PRESIDENT WILLIAM H. TAFT - TYPED LETTER SIGNED 01/04/1911 - HFSID 3242

WILLIAM H. TAFT
U.S. President as American Red Cross President.
TLS: "Wm H. Taft" as President of the American Red Cross, on "American Red Cross" stationery, 1p, 6x8. Washington, D.C., 1911 January 4. To J.G. Butler, Jr., Youngstown, Ohio. In full: "As President of the American Red Cross and by authority of its Executive Committee, I hereby appoint you a member of the Youngstown American Red Cross Endowment Fund Committee. By acting in this capacity I believe you will be rendering a public service to the country. A letter of explanation will be sent by Miss Boardman." After the 1905 American Red Cross Charter was granted by Congress, the most pressing job of the volunteer leaders of the reorganized American Red Cross was to rebuild the membership and its treasury. MABEL T. BOARDMAN and WILLIAM H. TAFT, then Secretary of War, a member of the Red Cross Board of Incorporators and a Boardman family friend, concentrated on fundraising for disaster relief abroad in an effort to develop the organization's public image. After leading the faction that forced Clara Barton to resign in 1904, Boardman was the guiding force behind the Red Cross until 1944, two years before her death at 86. She felt that men should occupy the office of Red Cross President to keep the public's confidence in the organization. Taft, while President of the United States, was titular head of Red Cross but Boardman made all the decisions. Today, continuing the precedent set by Taft, the President of the United States serves as Honorary President of the American Red Cross. Mid-vertical fold touches the "W". Lightly creased at upper right blank corner. Lightly soiled. Overall, fine condition.