Identified by the album's original caption as 'Sec. Taft' -- almost certainly William Howard Taft during his 1904-1908 tenure as U.S. Secretary of War -- this photograph shows a card game of bridge whist on a ship's awninged deck. Taft made numerous inspection voyages to the Caribbean and the Panama Canal Zone in this period, and this candid social scene, featuring his wife and an army officer companion, offers a rare informal glimpse of a future U.S. president relaxing en route to official duties. Project: 218602