Clements favored the physical valuation of railroads, which would aid in accessing taxation and allow the Commission to better evaluate rate increase requests. In 1911, after serving a month as acting chairman, he was elected chairman for a one-year term despite the reported opposition of President William Howard Taft, who wanted Republican Edgar Erastus Clark appointed chairman instead. However, at the time, the Commission invariably appointed its senior member as chairman, and Clements was elected. His predecessors had continued to serve as chair until they left the Commission; however, Clements chose to serve only the one-year term. He was interred in Cave Hill Cemetery, Louisville, Kentucky. His twenty-five years on the Interstate Commerce Commission remained a record until surpassed by Balthasar H. Meyer, who served 28 years from 1911 to 1939. It was said of Clements that no opinion written by him was overturned in substance by the Supreme Court of the United States. "Railway Age Gazette", in urging his 1913 reappointment, noted that while Clements had been criticized, his integrity and capacity for the position were beyond question. He died on June 18, 1918 in Washington, D.C.. Retrieved on 2009-05-13