William Howard Taft

04/03/190904/03/1913View on timeline
William Howard Taft
William Howard Taft

William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857 – March 8, 1930) was the 27th president of the United States (1909–1913) and the tenth Chief Justice of the United States (1921–1930), the only person to have held both offices. Taft was elected president in 1908, the chosen successor of Theodore Roosevelt, but was defeated for re-election by Woodrow Wilson in 1912 after Roosevelt split the Republican vote by running as a third-party candidate. In 1921, President Warren G. Harding appointed Taft to be chief justice, a position in which he served until a month before his death.

Taft was born in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1857. His father, Alphonso Taft, was a U.S. Attorney General and Secretary of War. Taft attended Yale and joined the Skull and Bones, of which his father was a founding member. After becoming a lawyer, Taft was appointed a judge while still in his twenties. He continued a rapid rise, being named Solicitor General and as a judge of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. In 1901, President William McKinley appointed Taft civilian governor of the Philippines. In 1904, Roosevelt made him Secretary of War, and he became Roosevelt's hand-picked successor. Despite his personal ambition to become chief justice, Taft declined repeated offers of appointment to the Supreme Court of the United States, believing his political work to be more important.

With Roosevelt's help, Taft had little opposition for the Republican nomination for president in 1908 and easily defeated William Jennings Bryan for the presidency in that November's election. In the White House, he focused on East Asia more than European affairs and repeatedly intervened to prop up or remove Latin American governments. Taft sought reductions to trade tariffs, then a major source of governmental income, but the resulting bill was heavily influenced by special interests. His administration was filled with conflict between the conservative wing of the Republican Party, with which Taft often sympathized, and the progressive wing, toward which Roosevelt moved more and more. Controversies over conservation and antitrust cases filed by the Taft administration served to further separate the two men. Roosevelt challenged Taft for renomination in 1912. Taft used his control of the party machinery to gain a bare majority of delegates and Roosevelt bolted the party. The split left Taft with little chance of re-election and he took only Utah and Vermont in Wilson's victory.

After leaving office, Taft returned to Yale as a professor, continuing his political activity and working against war through the League to Enforce Peace. In 1921, President Harding appointed Taft as chief justice, an office he had long sought. Chief Justice Taft was a conservative on business issues and under him there were advances in individual rights. In poor health, he resigned in February 1930, and died the following month. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery, the first president and first Supreme Court justice to be interred there. Taft is generally listed near the middle in historians' rankings of U.S. presidents.

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Published in 28/08/2020

Updated in 19/02/2021

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04/03/179704/03/1801John AdamsJohn Adams
04/03/180104/03/1809Thomas JeffersonThomas Jefferson
04/03/180904/03/1817James MadisonJames Madison
04/03/181704/03/1825James MonroeJames Monroe
04/03/182504/03/1829John Quincy AdamsJohn Quincy Adams
04/03/182904/03/1837Andrew JacksonAndrew Jackson
04/03/183704/03/1841Martin Van BurenMartin Van Buren
04/03/184104/04/1841William Henry HarrisonWilliam Henry Harrison
04/04/184104/03/1845John TylerJohn Tyler
04/03/184504/03/1849James K. PolkJames K. Polk
04/03/184909/07/1850Zachary TaylorZachary Taylor
09/07/185004/03/1853Millard FillmoreMillard Fillmore
04/03/185304/03/1857Franklin PierceFranklin Pierce
04/03/185704/03/1861James BuchananJames Buchanan
04/03/186115/04/1865Abraham LincolnAbraham Lincoln
15/04/186504/03/1869Andrew JohnsonAndrew Johnson
04/03/186904/03/1877Ulysses S. GrantUlysses S. Grant
04/03/187704/03/1881Rutherford B. HayesRutherford B. Hayes
04/03/188119/09/1881James A. GarfieldJames A. Garfield
19/09/188104/03/1885Chester A. ArthurChester A. Arthur
04/03/188504/03/1889Grover ClevelandGrover Cleveland
04/03/188904/03/1893Benjamin HarrisonBenjamin Harrison
04/03/189304/03/1897Grover ClevelandGrover Cleveland
04/03/189714/09/1901William McKinleyWilliam McKinley
14/09/190104/03/1909Theodore RooseveltTheodore Roosevelt
04/03/190904/03/1913William Howard TaftWilliam Howard Taft
04/03/191304/03/1921Woodrow WilsonWoodrow Wilson
04/03/192102/08/1923Warren G. HardingWarren G. Harding
04/03/192304/03/1929Calvin CoolidgeCalvin Coolidge
04/03/192904/03/1933Herbert HooverHerbert Hoover
04/03/193312/04/1945Franklin D. RooseveltFranklin D. Roosevelt
12/04/194520/01/1953Harry S. TrumanHarry S. Truman
20/01/195320/01/1961Dwight D. EisenhowerDwight D. Eisenhower
20/01/196122/11/1963John F. KennedyJohn F. Kennedy
22/11/196320/01/1969Lyndon B. JohnsonLyndon B. Johnson
20/01/196909/08/1974Richard NixonRichard Nixon
09/08/197420/01/1977Gerald FordGerald Ford
20/01/197720/01/1981Jimmy CarterJimmy Carter
20/01/198120/01/1989Ronald ReaganRonald Reagan
20/01/198920/01/1993George H. W. BushGeorge H. W. Bush
20/01/199320/01/2001Bill ClintonBill Clinton
20/01/200120/01/2009George W. BushGeorge W. Bush
20/01/200920/01/2017Barack ObamaBarack Obama
20/01/201720/01/2021Donald TrumpDonald Trump