The Dawn of the Modern Presidency: McKinley, Roosevelt, and Taft

In this roundtable during the Capital Rare Book Fair: Winter Edition, presidential descendants Hugh Taft-Morales (great-grandson of William Howard Taft), Tweed Roosevelt (great-grandson of Theodore Roosevelt), and Massee McKinley (descendant of William McKinley and Grover Cleveland) offer a unique insider's perspective on the leaders who reshaped modern America. The speakers will explore the human side of the executive brance, discussing their ancestors’ private lives, leadership strengths, personal flaws, and enduring political legacies. They will evaluate how these three presidents continue to influence contemporary American politics.

Tickets include entry to the Capital Rare Book Fair: Winter Edition, which will take place at the University Club from 10 am to 6 pm on December 5th.

About the Speakers:

Hugh Taft-Morales retired in 2025 from a career in education and religious humanism. Hugh taught philosophy and history for twenty-five years in Washington, D. C. at St. Albans School and the Edmund Burke School. He left teaching, enrolled in the Humanist Institute, and was certified as an Ethical Culture Leader by the American Ethical Union (AEU) in 2010. For fifteen years he served as Leader of the Philadelphia Ethical Society and the Baltimore Ethical Society. He held various positions in his clergy group, the National Leaders Council, and in the American Ethical Union.

Born and raised in Connecticut, Taft-Morales graduated with a B.A. cum laude in American History from Yale University in 1979. He moved to Washington and worked for a year on Capitol Hill. In 1986 he was awarded an M.A. in Philosophy from the University of Kent at Canterbury, England. He lives in Takoma Park, Maryland, with his wife, Maureen. They have three wonderful adult children – Sean, Maya, and Justin – who all live in the District of Columbia. Hugh's hobbies include yoga, writing poetry, and singing and playing guitar.

Tweed Roosevelt, University Professor and Chairman of the Theodore Roosevelt Institute at Long Island University, is the great-grandson of President Theodore Roosevelt, a member of one of the most respected families in the United States. Tweed Roosevelt led the effort to award President Theodore Roosevelt the Congressional Medal of Honor, the United States' highest military honor. President Bill Clinton formally awarded the Medal posthumously, in 2001. The award is prominently displayed in the White House’s Roosevelt Room, adjacent to the Oval Office. Tweed Roosevelt has taught at Harvard University and Columbia University's School of Business. He holds a BA from Harvard College, an MBA. from Columbia University, and a Doctorate of Humane Letters.

Massee McKinley is a descendant of President Grover Cleveland and a relative of President William McKinley. He is Director of Marketing and Brand Engagement at Long Island University, Co-Founder of The Society of Presidential Descendants, and an avid collector of presidential autographs.