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Postcard, William Howard Taft, 1908

National Museum of American History
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Object Details

referenced
Taft, William H.
Sherman
Description
Political postcards were very popular in 1908 because of various changes in postal regulations. Two of the most important were lowering the postage cost to a penny and permitting space for both the message and address on one side which made room for a decorative image on the other. This colorful postcard is representative of the hundreds produced for this election.
Republican candidate William Howard Taft had a distinguished career in law and government long before President Theodore Roosevelt identified Taft as his preferred successor. Taft had served as a federal judge, Governor-General of the Philippines, and the first Provisional Governor of Cuba before becoming Roosevelt’s Secretary of War in 1904. In 1908, Taft and his running mate, Representative James Sherman of New York, handed Democratic challenger William Jennings Bryan the worst defeat of his three attempts to win the White House. Socialist candidate Eugene V. Debs finished a distant third.
ID Number
PL.315264.3133
accession number
315264
catalog number
315264.3133
Object Name
postcard
Physical Description
paper (overall material)
red, white, blue, gray (overall color)
Measurements
overall: 5 1/2 in x 3 1/2 in; 13.97 cm x 8.89 cm
See more items in
Political and Military History: Political History, Campaign Collection
Government, Politics, and Reform
American Democracy: A Great Leap of Faith
Exhibition
American Democracy
Exhibition Location
National Museum of American History
National Museum of American History
subject
Political Campaigns
Record ID
nmah_1694112
Metadata Usage (text)
CC0
GUID (Link to Original Record)
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746b0-eaa3-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa

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