My Dearest Nellie: The Letters of William Howard Taft to Helen Herron Taft, 1909–1912 edited by Lewis L. Gould (review)

For many presidents of the United States, their closest counselor often is not a cabinet member or staff adviser, but their spouse. Eleanor Roosevelt and Hillary Rodham Clinton certainly stand out as examples of First Ladies who were trusted confidantes and even created policy. William Howard Taft, like other presidents, relied upon his wife, Helen Herron Taft, as a confidante in matters both personal and political. Lewis L. Gould, author of several books on the presidency, has taken the best of the correspondence between the Tafts and edited the letters into this insightful volume, My Dearest Nellie: The Letters of William Howard Taft to Helen Herron Taft, 1909–1912.

Not long after Taft assumed the presidency in 1909, Helen, whom he called Nellie, suffered a stroke; she recovered from the paralysis, but for the rest of her life had difficulty speaking. She was also unable to accompany her husband on his travels throughout the United States, which was a disappointment for both of them. Instead, the couple had to rely on correspondence to share their thoughts and ideas. Throughout his presidency, Taft, who was an avid traveler, journeyed around the country, meeting constituents and politicians alike to garner support for his policies and also because he felt it was important to get out among the people. The letters he wrote to Helen document many of the important issues that faced him during his tenure in office. The battles over the Payne-Aldrich tariff, for example, occupied much of Taft’s thoughts throughout the summers of 1909, 1910, and 1911, as did his growing apprehension over the role Theodore Roosevelt would play in the upcoming 1912 election.

Politics was not the only thing that concerned the president during his travels. His letters reveal much about Washington society, as well as his personal trials over his weight and his golf game. When reading the letters, the Washington of the early twentieth century comes alive, complete with its social register, changing fashions, and outsized personalities. Taft was remarkably candid with Helen; the correspondence provides an intimate glimpse into their relationship. It is clear that Taft not only loved his wife deeply but also respected her intelligence and insight. The letters present readers with a humanized Taft, far from the caricature that so often pervades images of the man and his presidency.

As Gould notes, few of the letters gathered here have been published previously. Unlike the more colorful Theodore Roosevelt or the intellectual Woodrow Wilson, Taft’s papers have not been part of a documentary project to publish volumes of his correspondence. This is what makes Gould’s book so valuable. The correspondence between the Tafts enriches our knowledge of his presidency and his personality. Gould divided the correspondence into six chapters spanning his tenure in office. The phases correspond with his trips around the country. Gould prefaces each chapter with a short summary of where Taft went on his journeys and the topics he discussed in his letters to Helen. He notes if each letter was typed or handwritten. Gould’s footnotes throughout the book are useful in detailing important events and identifying lesser known people. The book is also well illustrated with photographs, which give an added dimension to the story.

My Dearest Nellie is a meticulously edited book that enhances not only the story of William Howard and Helen Herron Taft but also gives insight into the inner workings of a president, documenting his evolution in the office and his views on the people and events surrounding him. The William Howard Taft who emerges is a far more complex character than he appears in the popular mythos. As Gould notes, “Taft has been written off as a failed chief executive who was pushed into office by his wife. In fact, as he argued to...