Governor-General Taft at his Desk in the Philippines

This black-and-white photograph, shows Governor-General William H. Taft at his desk in his office in the Philippines. Taft was sent to the Philippines at the request of President William McKinley in 1900, where he was tasked with overseeing the establishment of a civilian government for the new protectorate following its annexation to the United States as a result from the Spanish American War. Sympathetic towards and popular with the Filipino people, Taft governed the islands until he was summoned by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1903 to serve as his Secretary of War.