=191. President Taft, an Advocate of Peace.= Roosevelt was President nearly two whole terms. He refused another term, and worked for the nomination of his Secretary of War, William Howard Taft. Taft was well fitted for his new tasks as President. He had held many public offices. He had made a very wise and successful governor of the Philippines. [Illustration: WILLIAM HOWARD TAFT] President Taft was deeply interested in the need of world peace. He submitted to the Senate wide-reaching treaties to uphold peace with France and Great Britain, and also a reciprocity treaty with Canada. Under this last agreement the two countries were to treat each other's trade alike, and some things were to be free of duty. The outcome was disappointing. Canada failed to accept the reciprocity treaty, and the Senate passed the British and French peace treaties only after changing them greatly. The passage of a new tariff bill caused a sharp division among the Republicans. The tariff was much criticized; but President Taft defended it. This was one reason why, in the second half of his term, the lower house of Congress became Democratic. [Sidenote: =New laws passed=] A divided Congress could not easily agree on any needed laws. Yet many good laws were passed during Taft's presidency. One was a Parcel Post measure. Two others proposed constitutional amendments for the taxation of incomes, and the election of United States senators directly by the people. Two new states, New Mexico and Arizona, were admitted to the Union. The growing differences between the two wings of the Republicans in 1912 led to the nomination of both Taft and Roosevelt. Both were defeated by Woodrow Wilson. [Sidenote: =Taft professor at Yale=] After he left the presidency, Mr. Taft became professor of law at Yale. But he now worked more earnestly than ever in behalf of world peace. His sincere and generous efforts in this cause won him increased influence and respect throughout the nation. =192. Roosevelt's Active Life as Ex-President.= Roosevelt, after his defeat in 1912, started out to explore a Brazilian river. Four years before he had also made a hunting trip through the tropical wildernesses of Africa. [Sidenote: =Explores Brazilian river=] Now Roosevelt and his party went into a jungle where no white man had been before. They were faced with tremendous hardships of all kinds. The trip was longer than they expected, and there was little food in the jungle. They ate palm cabbages, and were glad to find a bit of wild honey or shoot a monkey. [Sidenote: =A hazardous voyage=] Most of the party became ill with fever. But they scarcely dared halt. With their few provisions they were in danger of starving. Roosevelt begged the party to leave him behind, but no one would hear of it. So with his party Roosevelt pushed on to civilization, at grave risk to his life. The Brazilian government renamed the six-hundred-mile river he explored Rio Roosevelt. [Sidenote: =In the World War=]