Who was the first President to use an automobile while in office? Harry Truman? Think again. Franklin D. Roosevelt, not a chance. I will give you a little more time...Time is up. The answer, William Howard Taft.
Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt would have been a very solid guess. In fact, a whole trail was named in honor of him, The Roosevelt-Marcy Trail in upstate New York. Upon hearing of President William McKinley's death, TR traveled via stagecoach for forty nerve racking miles from Tahawus to the North Creek train station so he could get to the nation's capital to take the Presidential oath. Despite his knack for an adventure, however, TR displayed a strong aversion towards the automobile. "Nothing has spread Socialistic feeling in this country more than the use of automobiles. To the countryman they are a picture of arrogance of wealth with all its independence and carelessness."
In 1909, William H. Taft became the 27th President of the United States. With it he brought along the automobile. For the past twenty plus years, the issue of improved roads came to the forefront in state and national politics. While the bicycle helped paved the way for good roads, it was Henry Ford and Charles Duryea's invention, the automobile that really pushed roads to the forefront.
President Taft was a huge proponent of the "horseless carriage." "I am sure the automobile coming in as a toy of the wealthier class is going to prove the most useful of them all to all classes, rich and poor." After Taft endorsed the automobile, automobile production augmented 125% from the year before. While the wealthy were the main proprietors of the automobile during McKinley and TR's administrations, more and more Americans began to slowly take the wheel.As they say, the rest is history. Within a decade the United States passed two highway acts, culminating in the democratization of the automobile in the nation.
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