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Description Field Ind Field Data
Leader LDR cam i 00
Control # 1 2020042478
Control # Id 3 DLC
Date 5 20230503161240.0
Fixed Data 8 201130s2021 ksu b 001 0deng
LC Card 10    $a 2020042478
ISBN 20    $a9780700632114$q(hardcover)
ISBN 20    $z9780700632121$q(epub)
Obsolete 39    $a334007$cTLC
Cat. Source 40    $aDLC$beng$erda$cDLC
Authen. Ctr. 42    $apcc
Geog. Area 43    $an-us---
LC Call 50  4 $aE761$b.B87 2021
Dewey Class 82 00 $a973.91/2092$223
ME:Pers Name 100 $aBurns, Kevin$c(College teacher)$eauthor.
Title 245 10 $aWilliam Howard Taft's constitutional progressivism /$cKevin J. Burns.
Tag 264 264  1 $aLawrence :$bUniversity Press of Kansas,$c[2021]
Phys Descrpt 300    $axiii, 234 pages ;$c24 cm.
Tag 336 336    $atext$btxt$2rdacontent
Tag 337 337    $aunmediated$bn$2rdamedia
Tag 338 338    $avolume$bnc$2rdacarrier
Series:Diff 490 $aAmerican political thought
Abstract 520    $a"Progressive Era scholarship has traditionally insisted that William Howard Taft was opposed to progressive reforms, emphasizing his "judicial temperament" and constitutional conservatism. Scholars have buttressed these theoretical arguments by pointing to Taft's break with Theodore Roosevelt and other notable progressives in the election of 1912. In contrast to this view, Kevin Burns argues that Taft's defense of the Constitution was not an attack on progressivism. Instead, Taft is better seen as a friendly critic of progressivism who worked to tie progressive policy initiatives to constitutional government. To the extent he broke with the radical wing of the Progressive Movement, he did so in order to show that progressive reform could be stronger and longer lasting if it was enacted by constitutional means. Burns makes a key distinction between policy and institutional reform. Taft was a progressive in terms of policy, but a conservative in his understanding of the Constitution. As president, he continued and expanded Theodore Roosevelt's work by breaking up trusts, formalizing land withdrawals for conservation, lowering tariffs, and expanding railroad regulations. Additionally, he worked to modernize the presidency by strengthening the chief executive's power and control over the executive branch and buttressing his power to lead the government as a whole. In contrast to more radical reformers, however, such as Herbert Croly, who insisted that the Constitution must be radically transformed in order to permit quick and effective progressive reforms, Taft hoped to advance reform through an evolution in politics and public policy, not a revolution in constitutional principles. By carefully analyzing his words and deeds as president and chief justice, Burns provides a new lens through which to view Taft. He shows that Taft presented a case for the continued viability of the Constitution, seeking to prove that our nation's fundamental law was (as he said) sufficiently "elastic" to be open to reform and change without itself changing."--$cProvided by publisher.
Note:Bibliog 504    $aIncludes bibliographical references (pages 215-222) and index.
Note:Content 505 $aIntroduction -- "Maintenance and enforcement" : regularizing conservation and trust policy -- Party leadership and legislation : Tariffs and railroad regulations -- To "perfect the machinery" : modernizing the executive branch -- Partisanship and the presidency : party and popular leadership -- The professor on the presidency : our chief magistrate and his powers -- The Chief Justice on the presidency : Myers v. United States and the removal power -- Jurisprudence : commerce, regulation, and labor -- Chief Justice as Chief Executive : judicial reforms on the Taft Court -- Conclusion.
Subj:Pers 600 10 $aTaft, William H.$q(William Howard),$d1857-1930.
Subj:Geog. 651  0 $aProgressivism (United States politics)$xHistory$y20th century.