TLS signed “Wm. H. Taft,” one page, 5.5 x 9, War Department letterhead, November 21, 1906. Letter to Oswald Garrison Villard of the New York Evening Post. In full: “I have your note of November sixteenth, in respect to Pershing. At the instance [sic] of the President I made an investigation into the merits of immorality against Pershing, and especially inquired of General George W. Davis, whose subordinate he was in the Islands and who was certainly in a position to hear and know of such facts if they existed. However, I shall bring the matter to the attention of the President as soon as he returns, and take the steps that he thinks wise to take.” In fine condition, with haloing to the typed text and a stray mark to the left of the signature.
When President Roosevelt promoted John ‘Black Jack’ Pershing from Captain to Brigadier General, skipping three ranks and surpassing over 800 senior officers, a scandal surfaced that nearly destroyed the general’s reputation. On information from an anonymous source, newspapers around the world published charges that he kept a Filipino mistress while serving in the Moro district, secretly fathering two children. As evidence surfaced to clear Pershing of the charges—including affidavits from men named as witnesses to the affair, and an affidavit from the supposed ‘mistress’ herself denying it—Secretary of War William Taft stayed on top of the rumors on behalf of the president, keeping his newspaper friend Oswald Villard informed each step of the way. The press quickly changed its tune, publishing articles instead about jealous passed-over officers likely responsible for beginning the baseless rumors, and the general continued his meteoric rise. An interesting letter regarding the military hero who would go on to earn the highest rank ever held in the US Army: General of the Armies. Pre-certified John Reznikoff/PSA/DNA and RR Auction COA.
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