LOOKING EAST
William Howard Taft and the 1905 U.S. Diplomatic Mission to AsiaThe Photographs of Harry Fowler Woods
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![Image of Jinzo, carved in rock, Hakone. Original Photograph by Harry Fowler Woods](./wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/06/jinzo-image.png)
In 1900, Cincinnatian William Howard Taft successfully completed his tenure as Dean of the University of Cincinnati College of Law and began an appointment under President William McKinley as Governor-General of the Philippines. As a federal administrator and diplomat, Taft negotiated amicable trade and cultural interactions between East and West, and in 1905
President Theodore Roosevelt dispatched him on a mission to China, Japan, and the Philippines to further improve U.S.-Asian relations. His large entourage included prominent fellow Cincinnatians and the president’s daughter, Alice, as well as photographer Harry Fowler Woods and a host of American diplomats.
This is the remarkable story of Taft’s mission and Wood’s fascinating documentary photographs.