Herbert S. Hadley examiners' board, a fish and game commission, a game protection board, and a Missouri waterways commission. Many of Hadley's recommendations for change in other government sectors, such as revenue and public service, were not supported by the Missouri General Assembly. In 1912, Hadley served as floor leader for Theodore Roosevelt's wing of the Republican Party at the 1912 Republican National Convention. After the death of Vice President James S. Sherman in October 1912, President William Howard Taft strongly considered naming Hadley as Sherman's replacement on the 1912 Republican ticket, but Taft ultimately did not select a replacement before the election
Presidency of William Howard Taft owner of the "New-York Tribune", had backed Taft during the campaign, and both William and Nellie Taft enjoyed his gossipy reports. Reid remained in place until his 1912 death. Taft was a supporter of settling international disputes by arbitration, and he negotiated treaties with Great Britain and with France providing that differences be arbitrated. These were signed in August 1911. Neither Taft nor Knox (a former senator) consulted with members of the Senate during the negotiating process. By then many Republicans were opposed to Taft and the president felt that lobbying too hard for the treaties might cause their defeat.