William Howard Taft

William Howard Taft
Portrait, c. 1908
27th President of the United States
In office March 4, 1909 – March 4, 1913
Vice President	James S. Sherman
Preceded by	Theodore Roosevelt
Succeeded by	Woodrow Wilson
10th Chief Justice of the United States
In office July 11, 1921 – February 3, 1930
Preceded by	Edward Douglass White
Succeeded by	Charles Evans Hughes
Personal details
Born	(1857-09-15)September 15, 1857 Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.
Died	March 8, 1930(1930-03-08) (aged 72) Washington, D.C., U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Helen Herron Taft

William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857 – March 8, 1930) was the 27th president of the United States from 1909 to 1913. He was the only president who also served on the Supreme Court; he was Chief Justice. He was 5 feet 11 inches (1.80 m) tall and weighed over 350 pounds (160 kg) at the end of his presidency.

Early life

Taft was born on September 15, 1857 in Cincinnati, Ohio, to Alphonso Taft and Louise Torrey. His father was a notable person who served as the Secretary of War and Attorney General for President Ulysses S. Grant. However, the Tafts were not that rich, living in a small suburb. While Taft's parents tried their best to make their children successful, he was not that smart when he was young. However, he was a very hard worker.

At Yale College, William Howard Taft was a wrestling champion. A secret society in Yale, Skull and Bones, was co-founded by Taft's father, which prompted the wrestling superstar William to join the club. George H. W. Bush and his son, George W. Bush, later joined the secret society. Even though Taft used to be not that bright, he by 1878 had graduated second in his college class out of 121 students. He then attended Cincinnati Law School and graduated with a bachelor's degree in 1880. He later passed the bar exam.

Rise in government

Taft was appointed as Hamilton County's assistant prosecutor in October 1880. When President Chester A. Arthur appointed Taft as a Collector of Internal Revenue for Ohio's first district in 1882, Taft resigned from his position.

He resigned from his new position in 1883. In 1884, Taft campaigned for former Secretary of State James G. Blaine in the 1884 election. In 1887, Taft was suddenly hired to fulfill a vacancy for a position in Cincinnati's Superior Court, and in 1888, he won his first public election and served for another five years. Sometime in 1880 or earlier, Taft met Helen Herron, who would later be the First Lady. She agreed to marry Taft in 1885 after regularly meeting him the year prior. They officially got married on June 19, 1886. They would have three children, with Robert Taft later becoming a notable U.S. Senator.

In 1889, a Supreme Court vacancy needed to be filled by President Benjamin Harrison. Ohio Governor Joseph Foraker had requested for Harrison to nominate Taft for the position. Though the Supreme Court was Taft's goal, Harrison ended up nominating Taft as the Solicitor General instead. Since the position was vacant, a lot of work needed to be done.

Taft started in February 1890. Even though Taft was good at his job, he gladly resigned in March 1892 to be a judge on the Sixth Circuit of the United States Courts of Appeals. Unlike his previous job, this job was his for life unless he resigned or was impeached. Taft then felt great with his life and his job. He was a man who supported employees over employers, as seen by his many workers' rights cases. He was more liberal than people had thought. Taft became a professor at Cincinnati Law School in 1896 and was committed to it. Also in 1896, William McKinley sought the presidency. Taft was not fond of McKinley and disagreed with things like free silver. In 1898, one year into McKinley's presidency, Taft was upset because McKinley named a different person from him Taft on the Supreme Court.

Political career

Taft then served as a federal judge, governor of the Philippines, and Secretary of War before he was nominated for president in 1908 by the man who preceded him, Theodore Roosevelt. As a Republican president, Taft was most notable for trust-busting in which he broke up large businesses that had too much control over the economy. Taft also expanded the civil service, improved the United States Postal Service, and promoted world peace. Taft also started the tradition of the president pitching the first ball of the baseball season. Early in life, Taft had played baseball. He was a good second baseman and could hit with power.

1908 election

In 1908, with Roosevelt's support, Taft was nominated as the Republican candidate for president. He easily won against the Democratic candidate, William Jennings Bryan, in the general election and became president.

1912 election

During Taft's presidency, his relationship with Roosevelt became bad because Roosevelt thought Taft was not doing a good job and taking too little action against the trusts. Taft was also more conservative and he did not continue all of Roosevelt's progressive policies. As a result, in 1912, Roosevelt came back into politics and ran for president against Taft. Many Republicans split their votes between Taft and Roosevelt, and the Democratic opponent, Woodrow Wilson, won the election. Taft placed third overall behind Wilson and Roosevelt, while still beating Socialist candidate Eugene V. Debs.

Later life

William Howard Taft as Chief Justice

Once he left office in 1913, Taft became a law professor at Yale University. In 1918, Taft and Roosevelt eventually met at a hotel Taft was staying at, upon noticing each other, the two embraced and reconciled, putting the feud aside. This would be their final interaction before Roosevelt's death. Taft attended Roosevelt's funeral in 1919, reportedly being one of the last to leave and visibly crying over the loss of his friend. In 1921, Taft was appointed by Warren G. Harding to be the 10th Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, the job he always wanted, making Taft the only former president to become Chief Justice and be the part of the judicial branch. He retired from the job on February 3, 1930 due to bad health.

Bathtub myth

His wife, Helen Herron Taft

Taft had weighed the most out of any president. He was 5 feet 11 inches (1.80 m) tall, and he weighed between 325 pounds (147 kg) and 280 pounds (130 kg) toward the end of his term due to large amounts of stress-eating from the pressure of the presidency.

In pop culture, there has been a myth about Taft on how he supposedly "got stuck" in the White House bathtub on June 10, 1909, and so he had a tub installed that was 7 ft (2.1 m) long and 41 in (1.0 m) wide. While Taft did have large bathtubs installed in the White House, there is no historical evidence to prove any incident of Taft having difficulty of exiting a tub.

There was a real incident involving Taft and a bathtub. On June 18, 1915, Taft was at a hotel in New Jersey, he reportedly poured too much water into a bathtub, and it overflowed once he got in. The water began to flood the floor and leak into the lower floor dining room. Taft was unaware and napping by the time a plumber came to his room.

Death

Taft died on March 8, 1930 from heart disease, dying just over a month after he resigned from the Supreme Court and just over 17 years after his presidency ended. President Herbert Hoover issued flags to be flown at half staff for 30 days for a period of mourning. Three days later, he became the first president and the first Supreme Court justice to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery. He is also the first President and Chief Justice for whose funeral is broadcast on radio.

Other websites and links

• Taft's White House biography Archived 2021-03-09 at the Wayback Machine