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 (1909–1912) None (1912–1913)[a]
Preceded by	Theodore Roosevelt
Succeeded by	Woodrow Wilson
10th Chief Justice of the United States
In office July 11, 1921 – February 3, 1930
Nominated by	Warren G. Harding
Preceded by	Edward Douglass White
Succeeded by	Charles Evans Hughes
42nd United States Secretary of War
In office February 1, 1904 – June 30, 1908
President	Theodore Roosevelt
Preceded by	Elihu Root
Succeeded by	Luke Edward Wright
1st Provisional Governor of Cuba
In office September 29, 1906 – October 13, 1906
Appointed by	Theodore Roosevelt
Preceded by	Tomás Estrada Palma (as President)
Succeeded by	Charles Edward Magoon
Governor-General of the Philippines
In office July 4, 1901 – December 23, 1903
Appointed by	William McKinley
Preceded by	Arthur MacArthur Jr. (as Military Governor)
Succeeded by	Luke Edward Wright
Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
In office March 17, 1892 – March 15, 1900
Appointed by	Benjamin Harrison
Preceded by	Seat established
Succeeded by	Henry Franklin Severens
6th Solicitor General of the United States
In office February 4, 1890 – March 20, 1892[1]
President	Benjamin Harrison
Preceded by	Orlow W. Chapman
Succeeded by	Charles H. Aldrich
Personal details
Born	(1857-09-15)September 15, 1857 Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.
Died	March 8, 1930(1930-03-08) (aged 72) Washington, District of Columbia, U.S.
Resting place	Arlington National Cemetery
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Helen Herron ​ (m. 1886)​
Children	Robert Helen Charles II
Parents	Alphonso Taft Louise Torrey
Relatives	Taft family
Education	Yale University (BA) University of Cincinnati (LLB)
Occupation	Politician lawyer
Signature
William Howard Taft's voice On the abolition of war Recorded October 1912

This article is part of a series about William Howard Taft
Early life Family Bibliography Legacy 27th President of the United States Inauguration Presidency (timeline) Executive actions Foreign policy Taftian theory Domestic policy Cabinet Judiciary Dollar diplomacy Income Tax amendment Payne–Aldrich Tariff Act Wireless Ship Act of 1910 Mann–Elkins Act Defense Secrets Act Radio Act of 1912 Commission on Economy and Efficiency U.S. occupation of Nicaragua Presidential campaigns 1908 convention election 1912 convention election 10th Chief Justice of the United States Appointment Supreme Court cases Post-presidency National Historic Site Death
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William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857 – March 8, 1930) was the 27th president of the United States, serving from 1909 to 1913, and the tenth chief justice of the United States, serving from 1921 to 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 reelection in 1912 by Woodrow Wilson 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 he held 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 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 Republican Party's conservative wing, with which Taft often sympathized, and its 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 reelection, 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, Harding appointed Taft 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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