Helen Louise Herron "Nellie" Taft was the wife of the 27th President of the United States William Howard Taft and First Lady of the United States.
Background
Born on June 2, 1861, Helen Herron was one of eleven children of John and Harriet Herron of Cincinnati, Ohio. Her father, a former law partner of President Hayes, served in Congress and was influential in the Ohio Republican Party from which presidents Hayes and James A. Garfield emerged.
Education
Helen Taft attended a private Cincinnati school for young women. There she studied music and languages and became known as an independent thinker with an adventurous streak.
Career
Mrs. Taft welcomed each step in her husband's: state judge, Solicitor General of the United States, federal circuit judge. In 1900 he agreed to take charge of American civil government in the Philippines. The delight with which she undertook the journey, and her willingness to take her children to a country still unsettled by war, were characteristic of this woman who loved a challenge. In Manila she handled a difficult role with enthusiasm and tact; she relished travel to Japan and China, and a special diplomatic mission to the Vatican.
Further travel with her husband, who became Secretary of War in 1904, brought a widened interest in world politics and a cosmopolitan circle of friends. His election to the Presidency in 1908 gave her a position she had long desired.
As First Lady, she still took an interest in politics but concentrated on giving the administration a particular social brilliance. Only two months after the inauguration she suffered a severe stroke. An indomitable will had her back in command again within a year. At the New Year's reception for 1910, she appeared in white crepe embroidered with gold - a graceful figure. Her daughter left college for a year to take part in social life at the White House, and the gaiety of Helen's debut enhanced the 1910 Christmas season.
During four years famous for social events, the most outstanding was an evening garden party for several thousand guests on the Tafts' silver wedding anniversary, June 19, 1911. Mrs. Taft remembered this as "the greatest event" in her White House experience. Her own book, Recollections of Full Years, gives her account of a varied life. And the capital's famous Japanese cherry trees, planted around the Tidal Basin at her request, form a notable memorial.
Views
Nellie clearly enjoyed her husband’s prominent role, and she eagerly participated in discussions with him about his duties as the territory’s governor. She also battled prejudice among white officials, who sometimes treated Filipinos with contempt, and the Tafts urged tolerance and equality in official social occasions. During her time in the Philippines, Nellie tried to improve the quality of life of the country’s poor. She met with Filipino women to persuade them to accept food and medical supplies sent from the United States, and she founded the Drop of Milk program, which instructed residents about methods of milk sterilization. Showing her adventurous spirit, Nellie became the first white female to tour the rugged and dangerous Luzon Mountain region. She supported the women’s suffrage movement, but she believed that women should not become office-seekers themselves.