TLS signed “Wm. H. Taft,” two pages, 8 x 10.5, personal letterhead, May 6, 1920. Letter to newspaper correspondent Gus Karger. In part: “Thank you for sending me Knox’s joint resolution…Knox’s legal positions have become quite unstable and unsound since he got into this treaty discussion. I don’t regard anything he says of any particular moment now, from a legal and judicial standpoint. The theory that you can make peace by repealing a declaration of war is about as absurd as anything I know. The declaration of war leads to war, and that produces a status. The only way of ending that status is by agreement between the parties carrying on the war.” A carbon copy of Karger’s three-page response is attached with a paperclip. Intersecting folds, toning, and stains and rusty paperclips to upper left corner, otherwise fine condition.
At the time Taft wrote this letter, the US was still technically in a state of declared war against Germany, a vestige from World War I due to the US never signing the Treaty of Versailles—a treaty that remained unsigned as politicians from both sides argued about whether or not the US should join the League of Nations. In 1920, Senator Philander C. Knox introduced a resolution which contended that the United States did not need to sign a peace treaty to officially conclude participation in World War I; while it did pass through Congress, it was vetoed by President Wilson. The US did not officially recognize the end of involvement in World War I until more than a year later, with the passage of the Knox–Porter Resolution under President Harding, on July 2, 1921. Following shortly thereafter, on August 25, was the official US-German Peace Treaty that Taft supported. A fascinating letter on Taft’s views of the legalities of war, a subject with which he was well-versed, having served as both president and chief justice of the Supreme Court. Pre-certified John Reznikoff/PSA/DNA and RR Auction COA.
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