

5. Mr. and Mrs. William Howard Taft at the time of their marriage

6. Mrs. Taft, with Robert and Helen, when Mr. Taft was solicitor general

7. Charlie Taft when he went to the Philippines

8. Nikko. An ancient cryptomeria avenue and a glimpse of the famous temples

9. Entrance to Imperial Palace Gardens in Tokyo

10. The state dining-room of the White House, showing tapestry presented to Mrs. Taft by the Empress of Japan

11. Helen Taft in Japanese costume

12. Mrs. Taft in formal Filipina costume

13. A carved narra or Philippine mahogany bed now in Mr. Taft’s room at New Haven

14. A typical Philippine river scene and some Filipino laundry work

15. (Left to right) General Wright, Mr. Taft, and Judge Ide as Philippine Commissioners

16. A typical Filipino menu and place card

17. Triumphal arch at Bataan

18. Filipino members of the organising party enjoying afternoon repose on the deck of the Sumner

19. The sultan of Sulu boarding the Sumner, followed by Mr. Arthur Fergussen, Spanish secretary to the commission

20. A Moro Datu with his reinue, and the favorite wife of a Datu with her maids-in-waiting

21. Picturesque bead-bedecked Bogobos of the Davao Country

22. Philippine non-Christians. A Bontoc Igorrote (left), a Moro and two Kalinga chiefs (with shields)

23. On the long trail in northern Luzon. Mrs. Taft second from the left

24. Mr. Taft and Charlie enjoying their favourite exercise

25. An Igorrote head dance, and a company of cargodores with their dogs, which are to be killed for food

26. Views of the extraordinary Igorrote rice terraces. Practically all of the north central Luzon is cultivated in this manner

27. Igorrote chief proudly displaying his house decorations of human skulls and carabao horns

28. Bontoc Igorrotes with ganzas, showing handles made of human bones

29. The Benguet road before and after completion. Not the most thrilling curve on this spectacular highway

30. The zigzag. How the Benguet road climbs to an altitude of over 5,000 feet in six miles

31. Mr. Taft taking the oath of office as the first American Governor of the Philippine Islands

32. Two viwes of Malacañan palace. The first picture shows the wide, roofless veranda over the Pásig River

33. Scenes attending Governor Taft’s arrival in Manila after his first absence

34. Arch erected by the Partido Federal representing Filipina offering another star to the American Flag

35. Mr. and Mrs. Taft, with members of their family and staff, including Major Noble, aide (at left), and Mr. Fred C. Carpenter, Private Secretary (right), in costumes worn at the Venetian Carnival

36. Mr. Taft and Colonel Goethals, in Panama

37. (From left to right) Mrs. Jaime De Veyra, Mrs. Taft, Governor Smith, Mrs. Smith, Mr. Taft, Mr. Sergio Osemeña, speaker of the Philippine Assembly, and members of the Assembly in the Ayuntamiento, Manila

38. The White House as it looked on the evening of the fourth of March, 1909

39. Mr. and Mrs. Taft returning to the White House after Mr. Taft’s inauguration

40. The private dining-room of the White House, and the family sitting-room at the end of the long upstairs corridor

41. Two White House Bedrooms showing fine old colonial beds

42. Two corners of the White House kitchen

43. The East Room

44. Mrs. Taft on the Potomac Drive

45. The South Portico from the end of the Garden

46. The White House garden and Washington’s Monument from the South Portico

47. The Taft cottage at Beverly, Massachusetts

48. The crescent table in the state dining-room arranged for the diplomatic dinner

49. Mrs. Taft’s own picture of the White House

50. The long eastern corridor through which guests arrive for state functions

51. The main stairway leading to the President’s private apartments

Colophon

Recollections of Full Years
was published in 1914 by
Helen Herron Taft.

This ebook was produced for
Standard Ebooks
by
Jonathan Erdman,
and is based on a transcription produced in 2023 by
Richard Tonsing and Distributed Proofreaders
for
Project Gutenberg
and on digital scans from the
Internet Archive.

The cover page is adapted from
Helen Herron Taft,
a painting completed in 1910 by
Bror Kronstrand.
The cover and title pages feature the
League Spartan and Sorts Mill Goudy
typefaces created in 2014 and 2009 by
The League of Moveable Type.

The first edition of this ebook was released on
October 7, 2025, 5:03 p.m.
You can check for updates to this ebook, view its revision history, or download it for different ereading systems at
standardebooks.org/ebooks/helen-herron-taft/recollections-of-full-years.

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Uncopyright

May you do good and not evil.
May you find forgiveness for yourself and