After his victory in the 1904 presidential election , Theodore Roosevelt announced that he would not seek re-election in the 1908 . Roosevelt considered Secretary of War Taft to be his logical successor , although Taft was initially reluctant to run , and would have preferred being appointed to the position of chief justice of the Supreme Court . Roosevelt used his control of the party machinery to aid his heir apparent , and Roosevelt 's political appointees were required to support Taft or remain silent . A number of Republican politicians , such as Treasury Secretary George Cortelyou , tested the waters for a run but chose to stay out . New York Governor Charles Evans Hughes ran , but when he made a major policy speech , Roosevelt took steps to minimize coverage of Hughes 's candidacy . Taft faced no serious opposition at the 1908 Republican National Convention and he won the presidential nomination on the first ballot . Taft hoped his running mate would be a Midwestern progressive like Iowa Senator Jonathan Dolliver , but instead the convention named Congressman James S. Sherman of New York , a conservative . Taft resigned as Secretary of War on June 30 to devote himself full-time to the campaign
1908 Republican National Convention
1908 Republican National Convention
Presidency of William Howard Taft