Archibald Willingham DeGraffenreid Clarendon Butt was an American Army officer and aide to presidents Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft. After a few years as a newspaper reporter, he served two years as the First Secretary of the American embassy in Mexico. He was commissioned in the United States Volunteers in 1898 and served in the Quartermaster Corps during the Spanish–American War. After brief postings in Washington, D.C., and Cuba, he was appointed military aide to Republican presidents Roosevelt and Taft. He was a highly influential advisor on a wide range of topics to both men, and his writings are a major source of historical information on the presidencies. He died in the sinking of the British liner Titanic in 1912.
Butt in 1909
Butt (left, in uniform) on the White House portico with Robert Baden-Powell, President Taft, and British ambassador Lord Bryce in February 1912.
April 17, 1912, headline: "No News of Major Butt or Clarence Moore"
Presidency of William Howard Taft
The presidency of William Howard Taft began on March 4, 1909, when William Howard Taft was inaugurated as 27th president of the United States, and ended on March 4, 1913. Taft was a Republican from Ohio. The protégé and chosen successor of President Theodore Roosevelt, he took office after easily defeating Democrat William Jennings Bryan in the 1908 presidential election. His presidency ended with his defeat in the 1912 election by Democrat Woodrow Wilson.
Image: William Howard Taft, head and shoulders portrait, facing front
Image: 1894 US Presidential Seal
One of a series of candid photographs known as the Evolution of a Smile, as Taft learns by telephone from Roosevelt of his nomination for president
Taft, seated at center, and his cabinet (September 1910), left to right: Richard Achilles Ballinger, George von Lengerke Meyer, Philander C. Knox, Charles Dyer Norton, Frank Harris Hitchcock, James Wilson, Franklin MacVeagh, George W. Wickersham, Charles Nagel