William Howard Taft
27th 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
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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 fever
o Dysentery
o Gout
o Lumbago
o 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
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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
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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=ZuADA
AAAIBAJ&pg=6711,3831831&hl=en
• http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=57