PRESIDENT WILLIAM H. TAFT - AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED 07/29/1906 - HFSID 4909

WILLIAM H. TAFT
William Taft hand writes this letter while Secretary of War saying that he will be on a much needed vacation and will not be able to attend a dinner.
Scarce Autograph Letter Signed: "Wm H. Taft" as Secretary of War, 1p, 8x10½. Pointe au Pic P.Q., Canada, 1906 July 29. To Mr. Levering. In full: "I have your kind invitation to attend a dinner of the Plymouth County Committee at Nantasket Beach on Sept. 6th. I should be glad to come be present but the fact is my vacation does not end until September 15th and I need it all - I may have to break into it long enough to make a speech during the last week in August in Littlefield's district in view of the fight the Gompers contingent is making on him. Later on if I am anywhere near your District I shall be glad to help but the date you fix is impossible. I am sorry." TAFT served as Secretary of War in Theodore Roosevelt's Cabinet from 1904 to 1908, when he received the Republican nomination for President. Republican Congressman CHARLES E. LITTLEFIELD represented Maine in the House of Representatives from 1899-1908. The Canada-Maine border is just 45 miles from Taft's summer home in Pointe au Pic, Quebec. SAMUEL GOMPERS, President of the American Federation of Labor, opposed Littlefield's re-election because of his anti-labor record, but Littlefield won. Shaded at lower fold, creased (none affecting signature), else fine.