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How William Howard Taft’s approach to government efficiency differed from Elon Musk’s slash-and-burn tactics

  • Written by Laura Ellyn Smith, Assistant Teaching Professor of History, Arizona State University
imageElon Musk and his son board Air Force One in West Palm Beach, Fla., on April 13, 2025. Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images

For four months, the world’s richest man has played an unprecedented role in U.S. government. At the start of his 2025 term, President Donald Trump asked Elon Musk to cut government “waste and fraud.” That...

Read more: How William Howard Taft’s approach to government efficiency differed from Elon Musk’s...

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