Analysis: Former President Taft on America’s Entry into the War.

William Howard Taft’s presidency ended in 1913, the year before war in Europe broke out, and he subsequently returned to a career in legal studies. Though he advocated for peace and worked to establish an international conflict-resolution body, Taft also supported the draft and believed that if the United States was going to be involved in the war, it should use overwhelming force to end the conflict quickly. Taft gave this speech just three months after the United States had declared war on Germany; in it, he concludes both on legal and moral grounds that Germany was in the wrong and that many sacrifices must be made before the conflict was over. Taft delivered this speech during the graduation ceremonies of Union College in Schenectady, New York, and so he was addressing young men who were likely to enlist or be drafted.