The Taft Connection

Mount Vernon has a small connection with our Nation’s 27th President. In October of 1911, William Howard Taft paid a visit to the town. On page 52 of the book you will see a photograph of him giving a speech near the train station. In addition to that, downtown’s largest hotel (at a whopping five stories tall!) was renamed The President in honor of the fact that Taft stayed there during his visit.

We also mention the rumor, which was repeated to us by several sources, that Taft got stuck in a bathtub while at, what was then, the Windsor.

Imagine our surprise when we came across this article today! Apparently the bathtub rumor was a national urban legend. It is not surprising, after the passage of about a hundred years, that this legend was given a little home town spin. We would venture that many places across the country thought that rumor was all about them.

And Taft seems to be everywhere these days (we’re such trendsetters!). Just the other night ESPN was reporting about Taft being the newest President to join the National’s Presidents’ Race. Interestingly, he does have some ties to baseball. In 1910 he threw out the first-ever ceremonial first pitch. And he is often credited with starting the seventh inning stretch. It seems like a good choice for the Nationals, but we feel kind of bad for the person that will have to run around in that extra-giant head…