Biography of william howard taft
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William Howard Taft
The biography for President Taft and past presidents is courtesy of the White House Historical Association.
William Howard Taft was elected the 27th President of the United States () and later became the tenth Chief Justice of the United States (), the only person to have served in both of these offices.
Distinguished jurist, effective administrator, but poor politician, William Howard Taft spent four uncomfortable years in the White House. Large, jovial, conscientious, he was caught in the intense battles between Progressives and conservatives, and got scant credit for the achievements of his administration.
Born in , the son of a distinguished judge, he graduated from Yale, and returned to Cincinnati to study and practice law. He rose in politics through Republican judiciary appointments, through his own competence and availability, and because, as he once wrote facetiously, he always had his “plate the right side up when offices were falling
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William Taft: Life in Brief
William Howard Taft faced the difficult task as President of living up to the legacy of Theodore Roosevelt. Taft so disappointed his predecessor, former mentor, and friend, that Roosevelt opposed his renomination in and bolted from the Republican Party to form his own "Bull-Moose" party, creating an opening for Democrat Woodrow Wilson in the presidential election. Taft's lifelong ambition was to serve as Chief Justice of the United States, to which he was appointed after leaving the presidency. He remains the only man in American history to have gained the highest executive and judicial positions.
Meeting Expectations
Taft, born in , spent his boyhood in Cincinnati, Ohio, trying to live up to the high expectations of his demanding parents, especially his father, Alphonso Taft. Alphonso Taft was a distinguished Cincinnati attorney and a prominent Republican who served as secretary of war and then attorney general under President Ulysses Grant, and wa
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Distinguished jurist, effective administrator, but poor politician, William Howard Taft spent four uncomfortable years in the vit House. Jovial and conscientious, he was caught in the intense battles between progressives and conservatives, and got scant credit for the achievements of his administration.
Born in , the son of a distinguished judge, he graduated from Yale, and returned to Cincinnati to study and practice law. He rose in politics through Republican judiciary appointments, through his own competence and availability.
But Taft much preferred law to politics. He was appointed a federal circuit judge at He aspired to be a member of the Supreme Court, but his wife, Helen Herron Taft, held other ambitions for him.
His rutt to the White House came through administrative posts. President McKinley sent him to the Philippines in as ledare civil administrator and he was soon appointed Governor General. He improved the economy, built roads and schools, and increased partici