Economic Guardian

"Taft initiated the Commission on Economy and Efficiency" (Tyer).  Taft wanted the President to be able to prepare and present a budget to Congress.  Taft thought there should be steps to preparing the budget to include Secretary of the Treasury, Congress, and the President.


Taft's attempt failed and the United States was left the only major nation in the world with no federal budget (American President: A Reference Resource).

Although Taft did not get submit a federal budget to Congress, he left it at a good spot for the rest of the Presidents down the road to try.  His ideas "became the foundation for the Budget and Accounting Act of 1912, which established an executive budget at the national level in the United States and became the foundation for present day budgeting at the federal level" (Tyer).  Taft did a good job as Economic Guardian because he tried to make a federal budget and set up the path for others.  Now the President does submit a federal budget and it all goes back to Taft.