William Howard Taft Quotes
I am afraid I am a constant disappointment to my party. The fact of the matter is, the longer I am president the less of a party man I seem to become.
Pringle, Henry F. The Life and Times of William Howard Taft. Vol. 2, Farrar & Rinehart, 1939, p. 574.
When the Trs Psrty snd other extrme conservatives gsined contol of the Republican Party and moved the party far to the right, the Democratic Party, began shifting to the left. The centeriists of both parties began to be ignored as politicians of each party stove to avoid attacks from their extremes. The result were centerists who left their old party loyalties becomming indeprndents or joininng the other party.
Closest reference to this quote is during remarks at a Fundraiser for Gov. James R. Thompson, Jr., in Rosemont, Illinois August 12, 1986 where he said: “When [Jim O’Grady] was at the White House, Jim said to me, "The great Democratic Party of my father's and grandfather's time just doesn't exist anymore. Mr. President, I didn't leave the Democratic Party, the Democratic Party left me. That's why I switched parties." And I said, "Jim, join the crowd.”” http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=37732
William Howard Taft was the 27th president of the United States (1909–1913) and the tenth Chief Justice of the United States (1921–1930), the only person to have held both offices. Taft was elected president in 1908, the chosen successor of Theodore Roosevelt, but was defeated for reelection by Woodrow Wilson in 1912 after Roosevelt split the Republican vote by running as a third-party candidate. In 1921, President Warren G. Harding appointed Taft to be chief justice, a position he held until a month before his death.
