Abstract
Helen Herron Taft is one of America's most fascinating presidential spouses. This was a First Lady who drank, smoked, played cards, and even enjoyed politics, yet she was a gracious hostess and an astute political adviser who became the first First Lady to publish a memoir. She has, however, remained one of the most underappreciated and least well-known presidential spouses in history. There are various reasons for her obscurity, including the mediocrity of William Howard Taft's presidency and the unfortunate fact that her husband served between two giants in American history: Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson. But Mrs. Taft also suffered a stroke in May 1909, just weeks after her husband's inauguration, which slowed her activism. In spite of the stroke and prevailing views against women wielding political influence, Mrs. Taft managed a number of important achievements in the White House. These are examined in Helen Taft, along with her role in her husband's political career, her interest in positioning her husband favorably with Roosevelt, and her complicity in the infamous falling-out between the two Republican leaders.
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