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William H. Taft – Taft promotes the Postal Savings System bill
An unusually fine and substantive letter from President Taft, dated May 17, 1910, to Wisconsin Congressman Gustav Kustermann. Taft solicits the Congressman’s help in passing the Postal Savings System bill, which became law the following month.
The Postal Savings system was designed to help lower income and rural families save money through government backed accounts available at post offices. The program was established in 1911 and ran for almost 50 years. The letter is notable for discussing one of Taft’s major domestic priorities and offering a rare glimpse of Taft managing a bill through Congress. Often overshadowed by the reputation of Theodore Roosevelt’s progressive reforms, Taft’s economic initiatives are often overlooked. Taft writes in part:
"I am very anxious to get through a satisfactory postal savings bank bill, and in order to reach one based on sound economic principles I have asked Mr. Weeks to confer with Assistant Secretary of the Treasury Norton, who is an expert on this subject. It would gratify me very much if you would attend a conference which I have suggested to Mr. Norton that he call of certain confreres of yours in the Wisconsin delegation.”
Condition: Single page on a bifolium sheet of White House stationery with some minor toning. Taft’s large signature is slightly light, likely due to minor fading of his brown ink. At the bottom of the letter a line-spacing error causes “House of Representatives” to slightly overlaps the Congressman’s name - an unusual example of a less-than- perfectly typed letter reaching the President for signature.
William H. Taft – Taft promotes the Postal Savings System bill
An unusually fine and substantive letter from President Taft, dated May 17, 1910, to Wisconsin Congressman Gustav Kustermann. Taft solicits the Congressman’s help in passing the Postal Savings System bill, which became law the following month.
The Postal Savings system was designed to help lower income and rural families save money through government backed accounts available at post offices. The program was established in 1911 and ran for almost 50 years. The letter is notable for discussing one of Taft’s major domestic priorities and offering a rare glimpse of Taft managing a bill through Congress. Often overshadowed by the reputation of Theodore Roosevelt’s progressive reforms, Taft’s economic initiatives are often overlooked. Taft writes in part:
"I am very anxious to get through a satisfactory postal savings bank bill, and in order to reach one based on sound economic principles I have asked Mr. Weeks to confer with Assistant Secretary of the Treasury Norton, who is an expert on this subject. It would gratify me very much if you would attend a conference which I have suggested to Mr. Norton that he call of certain confreres of yours in the Wisconsin delegation.”
Condition: Single page on a bifolium sheet of White House stationery with some minor toning. Taft’s large signature is slightly light, likely due to minor fading of his brown ink. At the bottom of the letter a line-spacing error causes “House of Representatives” to slightly overlaps the Congressman’s name - an unusual example of a less-than- perfectly typed letter reaching the President for signature.