William Howard Taft27th President

By: Stella Glaubensklee

Early Life

• Born on September 15, 1857 in Cincinnati, Ohio.• He was one of six children of Louisa Maria Torrey and Alphonso Taft.• Attended Yale and University of Cincinnati College of Law.• He dreamed of being a member of the Supreme Court.• Married Helen "Nellie" Herron.• They had three children.

Getting to Know William Taft

• Taft weighed over 300 pounds in office• Had brown hair, blue eyes, and a handlebar mustache• High expectations set by his wife, Nellie, and his father, Alphonso• William valued law over politics• Tone deaf• He suffered from:

o A skull fracture o Typhoid fevero Dysenteryo Gouto Lumbagoo Rheumatoid Arthritis

Before Presidency

• Served as an Assistant Prosecutor of Hamilton County.• Appointed Local Collector of Internal Revenue.• Appointed Supreme Court Judge of Cincinnati, he then moved on to

Solicitor General of the United States under President Harrison.• William Taft worked on the Phillipine Islands.• Theodore Roosevelt appointed William to be secretary of war.• Roosevelt gave Taft the option of either being president or a member

of the supreme court.• He decided to run as president in 1908 with the help of Nellie.

Running for President

• Taft was not a fan of campaigning.• Nellie, Taft’s wife, encouraged him to campaign.• William Taft defeated Democrat William Jennings Bryan in the

election.• Won the election by promising to continue the Rooseveltian program.

Presidency (1909-1913)

• Vice President: James Sherman• Taft’s Dollar Diplomacy• Payne-Aldrich Act• 16th amendment• 17th amendment• Vetoed a bill requiring a literacy test for voting• Defeated by Woodrow Wilson

Post Presidency

• Professor at Yale teaching law.

• Appointed as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court by President Warren Harding.

• Taft improved the organization and efficiency of the Supreme Court and lobbied congress to pass the Judiciary Act of 1925 (The Judges’ Bill).

• Swore in two other presidents (Coolidge and Hoover).

• William Taft passed away on March 8, 1930.

Legacy

• Threw the first presidential pitch.• Last to have a cow at the White House.• Only one to lead both the executive and legislative branches.• When traveling to the Panama Canal the captain requested a larger bathtub

for Taft.• Last president to have facial hair.• First president to own a car.• Rumor of Taft getting stuck in the White House bathtub.• First president to be buried at the Arlington National Cemetary.• First president to have a radio broadcasted funeral.

References

• http://www.biography.com/people/william-howard-taft-9501184#public-service• https://www.whitehouse.gov/1600/presidents/williamhowardtaft• http://www.softschools.com/timelines/william_howard_taft_timeline/195/• http://www.presidential-power.org/presidencies-timelines/william-taft-presidency-timeline.

htm• http://mentalfloss.com/article/58914/15-wonderful-william-howard-taft-facts• http://www.republicanpresidents.net/10-interesting-facts-about-william-taft/• http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/biographies/william-howard-taft/• http://

www.usconstitution.org/federal-judiciary/details/judiciary-act-of-1925-43-stat-936-1925• http://millercenter.org/president/taft/essays/biography/4• https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1314&dat=19130215&id=quFVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Z

uADAAAAIBAJ&pg=6711,3831831&hl=en• http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=57