William H. Taft

William Howard Taft, the 27th President of the United States, was a lawyer, judge, administrator, and statesman whose career was unusual even among American presidents. Born on September 15, 1857, in Cincinnati, Ohio, Taft served in a remarkable variety of positions before and after his presidency, including federal judge, Solicitor General of the United States, governor of the Philippines, Secretary of War, and eventually Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court. Although he is often remembered primarily as the successor to Theodore Roosevelt, Taft's own career was much broader than his four years in the White House. Unlike the energetic and politically aggressive Roosevelt, Taft was temperamentally a judicial and administrative figure who preferred interpreting and enforcing the law to leading public opinion. His greatest ambition was ultimately fulfilled when he became Chief Justice, making him the only person in American history to serve both as President and Chief Justice of the United States.

Taft grew up in a prominent Cincinnati family deeply involved in law and Republican politics. His father, Alphonso Taft, was a successful attorney who later served as Secretary of War and Attorney General under President Ulysses S. Grant and as a diplomat under President Chester A. Arthur, while his mother, Louisa Torrey Taft, encouraged intellectual curiosity and civic involvement. William was an excellent student, graduating second in his class from Woodward High School and later second in his class at Yale in 1878. He then studied law at the University of Cincinnati and passed the Ohio bar examination in 1880. From an early age, Taft was strongly influenced by his father's expectations and developed a reputation for being serious, conscientious, and even-tempered. He also struggled throughout his life with his weight, a problem that became one of the most recognizable aspects of his public image. In 1886, he married Helen "Nellie" Herron, an ambitious and intellectually accomplished woman whose political aspirations would play an important role in Taft's eventual rise to the presidency.

Taft entered public life as an attorney and quickly moved into positions of increasing importance. In 1881 he became assistant prosecutor of Hamilton County, Ohio, and in 1887 he was appointed a judge of the Cincinnati Superior Court. President Benjamin Harrison appointed him Solicitor General of the United States in 1890, giving Taft the responsibility of representing the federal government before the Supreme Court. In 1892, Harrison appointed him to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, where he served as a federal judge while also teaching law and eventually becoming dean of the University of Cincinnati Law School. Although Taft had long hoped to become a Supreme Court justice, his career took an unexpected turn when President William McKinley appointed him to lead the civilian government of the Philippines in 1900. Taft established civil institutions, schools, courts, and a civil service system in the islands and became Governor of the Philippines in 1901. In 1904, Theodore Roosevelt brought Taft into his cabinet as Secretary of War, where he became one of Roosevelt's closest advisers and handled major responsibilities involving the Philippines, Cuba, Panama, and American foreign affairs.

In 1908, Theodore Roosevelt selected Taft as his successor, believing that Taft would continue the Progressive reforms of his administration. Taft won the election decisively and became president on March 4, 1909. His presidency produced important accomplishments, including expanded federal regulation of railroads through the Mann-Elkins Act, continued enforcement of antitrust laws, the dissolution of Standard Oil and American Tobacco, conservation efforts, and the establishment of a federal postal savings system. In foreign policy, Taft promoted "Dollar Diplomacy," seeking to expand American economic influence abroad, particularly in Latin America and Asia. Yet Taft's presidency became increasingly troubled by conflicts within the Republican Party. His more cautious and judicial approach disappointed many progressives, while his decisions on tariffs, conservation, and the Ballinger-Pinchot controversy alienated Roosevelt and progressive Republicans. Roosevelt eventually broke with Taft, returned to politics, and challenged him for the Republican nomination in 1912. Taft retained the nomination, but Roosevelt's decision to run as the Progressive Party candidate split the Republican vote and helped Democrat Woodrow Wilson win the presidency.

After leaving the presidency in 1913, Taft returned to one of his greatest passions: law and constitutional government. He became a professor of law at Yale and remained active in public affairs, including serving as cochairman of the National War Labor Board during World War I. He also supported American participation in the League of Nations, putting him at odds with some Republicans who opposed the organization. Taft's greatest professional achievement, however, came in 1921 when President Warren G. Harding appointed him Chief Justice of the United States. The appointment fulfilled the ambition he had held since his early legal career and allowed him to return to the judicial role for which his temperament was particularly well suited. As Chief Justice, Taft presided over a court that generally favored a cautious interpretation of federal power and wrote 253 opinions during his tenure. Among his significant decisions was Myers v. United States, which affirmed broad presidential authority to remove executive officials.

Taft's health declined during his years as Chief Justice, and he resigned from the Court shortly before his death. He died on March 8, 1930, in Washington, D.C., from complications associated with heart disease and other illnesses, and he was buried at Arlington National Cemetery. His funeral was the first presidential funeral to be broadcast on radio. Taft's historical reputation has often been overshadowed by the larger-than-life figure of Theodore Roosevelt and by the political collapse of his presidency, but his career demonstrates that his greatest strengths were judicial judgment, administration, and public service rather than political leadership. His presidency preserved and expanded several Progressive reforms even as his cautious style frustrated progressives, while his later service as Chief Justice gave him the opportunity to make a more lasting contribution to American constitutional law. Taft therefore occupies a unique place in American history: he was the only person ever to lead both the executive and judicial branches of the federal government, and his life illustrates the unusual path of a man who reached the presidency but ultimately found his greatest professional fulfillment on the Supreme Court.