When William Howard Taft became president in March 1909, he asked Butt to stay on as military aide. Butt continued to serve as a social functionary for Taft, but he also proved to have strong negotiating skills and a good head for numbers, which enabled him to become Taft's "de facto" chief negotiator on federal budget issues. Butt accompanied President Taft when he threw out the first ball at the first home game of Major League Baseball's Washington Senators in 1910 and 1911. Butt died at sea shortly before the season-opening game in 1912 and Taft, according to the "Washington Post", was overcome and "could not be present for obvious reasons."