William Howard Taft
Asking For World Peace
In a surprising speech at the Bashford Amphitheater, Taft asked for World Peace to over 10,000 onlookers.
Notable guest speakers and performers were commonplace at the turn of the last century in Mountian Lake Park. The most prominent, without a doubt, was the sitting president, William Howard Taft. Anticipating a typical political address, a record-breaking audience was taken aback
by the president’s appeal for World peace.
With Theodore Roosevelt's help, Taft had little opposition to secure the Republican nomination for president in 1908 and easily defeated William Jennings Bryan for the presidency in that November election. While in the White House, he focused on East Asia more than European affairs and repeatedly intervened to prop up or remove Latin American governments.
Taft was not the only president to visit Garrett County. Grover Cleveland celebrated his honeymoon in Deer Park and his surviving cottage bears his name to this day.
William Howard Taft [1857-1930] pictured boarding a train in Oakland, MD