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William H. Taft 37th President of the United States
27th under the US Constitution
WILLIAM HOWARD TAFT was born September
15, 1857 in Cincinnati, Ohio. Both of his parents were descendants of old New
England families of British origin. His father, Alphonso Taft, a native of
Vermont and the son of a judge, had moved to Cincinnati in 1837 to practice law
and later served as judge in Ohio, secretary of war and as attorney general
under President Ulysses S. Grant. His mother, Louise Torrey Taft, came to Ohio
from Massachusetts years later as Alphonso's second wife. Traditions revering
education and public service ran strong in the family, and young Taft strove to
emulate and exceed his father’s example.
Taft received his early education at the local Cincinnati schools, where
he was an intelligent student. In 1874 he entered Yale, where he was both
successful and popular. When he graduated in 1878, he ranked second in his
class. After graduation, he went home to Cincinnati, which was the political
base for the Taft family through several generations, to attend the Cincinnati
Law School. He graduated in 1880 and passed the Ohio bar the same year. Only a
few months passed between his graduation from law school and his first public
appointment as assistant prosecutor of Hamilton County, Ohio, in 1881. The next
year he was appointed Cincinnati's collector of internal revenue, but later
resigned to pursue a private law practice. He practiced law in Cincinnati from
1883 to 1887. In 1885 Taft returned to public service as assistant county
solicitor in Hamilton County.
On June 19, 1886, he married Helen Herron, whom he called Nellie, the
daughter of a well-known Cincinnati lawyer. The couple had three children,
Robert Alphonso Taft (1889 – 1953), Helen Herron Taft (1891 – 1987) and
Charles Phelps Taft (1897 – 1983). An intelligent and ambitious woman, Nellie
Taft played an important role in Taft's career and in his advancement and a
principal influence in persuading him to leave the law and the bench.
In 1889, although only 32 years old, President Benjamin Harrison appointed
Taft as United States solicitor general. Much later, Taft attributed his success
in these early years to the fact that "like every well-trained Ohio man I
had my plate the right side up when offices were falling." After a year he
was back in Cincinnati as a circuit court judge where he remained for eight
years.
Taft began to gain national stature in 1900, when President McKinley sent
him to the Philippines as chief civil administrator. Sympathetic toward the
Filipinos, he improved the economy, built roads and schools, and gave the people
at least some participation in government. In 1901, McKinley named Taft the
first civil governor of the Philippines. His governorship of the islands was a
high mark as he recognized that the first steps toward the goal of independence
were public education and the end of ownership of land by the Roman Catholic
friars. He reached an agreement with the Vatican whereby, with American
financial assistance, the lands were sold back to the Filipinos. When Theodore
Roosevelt succeeded the assassinated McKinley as president, he twice offered
Governor Taft a place on the U.S. Supreme Court, but Taft declined, insisting
that his work in the Philippines was not finished.
Roosevelt had come to look upon Taft as his eventual successor and he was
certain that he needed him in his cabinet. With the understanding that he could
continue to oversee Philippine affairs from Washington, Taft accepted the post
of Secretary of War.
Taft as Secretary of War became the administration's "trouble
shooter" at home and abroad. During the years between 1904 and 1908 Taft
had direct charge of the construction of the Panama Canal. Roosevelt considered
Taft one of his most valuable assets, so able was Taft that Roosevelt felt free
to leave the capital whenever he wished, because he had "left Taft sitting
on the lid." As Roosevelt's personal emissary Taft was sent on many
diplomatic assignments.
In 1906 Taft was again offered a seat on the Supreme Court. When asked if
his father would accept, one of Taft's sons replied, "Nope. Ma wants him to
wait and be president." Roosevelt had vowed not to run again after the 1904
election. Taft was closely branded with Roosevelt and his policies, and many
Roosevelt supporters believed him an ideal successor. Roosevelt himself was
satisfied that Taft's election would make certain that his reform programs were
continued and he used his influence to get Taft the nomination. Taft became the
Republican candidate on the first ballot. He was elected president in 1908 with
a popular vote of 7,675,320 to candidate William Jennings Bryan’s 6,412,294
and an electoral vote of 321 to Bryan's 162.
During his presidency, Taft introduced budgetary controls, an eight-hour
workday for government employees, and a campaign-spending disclosure bill. His
Administration prosecuted numerous companies under the anti-trust laws.
In succeeding a president as multi-faceted and popular as Roosevelt
however, Taft was at a serious disadvantage. Taft had a judicial, not a
political, personality. He was a procrastinator and a poor public speaker, and
he altogether lacked Roosevelt's flair for dramatizing the issues and his
intentions. Although Roosevelt could influence Taft, he soon discovered he could
not mold him in his own image. Taft admitted the job of president intimidated
him. Taft drew mounting criticism from Roosevelt, who eventually branded Taft an
ineffectual conservative puppet of big business.
Roosevelt made it clear early in 1912 that he wanted the Republican
nomination for president. By this time the former friends were bitter enemies,
and Taft was resolved that Roosevelt should not succeed. Taft prevented the
seating of many Roosevelt delegates at the 1912 national convention with his
control over the party machinery, and he kept the official Republican nomination
for himself. However, his hopes for reelection were inadequate as his
administration was uninteresting and failed to attract anybody's attention or
enthusiasm. Roosevelt agreed and led his supporters out of the Republican Party
to the Progressive, or Bull Moose Party, splitting the Republican vote. Democrat
Woodrow Wilson won easily and Taft was released from the office he loathed.
Taft, free of the Presidency, served as Professor of Law at Yale until
President Harding made him Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court -- a
position he held until just before his death in 1930. To Taft, this appointment
was his greatest honor; he wrote: "I don't remember that I ever was
President."
Heart disease forced Taft to retire from the court on February 3, 1930,
and almost as if the surrender of the work he loved had sapped his remaining
strength, he died on March 8, 1930 in Washington, D.C.
Presidents
of the Continental Congress
United Colonies of The United States
Peyton
Randolph September 5, 1774 to October 22, 1774
and May 20 to May 24, 1775
Henry Middleton October 22, 1774 to October 26, 1774
The Vice President
Speaker of the House
President pro tempore of the Senate
Secretary of State
Secretary of the Treasury
Secretary of Defense
Attorney General
Secretary of the Interior
Secretary of Agriculture
Secretary of Commerce
Secretary of Labor
Secretary of Health and Human Services
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
Secretary of Transportation
Secretary of Energy
Secretary of Education
Secretary of Veterans Affairs
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