William Howard Taft: Difference between revisions

{{Other persons|William Howard Taft}}

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{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2011}}

{{Infobox officeholder

|name=William Howard Taft

|image=William Howard Taft.jpg

|imagesize=245px

|order=[[List of Presidents of the United States|27th]] [[President of the United States]]

|term_start=March 4, 1909

|term_end=March 4, 1913

|vicepresident=[[James S. Sherman]] <small>(1909–1912)</small> <br /> ''None'' <small>(1912–1913)</small>

|predecessor=[[Theodore Roosevelt]]

|successor=[[Woodrow Wilson]]

|order2=[[Chief Justice of the United States#List of Chief Justices|10th]] [[Chief Justice of the United States]]

|nominator2=[[Warren G. Harding]]

|term_start2=June 30, 1921<ref name='fedjudcenter'>{{cite news | author= | coauthors= |authorlink= | title=Federal Judicial Center: William Howard Taft | date=December 12, 2009 | publisher= | url=http://www.fjc.gov/servlet/tGetInfo?jid=2331 | work = | pages = | accessdate = December 12, 2009 | language = }}</ref>

|term_end2=February 3, 1930

|predecessor2=[[Edward Douglass White]]

|successor2=[[Charles Evans Hughes]]

|order3=1st [[List of Governors of Cuba|Provisional Governor of Cuba]]

|term_start3=September 29, 1906

|term_end3=October 13, 1906

|president3=

|predecessor3=[[Tomás Estrada Palma]]<br /><small>[[President of Cuba]]</small>

|successor3=[[Charles Edward Magoon]]

|order4=42nd [[United States Secretary of War]]

|term_start4=February 1, 1904

|term_end4=June 30, 1908

|president4=[[Theodore Roosevelt]]

|predecessor4=[[Elihu Root]]

|successor4=[[Luke Edward Wright]]

|order5=1st [[Governor-General of the Philippines|Civil Governor of the Philippines]]

|term_start5=July 4, 1901

|term_end5=December 23, 1903

|predecessor5=[[Arthur MacArthur, Jr.]] <br /> (U.S. Military Governor)

|successor5=[[Luke Edward Wright]]

|order6=5th [[United States Solicitor General]]

|term_start6=February 1890

|term_end6=March 1892

|president6=[[Benjamin Harrison]]

|predecessor6=[[Orlow W. Chapman]]

|successor6=[[Charles H. Aldrich]]

|order7=Judge of the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit]]

|term_start7=March 17, 1892

|term_end7=March 15, 1900

|nominator7=[[Benjamin Harrison]]

|predecessor7=New Seat

|successor7=[[Henry Franklin Severens]]

|birth_date={{birth date|1857|9|15}}

|birth_place=[[Cincinnati]], [[Ohio]]

|death_date={{death date and age|mf=yes|1930|3|8|1857|9|15}}

|death_place=Washington, D.C.

|restingplace=[[Arlington National Cemetery]]<br />Section 30, Lot S-14, Grid Y/Z-39.5

|spouse=[[Helen Herron Taft]]

|children=[[Robert Taft]]<br />[[Helen Taft Manning]]<br />[[Charles Phelps Taft II]]

|alma_mater=[[Yale University]] <br /> [[University of Cincinnati]]

|occupation=Lawyer, [[Jurist]]

|party=[[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]

|religion=[[Unitarianism|Unitarian]]

|signature=William Howard Taft Signature2.svg

|signature_alt = Cursive signature in ink

}}

'''William Howard Taft''' (September 15, 1857 – March 8, 1930) was the [[List of Presidents of the United States|27th]] [[President of the United States]] (1909–1913) and later the tenth [[Chief Justice of the United States]] (1921–1930). He is the only person to have served in both offices.

Born in 1857 in [[Cincinnati]], [[Ohio]], into the powerful [[Taft family]], "Big Bill" graduated from [[Yale College]] [[Phi Beta Kappa]] in 1878,<ref>[http://www.pbk.org/userfiles/file/Famous%20Members/PBKPresidents.pdf U.S. Presidents Who Are Phi Beta Kappa Members], Phi Beta Kappa website, accessed October 4, 2009</ref> and from [[Cincinnati Law School]] in 1880. He worked in a number of local non-descript legal positions until he was tapped to serve on the [[Supreme Court of Ohio|Ohio Supreme Court]] in 1887. In 1890, Taft was appointed [[Solicitor General of the United States]] and in 1891 a judge on the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit]]. In 1900, President [[William McKinley]] appointed Taft [[Governor-General of the Philippines]]. In 1904, President [[Theodore Roosevelt]] appointed Taft [[United States Secretary of War|Secretary of War]] with the hope that he might groom Taft, his then close political ally, into his hand-picked presidential successor.

Riding a wave of popular support of President (and fellow [[History of the United States Republican Party|Republican]]) [[Theodore Roosevelt]], Taft won an easy victory in his 1908 bid for the presidency.<ref name="miller">{{cite web |url=http://millercenter.org/president/taft/essays/biography/3 |title=William Howard Taft: Campaigns and Elections |publisher=University of Virginia |work=American President: An Online Reference Resource |accessdate=December 8, 2010 |first=Peri |last=Arnold |quote=His victory was overwhelming. He carried all but three states outside the Democratic Solid South and won 321 electoral votes to Bryan's 162.}}</ref>

In his first and only term, Taft's domestic agenda emphasized [[trust-busting]], [[United States civil service|civil service reform]], strengthening the [[Interstate Commerce Commission]], improving the performance of the [[United States Postal Service|postal service]], and passage of the [[Sixteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Sixteenth Amendment]]. Abroad, Taft sought to further the economic development of underdeveloped nations in Latin America and Asia through "[[Dollar Diplomacy]]". However, Taft often alienated his own key [[Interest group|constituencies]], and was overwhelmingly defeated in his bid for a second term in the [[United States presidential election, 1912|presidential election of 1912]].

After leaving office, Taft spent his time in academia, arbitration, and the search for world peace through his self-founded [[League to Enforce Peace]]. In 1921, after the First World War, President [[Warren G. Harding]] appointed Taft [[Chief Justice of the United States]]. Taft served in this capacity until shortly before his death in 1930. As such, he is the only former President to administer the oath of office to another President, and the only Chief Justice to serve with associate justices whom he himself had earlier appointed to the court.

==Early life==

William Howard Taft was born on September 15, 1857, near [[Cincinnati]], [[Ohio]].<ref name="LIU">{{cite book

| last = Blassingame

| first = Wyatt

| title = The Look-It-Up Book of Presidents

| publisher = Random House

| year = 2001

| location = New York,

| pages = 92

| isbn = 0-679-80358-0}}</ref> His mother, [[Louise Taft|Louisa Torrey]], was a graduate of [[Mount Holyoke College]]. His father, [[Alphonso Taft]], was the son of [[Peter Rawson Taft]], a descendant of [[Robert Taft, Sr|Robert Taft I]], the first Taft in America, who settled in Colonial Massachusetts. Alphonso Taft went to Cincinnati in 1839 to open a law practice,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.answers.com/topic/alphonso-taft|title=Alphonso Taft, Answers.com}}</ref> and was a prominent Republican who served as [[United States Secretary of War|Secretary of War]] and [[United States Attorney General|Attorney General]] under President [[Ulysses S. Grant]].

Along with his parents, young William attended Cincinnati's [[First Unitarian Church (Cincinnati, Ohio)|First Congregational-Unitarian Church]]; he joined the congregation at an early age and enthusiastically participated in church activities. As he ascended to higher governmental positions, he was able to spend less and less time in Cincinnati, and his attendance at the church consequently became infrequent; however, he continued to worship there when he was able.<ref>"[http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=F00A13FA395A17738DDDAD0894D0405B888CF1D3 Taft Once Unitarian Fairy]", ''[[The New York Times]]'' 1908-08-04, A3.</ref>

The [[William Howard Taft National Historic Site]] is the Taft boyhood home. The house in which he was born has been restored to its original appearance. It includes four period rooms reflecting family life during Taft's boyhood, and second-floor exhibits highlighting Taft's life.<ref>[http://www.nps.gov/wiho William Howard Taft Home,] [[National Park Service]].</ref>

===Education===

[[File:William Howard Taft Yale College BA 1878.jpg|thumb|left|190px|[[Yale College]] photograph of Taft, B.A. 1878]]

Taft attended Woodward High School in Cincinnati, Ohio- and laid the cornerstone of the new Woodward High School, at 1310 Sycamore Street, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202, the site of the School for Creative and Performing Arts (SCPA) <ref name="OHC">{{cite web

| title = William H. Taft

| publisher = Ohio History Central

| date = July 1, 2005

| url = http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=369

| accessdate = March 20, 2009 }}</ref> and, like most of his family, attended [[Yale College]] in New Haven, Connecticut.<ref name="EB"/> At Yale, he was a member of the [[Linonian Society]], a literary and debating society; [[Skull and Bones]], the secret society co-founded by his father in 1832; and the Beta chapter of the [[Psi Upsilon]] fraternity. He was given the nickname "Big Lub " because of his size, but his college friends knew him by the nickname "Old Bill".<ref name="arlingtoncemetery.net">{{cite web|url=http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/whtaft.htm|title=ArlingtonCemetery.Net citing ''New York Times.'' "Obituary: Taft Gained Peaks in Unusual Career." March&nbsp;9, 1930.}}</ref> Taft received insults about his weight throughout his life: as Governor-General of the Philippines, Taft once sent a telegram to Washington, D.C. that read, "Went on a horse ride today; feeling good;" Secretary of War [[Elihu Root]] replied, "How's the horse?"<ref>{{cite book

| last = O'Brien

| first = Cormac

| authorlink = Cormac O'Brien

| coauthors = Monica Suteski

| title = Secret Lives of the U.S. Presidents

| publisher = Quirk Productions

| year = 2004

| location = Philadelphia, PA

| page = 155

| url = http://books.google.com/?id=x21e_pt0ClIC&dq=elihu+root+how's+the+horse

| isbn = 1-931686-57-2}}</ref> Despite his weight, Taft was at one point Yale's intramural heavyweight wrestling champion.<ref name="wrestlinghalloffame.org">{{cite web|url=http://www.wrestlinghalloffame.org/History/WrestlinginUSA.html|title="Wrestling in the USA" |publisher=The National Wrestling Hall of Fame |accessdate=January 30, 2011}}</ref> In 1878, Taft graduated from Yale, ranking second in his class out of 121.<ref name="arlingtoncemetery.net"/> After college, he attended [[University of Cincinnati College of Law|Cincinnati Law School]], graduating with a [[Bachelor of Laws]] in 1880. While in law school, he worked on the area newspaper ''The Cincinnati Commercial''.<ref name="arlingtoncemetery.net"/>

==Career==

===Legal career===

After admission to the Ohio [[bar (law)|bar]], Taft was appointed Assistant [[Prosecutor]] of [[Hamilton County, Ohio]],<ref name="NPS">{{cite web

| title = William Howard Taft

| publisher = National Park Service

| date = January 22, 2004

| url = http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/Presidents/bio27.htm

| accessdate = March 20, 2009}}</ref> based in Cincinnati. In 1882, he was appointed local Collector of [[Internal Revenue Service|Internal Revenue]].<ref>{{cite web

| last = Herz

| first = Walter

| title = William Howard Taft

| publisher = Unitarian Universalist Historical Society

| year = 1999

| url = http://www25.uua.org/uuhs/duub/articles/williamhowardtaft.html

| accessdate = March 22, 2009}}</ref> Taft married his longtime sweetheart, [[Helen Herron Taft|Helen Herron]], in Cincinnati in 1886.<ref name="NPS"/> In 1887, he was appointed a judge of the Ohio Superior Court.<ref name="NPS"/> In 1890, President [[Benjamin Harrison]] appointed him [[United States Solicitor General|Solicitor General of the United States]].<ref name="NPS"/> As of January 2010, at age 32, he is the youngest-ever Solicitor General.<ref>{{cite web

| last = Cannon

| first = Carl

| title = Solicitor general nominee likely to face questions about detainees

| publisher = GovernmentExecutive.com

| url = http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0405/042505nj1.htm

| accessdate = January 3, 2010}}</ref> Taft then began serving on the newly created [[United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit]] in 1891.<ref name="NPS"/> Taft was confirmed by the Senate on March 17, 1892, and received his commission that same day.<ref>{{cite web

| title = William Howard Taft (1857–1930)

| publisher = U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit

| url = http://www.ca6.uscourts.gov/lib_hist/courts/supreme/judges/taft/taft.html

| accessdate = March 22, 2009}}</ref> In about 1893, Taft decided in favor of one or more patents for processing [[aluminium]] belonging to the Pittsburg Reduction Company, today known as [[Alcoa]], who settled with the other party in 1903 and became for a short while the only aluminum producer in the U.S.<ref>{{cite news|title=Against the Cowles Company, Decision in the Aluminium Patent Infringement Case (article preview)|url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9904E3DE1731E033A25756C1A9679C94629ED7CF|work=The New York Times|publisher=The New York Times Company|date=January 15, 1893|accessdate=October 28, 2007}} and {{cite book|author=Rosenbaum, David Ira|title=Market Dominance: How Firms Gain, Hold, or Lose It and the Impact on Economic Performance|url=http://books.google.com/?id=htQDB-Pf4VIC|pages=56|publisher=Praeger Publishers via Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=0-2759-5604-0|year=1998|accessdate=November 3, 2007}}</ref> Another of Taft's opinions was ''[[Addyston Pipe and Steel Company v. United States]]'' (1898). Along with his judgeship, between 1896 and 1900 Taft also served as the first dean and a professor of constitutional law at the [[University of Cincinnati]].<ref>[http://www.law.uc.edu/current/taft06/ ''Cincinnati Law School: 2006 William Howard Taft Lecture on Constitutional Law'']{{Dead link|date=November 2008}}</ref>

===Political career===

[[File:Taft-Root.jpg|thumb|left|Taft with [[United States Secretary of War|Secretary of War]] [[Elihu Root]] in 1904.]]

In 1900, President [[William McKinley]] appointed Taft chairman of a commission to organize a civilian government in the Philippines which had been ceded to the United States by Spain following the [[Spanish–American War]] and the [[Treaty of Paris (1898)|1898 Treaty of Paris]].<ref name="NPS"/> Although Taft had been opposed to the annexation of the islands, and had told McKinley his real ambition was to become a justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, he reluctantly accepted the appointment.<ref name="Miller"/>

From 1901 to 1903, Taft served as the first civilian [[Governor-General of the Philippines]], a position in which he was very popular with both Americans and [[Filipino people|Filipinos]].<ref name="Miller"/> In 1902, Taft visited Rome to negotiate with [[Pope Leo XIII]] for the purchase of Philippine lands owned by the Roman Catholic Church. Taft then persuaded Congress to appropriate more than $7&nbsp;million to purchase these lands, which he sold to Filipinos on easy terms.<ref name="Miller">{{cite web

| title = William Howard Taft

| publisher = University of Virginia

| year = 2008

| url = http://millercenter.org/academic/americanpresident/taft/essays/biography/2

| accessdate = March 23, 2009}}</ref> In 1903, President [[Theodore Roosevelt]] offered Taft the seat on the Supreme Court to which he had for so long aspired, but he reluctantly declined since he viewed the Filipinos as not yet being capable of governing themselves and because of his popularity among them.<ref name="Miller"/>

==Secretary of War (1904–1908)==

[[File:Taft Addressing First Philippine Assembly 1907.jpg|thumb|right|300px|William Howard Taft addressing the audience at the [[Philippine Assembly]] in the Manila Grand Opera House.]]

In 1904, Roosevelt appointed Taft as [[United States Secretary of War|Secretary of War]].<ref name="NPS"/> Roosevelt made the basic policy decisions regarding military affairs, using Taft as a well-traveled spokesman who campaigned for Roosevelt's reelection in 1904.

Taft met with the Emperor of Japan who alerted him of the probability of war with Russia. In 1905, Taft met with Japanese Prime Minister [[Katsura Tarō]]. At that meeting, the two signed a secret diplomatic memorandum now called the [[Taft–Katsura Agreement]]. Contrary to myth, the memorandum did not establish any new policies but instead repeated the public positions of both nations.<ref>See Raymond A. Esthus,『The Taft-Katsura Agreement – Reality or Myth?』''Journal of Modern History'' 1959 31(1): 46–51 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/1871772 in JSTOR]; and Jongsuk Chay, "The Taft-Katsura Memorandum Reconsidered," ''Pacific Historical Review'', Vol. 37, No. 3 (Aug. 1968), pp. 321–326 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/3636866 in JSTOR]</ref>

In 1906, President Roosevelt sent troops to restore order in [[Cuba]] during the revolt led by [[General]] [[Enrique Loynaz del Castillo]], and Taft temporarily became the Civil [[List of Presidents of Cuba|Governor of Cuba]], personally negotiating with Castillo for a peaceful end to the revolt. In 1907, Taft helped supervise the beginning of construction on the [[Panama Canal]].

Taft had repeatedly told Roosevelt he wanted to be Chief Justice, not President (and not an associate justice), but there was no vacancy and Roosevelt had other plans. He gave Taft more responsibilities along with the Philippines and the Panama Canal. For a while, Taft was Acting [[United States Secretary of State|Secretary of State]]. When Roosevelt was away, Taft was, in effect, the Acting President. While Taft was Secretary of War, he authorized the confinement of a military thief to [[Fort Leavenworth]]'s [[United States Disciplinary Barracks]];{{Citation needed|date=September 2009}} this thief was [[serial killer]] [[Carl Panzram]], who burglarized Taft's [[New Haven, Connecticut]] home in 1920 and stole a [[handgun|pistol]] with which he committed several murders.

==Presidential election of 1908==

{{See also|United States presidential election, 1908}}

[[File:1908 Electoral Map.png|left|thumb|Electoral votes by state, 1908.]]

{{Listen|filename=Taft - The Farmer and the Republican Party.ogg|title="The Farmer and the Republican Party"|description=A speech given in Kansas City, Missouri, 1908|format=[[Ogg]]}}

After serving for nearly two full terms, in a decision that he would come to regret, the popular [[Theodore Roosevelt]] refused to run in [[United States presidential election, 1908|the election of 1908]]. Although Taft seemed like the logical successor, he was initially reluctant to run. As a member of Roosevelt's cabinet he had once declared that his future ambition was to serve on the Supreme Court, not the White House. But, he conceded, were he to get nominated for president he would put his personal convictions aside and run a vigorous campaign.<ref>DeGregorio, William (1993). The Complete Book of U.S. Presidents. New York: Wings Books. p. 398.</ref> At the time Roosevelt was convinced that Taft was a genuine "[[Progressivism|progressive]]" and helped push through the nomination of his Secretary of War onto the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] ticket. Riding the wave of popular support for President [[Theodore Roosevelt]], Taft easily defeated his Democratic opponent [[William Jennings Bryan]] by 159 electoral votes in the [[election of 1908]]. At age 51, and after a legal and political career of more than 20 years, Taft ran in an election for the first time.

[[File:Taft Roosevelt policies2.jpg|thumb|Roosevelt handing responsibility to Taft in 1909.]]

His opponent was [[William Jennings Bryan]], who had run for president twice before, in [[United States presidential election, 1896|1896]] and in [[United States presidential election, 1900|1900]] against [[William McKinley]].

During the campaign, Taft undercut Bryan's liberal support by accepting some of his reformist ideas, and Roosevelt's progressive policies blurred the distinctions between the parties. Bryan, on the other hand, ran a vigorous campaign against the nation's business elite. In the end, Taft won by a comfortable margin, giving Bryan his worst loss in three presidential campaigns.

==Presidency, 1909–13==

Taft fought for the [[competition law|prosecution of trusts]] (eventually issuing 80 lawsuits),<ref>[http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/wt27.html Biography of William Howard Taft at] [[The White House]].</ref> further strengthened the [[Interstate Commerce Commission]], established a [[United States Postal Savings System|postal savings bank]] and a [[parcel post]] system, and expanded the civil service. He supported the [[Sixteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|16th Amendment]], which allowed a federal income tax, and the [[Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|17th Amendment]], mandating the direct election of [[United States Senate|senators]] by the people, replacing the previous system whereby they were selected by [[State legislature (United States)|state legislatures]].<ref>Paolo Coletta, ''Presidency of William Howard Taft'' (1973)</ref>

[[File:TaftOfficial Portrait.jpg|thumb|right|Official [[White House]] portrait of William Howard Taft in the [[Blue Room (White House)|Blue Room]], 1911, oil on canvas by [[Anders Zorn]] (1860–1920), White House Collection.]]

Taft did not enjoy the easy relationship with the press that Roosevelt had, choosing not to offer himself for interviews or photo opportunities as often as the previous president had done.<ref name="american chronicle">{{cite news

|url=http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/6883

|publisher=''American Chronicle''

|date=March 15, 2006

|title=Happy Anniversary to the first scheduled presidential press conference – 93 years young! |first=Robert |last=Rouse}}</ref> When a reporter informed him he was no Teddy Roosevelt, Taft replied that his goal was to "try to accomplish just as much without any noise".<ref name="american chronicle"/>

===Domestic policies===

Taft considered himself a progressive because of his deep belief in the law as the scientific device that should be used by judges to solve society's problems. Taft proved a less adroit politician than Roosevelt and seemed to lack the energy and personal magnetism of his mentor, not to mention the publicity devices, the dedicated supporters, and the broad base of public support that made Roosevelt so formidable. When Roosevelt realized that lowering the tariff would risk severe tensions inside the Republican Party, pitting producers (manufacturers and farmers) against department stores and consumers, he stopped talking about the issue. Taft ignored the risks and tackled the tariff boldly, on the one hand encouraging reformers to fight for lower rates, and then on the other hand cutting deals with conservative leaders that kept overall rates high. The resulting [[Payne-Aldrich Tariff Act]] of 1909 was too high for most reformers, but instead of blaming this on Senator [[Nelson W. Aldrich]] and big business, Taft took credit, calling it the best bill to come from the Republican Party. Again, he had managed to alienate all sides.<ref>Coletta, ''Presidency of William Howard Taft'' ch 3</ref>

Unlike Roosevelt, Taft never attacked business or businessmen in his rhetoric. However, he was attentive to the law, so he launched 90 [[competition law|antitrust]] suits, including one against the country's largest corporation, [[U.S. Steel]], for an acquisition that Roosevelt personally had approved. As a result, Taft lost the support of antitrust reformers (who disliked his conservative rhetoric), of big business (which disliked his actions), and of Roosevelt, who felt humiliated by his protégé.<ref>Coletta, ''Presidency of William Howard Taft'' ch 8</ref>

Progressives within the Republican Party began to agitate against Taft. Senator [[Robert M. La Follette, Sr.|Robert LaFollette]] of [[Wisconsin]] created the National Progressive Republican League to replace Taft at the national level; his campaign crashed after a disastrous speech. Most of LaFollette's supporters went over to Roosevelt, leaving LaFollette embittered and alone. More trouble came when Taft fired [[Gifford Pinchot]], a leading conservationist and close ally of Roosevelt. Pinchot alleged that Taft's [[United States Secretary of the Interior|Secretary of Interior]] [[Richard Achilles Ballinger]] was in league with big timber interests. Conservationists sided with Pinchot, and Taft alienated yet another vocal constituency with the [[Pinchot-Ballinger controversy]].<ref>Coletta, ''Presidency of William Howard Taft'' ch 4–6</ref>

===Foreign policy===

Taft actively pursued what he termed "[[Dollar Diplomacy]]" to further the economic development of less-developed nations of Latin America and Asia through American investment in their infrastructures.<ref>Coletta, ''Presidency of William Howard Taft'' ch 10</ref>

Throughout the early part of his presidency, he had difficulties with [[Nicaragua]]. When the United States shifted its interests to [[Panama]] to build a canal, Nicaraguan President [[José Santos Zelaya]] negotiated with Germany and Japan in an unsuccessful effort to have a canal constructed in his country. The Zelaya administration had growing friction with the United States government, which started giving aid to his Conservative opponents in Nicaragua. In 1907, U.S. warships seized several of Nicaragua's seaports. In early December, [[United States Marine Corps|United States Marines]] landed on Nicaragua's [[Caribbean Sea]] coast. On December 17, 1909, Zelaya resigned and left for exile in Mexico. The U.S.-sponsored conservative regime of [[Adolfo Díaz]] was installed in his place. Military invasions with marine landings took place in 1910 and 1912, and the Marines stayed in Nicaragua through 1925.<ref>Coletta, ''Presidency of William Howard Taft'' pp 185–91</ref>

One of Taft's main goals while President was to further the idea of world peace. Given his judicial sensibilities, he believed that international arbitration was the best means to effect the end of war on Earth.<ref name="ReferenceA">Coletta, ''Presidency of William Howard Taft'' ch 9</ref> As a result, he championed several reciprocity and arbitration treaties. In 1910, he persuaded congressional Democrats to support a reciprocity, or free trade, treaty with Canada, but the [[Liberal Party of Canada|Liberal]] Canadian government of Sir [[Wilfrid Laurier]] that negotiated the treaty was [[Canadian federal election, 1911|turned out of office in 1911]] and the treaty collapsed (a US-Canada reciprocity treaty would not come into effect until 1988).<ref>Coletta, ''Presidency of William Howard Taft'' ch 7</ref>

In 1910 and 1911, however, Taft secured the ratification of arbitration treaties that he had successfully negotiated with Britain and France, and thereafter was known as one of the foremost advocates of world peace and arbitration.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

[[File:WmHTaft.jpg|thumb|left|President William Howard Taft.]]

===16th Amendment===

To solve an impasse during the 1909 tariff debate, Taft proposed income taxes for corporations and a [[constitutional amendment]] to remove the apportionment requirement for taxes on incomes from property (taxes on dividends, interest, and rents), on June 16, 1909.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/print.php?pid=68517|title=President Taft speech of June&nbsp;16, 1909}}</ref> His proposed tax on corporate net income was 1% on net profits over $5,000. It was designated an excise on the privilege of doing business as a corporation whose stockholders enjoyed the privilege of [[limited liability]], and not a tax on incomes as such. In 1911, the Supreme Court, in ''[[Flint v. Stone Tracy Co.]]'', upheld the tax. Receipts grew from $21&nbsp;million in the fiscal year 1910 to $34.8&nbsp;million in 1912.

In July 1909, a proposed amendment to remove the apportionment requirement was passed unanimously in the Senate and by a vote of 318 to 14 in the House. It was quickly ratified by the states, and on February 3, 1913, it became a part of the Constitution as the [[Sixteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Sixteenth Amendment]], just as Taft was leaving office.

===Civil Rights===

Taft was reluctant to use federal authority to enforce the [[Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|15th amendment]] to the U.S. Constitution, which guaranteed [[African Americans]] the right to vote. As a result, state governments were able to enforce [[Disfranchisement after Reconstruction era|voter registration requirements]] that prevented African Americans from voting. [[Lynching]] by whites was common throughout the South at the time; however, Taft did nothing to stop the practice. Taft publicly endorsed [[Booker T. Washington]]'s program for uplifting the black race, advising them to stay out of politics at the time.<ref>Coletta, ''Presidency of William Howard Taft'' pp 28</ref> A supporter of free immigration, Taft vetoed a law passed by Congress that would have restricted admissions by imposing a literacy test.<ref>Coletta, ''Presidency of William Howard Taft'' pp 29–30.</ref>

===Re-election campaign===

{{See also|United States presidential election, 1912}}

[[File:For Auld Lang Syne - Leonard Raven-Hill.jpg|right|thumb|Taft and Roosevelt were bitter enemies in the 1912 election]]

On his return from Europe, Roosevelt broke with Taft in one of the most dramatic political feuds of the 20th century. To the surprise of observers who thought Roosevelt had unstoppable momentum, Taft outmaneuvered both Roosevelt and Senator [[Robert M. La Follette, Sr.]], then seized control of the GOP, and forced both out of the party. The main issue in 1911–12 was independence of the judiciary, which Roosevelt denounced. Most lawyers in the GOP supported Taft, including many of Roosevelt's key supporters like [[Elihu Root]], [[Henry L. Stimson]], and Roosevelt's own son-in-law, [[Nicholas Longworth]]. In lining up delegates for the 1912 nomination, Taft outmaneuvered Roosevelt, who had started much too late, and kept control of the Republican Party.<ref name="ReferenceB">Coletta, ''Presidency of William Howard Taft'' ch 12</ref>

In 1912, some delegates were chosen for the first time through primary elections, which were seen as a way to take power away from party bosses and put it into the hands of the people. Out of the 14 Republican primaries held, Roosevelt won nine, while Taft won only three, and LaFollette won the other two. Nevertheless, Taft had the delegates, and won the nomination at the Republican nominating convention in Chicago.<ref name="ReferenceB"/>

[[File:1912 Electoral Map.png|right|thumb|Electoral votes by state, 1912.]]

Because he had not secured the Republican nomination, Roosevelt was forced to create the [[Progressive Party (United States, 1912)|Progressive Party]] (or "[[Bull Moose]]") ticket, splitting the Republican vote in the 1912 election. [[Woodrow Wilson]], the Democrat, was elected, although many historians argue that Wilson would have won anyway, because the Republican factions would not support each other.<ref>[[John M. Cooper|John Milton Cooper]], ''Woodrow Wilson'' (2008) pp 175–76</ref> Taft won the mere eight electoral votes of [[Utah]] and [[Vermont]], making his the single worst defeat in American history for an incumbent President seeking reelection; he finished not even second, but third, behind both Wilson and Roosevelt.<ref>James Chace, ''1912: Wilson, Roosevelt, Taft and Debs – The Election that Changed the Country'' (2004)</ref>

In spite of his failure to be re-elected, however, Taft achieved what he felt were his main goals as President: keeping permanent control of the party and keeping the courts sacrosanct until they were [[Judiciary Reorganization Bill of 1937|next threatened]]. It also should be noted that while the strife during the election of 1912 devastated the once very close friendship between Taft and Theodore Roosevelt, the two eventually did reconcile not long before Roosevelt's death in 1919.<ref>Coletta, ''Presidency of William Howard Taft'' pp 139–40</ref>

===Administration and cabinet===

{| class="wikitable"

!OFFICE

!NAME

!TERM

|-

|President||'''William Howard Taft'''||1909–1913

|-

|rowspan=2 valign=middle |[[Vice President of the United States|Vice President]]||[[James S. Sherman]]||1909–1912

|-

| ''None''||1912–1913

|-

|[[United States Secretary of State|Secretary of State]]||[[Philander C. Knox]]||1909–1913

|-

| [[United States Secretary of the Treasury|Secretary of the Treasury]] || [[Franklin MacVeagh]]||1909–1913

|-

|rowspan=2 valign=middle|[[United States Secretary of War|Secretary of War]]||[[Jacob M. Dickinson]]||1909–1911

|-

| [[Henry L. Stimson]]||1911–1913

|-

|[[United States Attorney General|Attorney General]]||[[George W. Wickersham]]||1909–1913

|-

|[[Postmaster General of the United States|Postmaster General]]||[[Frank H. Hitchcock]]||1909–1913

|-

|[[United States Secretary of the Navy|Secretary of the Navy]]||[[George von Lengerke Meyer|George von L. Meyer]]||1909–1913

|-

| rowspan=2 valign=middle |[[United States Secretary of the Interior|Secretary of the Interior]]||[[Richard Achilles Ballinger|Richard A. Ballinger]]||1909–1911

|-

| [[Walter L. Fisher]]||1911–1913

|-

|[[United States Secretary of Agriculture|Secretary of Agriculture]]||[[James Wilson (U.S. politician)|James Wilson]]||1909–1913

|-

|[[United States Secretary of Commerce and Labor|Secretary of Commerce & Labor]]||[[Charles Nagel]]||1909–1913

|}

===Judicial appointments===

====Supreme Court====

During his presidency, Taft appointed the following Justices to the [[Supreme Court of the United States]]:

* [[Horace Harmon Lurton]] – 1910

:Lurton had served on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit with Taft, and Taft's attorney general said that at 66 he was too old to become a Supreme Court justice, but Taft had always admired Lurton. According to the ''Complete Book of U.S. Presidents'' (2001 edition), Taft later said that "the chief pleasure of my administration" was the appointment of Lurton.

* [[Charles Evans Hughes]] – 1910

:Even though Hughes resigned in 1916 to run in the [[United States presidential election, 1916|presidential election that year]], he became Taft's successor as Chief Justice.

* [[Edward Douglass White]] – Chief Justice – 1910

:Already on the Court as an associate justice since 1894, White was the first Chief Justice to be elevated from an associate justiceship since President [[George Washington]] appointed [[John Rutledge]] to Chief Justice in 1795. Taft succeeded White as Chief Justice in 1921.

* [[Willis Van Devanter]] – 1911

* [[Joseph Rucker Lamar]] – 1911

* [[Mahlon Pitney]] – 1912

Taft's six appointments to the Court rank below only those of [[George Washington]] (who appointed all six justices to the first Court), and of [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] (who was president for just over twelve years). Taft's appointment of five new justices tied the number appointed by both [[Andrew Jackson]] and [[Abraham Lincoln]]. Four of Taft's appointees were relatively young, aged 48, 51, 53, and 54.

The appointments of Edward Douglass White and Charles Evans Hughes also are notable because Taft essentially appointed both his predecessor and successor Chief Justices, respectively. Hughes initially was appointed an [[Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States|Associate Justice]], but later resigned to run for the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party's]] presidential candidate in the [[United States presidential election, 1916|1916 election]], which he would lose. President [[Herbert Hoover]] renominated Hughes to the Supreme Court as Chief Justice following Taft's retirement.

====Other courts====

{{Main|William Howard Taft judicial appointments}}

Besides his Supreme Court appointments, Taft appointed 13 judges to the [[United States Courts of Appeals]], and 38 judges to the [[United States district courts]]. Taft also appointed judges to various specialty courts, including the first five appointees each to the [[United States Commerce Court]] and the [[United States Court of Customs and Patent Appeals|United States Court of Customs Appeals]]. The Commerce Court was abolished in 1913; Taft was thus the only President to appoint judges to that body.

===States admitted to the Union===

* [[New Mexico]]: January 6, 1912

* [[Arizona]]: Taft insisted on removing the [[Recall election|recall]] provision of the state constitution before he would approve it; It was removed, Taft signed the statehood bill on February 14, 1912, and state residents promptly put the provision back in.<ref>Cindy Hayostek, "Douglas Delegates to the 1910 Constitutional Convention and Arizona's Progressive Heritage," ''Journal of Arizona History'' 2006 47(4): 347–366</ref>

==Post-presidency==

[[File:NG1917 Charles Phelps Taft II.png|thumb|Taft says goodbye to his son, [[Charles Phelps Taft II]] as he leaves for World War I.]]

Upon leaving the White House in 1913, Taft was appointed the Chancellor Kent Professor of Law and Legal History at [[Yale Law School]].<ref name="EB">{{cite web

| title = William Howard Taft

| publisher = Encyclopædia Britannica

| year = 2009

| url = http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/580223/William-Howard-Taft

| accessdate = March 21, 2009}}</ref> At the same time, Taft was elected president of the [[American Bar Association]]. He spent much of his time writing newspaper articles and books, most notably his series on American [[jurisprudence|legal philosophy]]. He was a vigorous opponent of [[prohibition in the United States]], predicting the undesirable situation that the [[Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Eighteenth Amendment]] and prohibition would create.<ref>[http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,731975,00.html?promoid=googlep ''Burton, Baker, Taft''], ''[[Time Magazine]]'' (October 15, 1928).</ref> He also continued to advocate world peace through international arbitration, urging nations to enter into arbitration treaties with each other and promoting the idea of a [[League of Nations]] even before the First World War began. Taft was elected a Fellow of the [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]] in 1914.<ref name=AAAS>{{cite web|title=Book of Members, 1780–2010: Chapter T|url=http://www.amacad.org/publications/BookofMembers/ChapterT.pdf|publisher=American Academy of Arts and Sciences|accessdate=April 6, 2011}}</ref>

When World War I did break out in Europe in 1914, however, Taft founded the [[League to Enforce Peace]]. He was a co-chairman of the powerful [[National War Labor Board]] between 1917 and 1918. Although he continually advocated peace, he strongly favored [[conscription]] once the United States entered the War, pleading publicly that the United States not fight a "finicky" war. He feared the war would be long, but was for fighting it out to a finish, given what he viewed as "Germany's brutality."

==Chief Justice, 1921–1930==

===Nomination===

On June 30, 1921, following the death of Chief Justice [[Edward Douglass White]], President [[Warren G. Harding]] nominated Taft to take his place. For a man who had once remarked that "there is nothing I would have loved more than being chief justice of the United States" the nomination to oversee the highest court in the land was like a dream come true.<ref name="Bernard Schwartz 1993">{{Bernard Schwartz, A History of the Supreme Court (New York: Oxford University Press, 1993), 213.}}</ref> There was little opposition to the nomination, and the [[United States Senate|Senate]] approved him 60-4 in a secret session on the day of his nomination, but the [[roll call]] of the vote has never been made public.<ref>[http://assets.opencrs.com/rpts/RL33225_20060105.pdf'' ''Report on Supreme Court nominees 1789–2005'',] [[Congressional Research Service]], page 41.</ref> Taft received his commission immediately and readily took up the position, serving until 1930. As such, he became the only President to serve as Chief Justice, and thus the only former President to swear in subsequent Presidents, giving the oath of office to both [[Calvin Coolidge]] (in 1925) and [[Herbert Hoover]] (in 1929).

Taft enjoyed his years on the court and was respected by his peers. Justice [[Felix Frankfurter]] once remarked to Justice [[Louis Brandeis]] that it was "difficult for me to understand why a man who is so good a Chief Justice...could have been so bad as President.<ref name="Bernard Schwartz 1993"/> Taft remains the only person to have led both the [[executive (government)|Executive]] and [[judiciary|Judicial]] branches of the [[Federal government of the United States|United States government]]. He considered his time as Chief Justice to be the highest point of his career; allegedly, he once remarked "I do not remember that I was ever President".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/P/wt27/about/taftbio.htm|title=Painter, Judge Mark. ''From Revolution to Reconstruction'' William Howard Taft biography.}}</ref>

[[File:Taft-Harding-Lincoln.jpg|thumb|[[Chief Justice of the United States|Chief Justice]] Taft with President [[Warren G. Harding]] and former [[United States Secretary of War|Secretary of War]] [[Robert Todd Lincoln]], around 1922]]

===Achievements===

In 1922, Taft traveled to Great Britain to study the procedural structure of the English courts and to learn how they dropped such a large number of cases quickly. During the trip, [[George V of the United Kingdom|King George V]] and [[Mary of Teck|Queen Mary]] received Taft and his wife as state visitors.

With what he had learned in England, Taft decided to advocate the introduction and passage of the [[Judiciary Act of 1925]] (often called the "Judges Bill"), which shifts the Supreme Court's appellate jurisdiction to be exercisable principally on review upon litigants' petitioning to be granted an appeal. The Court then has the power to accept or deny an appeal. Thereby, the Supreme Court is empowered to give preference to cases of national importance, and it allows the Court to work more efficiently (see also [[certiorari|writ of certiorari]]).

Besides giving the Supreme Court more control over its docket, supporting new legislation, and organizing the Judicial Conference, Taft gave the Supreme Court and the Chief Justice general supervisory power over the scattered and disorganized federal courts.

The legislation also brought the courts of the District of Columbia and of the Territories (and soon, the Commonwealths of the Philippines and [[Puerto Rico]]) into the Federal Court system. This united the courts for the first time as an independent third branch of government under the administrative supervision of the Chief Justice. Taft was also the first Justice to employ two full-time [[law clerk]]s to assist him.

In 1929, Taft successfully argued in favor of the construction of the first separate and roomy [[United States Supreme Court building]] (the one that is still in use now), reasoning that the Supreme Court needed to distance itself from the Congress as a separate branch of the Federal Government. Until then, the Court had heard cases in [[Old Senate Chamber]] of the [[U. S. Capitol|Capitol Building]]. The Justices had no private chambers there, and their conferences were held in a room in the Capitol's basement. Unfortunately, Chief Justice Taft did not live to see the completion of the Court's new building in 1935.

===Opinions===

{{See also|List of United States Supreme Court cases by the Taft Court}}

While Chief Justice, Taft wrote the opinion for the Court in 256 cases out of the Court's ever-growing caseload. His philosophy of [[judicial interpretation|constitutional interpretation]] was essentially historical [[judicial interpretation#The contextualist approach|contextualism]]. Some of his more notable opinions include:

[[File:1925 U.S. Supreme Court Justices.jpg|thumb|right|The U.S. Supreme Court in 1925. Taft is seated in the bottom row, middle.]]

* ''[[Balzac v. Porto Rico]]'', {{ussc|258|298|1922}} (opinion for the Court)

** Ruling that the [[Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Fourteenth Amendment]] did not apply the criminal provisions of the [[United States Bill of Rights|Bill of Rights]] to overseas territories. This was one of the more famous of the [[Insular Cases]].

* ''[[Child Labor Tax Case|Bailey v. Drexel Furniture Co.]]'', {{ussc|259|20|1922}} (opinion for the Court)

** Holding the 1919 Child Labor Tax Law unconstitutional.

* ''[[Hill v. Wallace]]'', {{ussc|259|44|1922}} (opinion for the Court)

** Holding the [[Future Trading Act]] an unconstitutional use of [[Taxing and Spending Clause|Congress's taxing power]]

* ''[[Adkins v. Children's Hospital]]'', {{ussc|261|525|1923}} (dissenting opinion)

** Disapproving of the Court's upholding of ''[[Lochner v. New York]]''. In 1937, the Supreme Court agreed with Taft and overruled this decision permanently.

* ''[[Board of Trade of City of Chicago v. Olsen]]'', {{ussc|262|1|1923}} (opinion for the Court)

** Upholding the constitutionality of the [[Grain Futures Act]] under the [[Commerce Clause]]

* ''Ex Parte Grossman'', {{ussc|267|87|1925}} (opinion for the Court)

** Holding that the President's [[pardon]] power extends to pardoning people held for criminal contempt. While the Supreme Court rules provide for issuing writs of [[habeas corpus]] within the Court's [[original jurisdiction]], Taft's opinion in ''Grossman'' was the last time the Court did so.<ref>Peter Hack, "The Roads Less Traveled: Post Conviction Relief Alternatives and the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996", 30 ''American Journal of Criminal Law'', p. 171 (Georgetown: Spring 2003)</ref>

* ''[[Carroll v. United States]]'', {{ussc|267|132|1925}} (opinion for the Court)

** Holding that police searches of [[automobile]]s without a warrant do not violate the [[Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Fourth Amendment]] when the police have [[probable cause]] to believe that [[contraband]] would be found in the automobile

* ''[[Myers v. United States]]'', {{ussc|272|52|1926}} (opinion for the Court)

** Ruling that the President of the United States had the power to unilaterally dismiss Executive Branch appointees who had been confirmed by the Senate.

* ''[[United States v. General Electric Co.]]'', {{ussc|272|476|1926}} (opinion for the Court)

** Ruling that a patentee who has granted a single license to a competitor to manufacture the patented product may lawfully fix the price at which the licensee may sell the product.

* ''[[Lum v. Rice]]'', {{ussc|275|78|1927}} (opinion for the Court)

** Ruling that the [[Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Fourteenth Amendment]] did not prohibit [[Mississippi]]'s prevention of Asian children attending [[white people|white]] schools during [[racial segregation]]. The Supreme Court overruled this opinion in 1954.

* ''[[Olmstead v. United States]]'', {{ussc|277|438|1928}} (opinion for the Court)

** Ruling that the judicial practice of excluding evidence obtained without a warrant was based on the [[Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Fourth Amendment's]] proscription on unreasonable [[search and seizure]] but did not apply to [[telephone tapping|telephone wiretapping]].

* ''[[Wisconsin v. Illinois]]'', {{ussc|278|367|1929}} (opinion for the Court)

** Holding that the equitable power of the United States can be used to impose positive action on the states in a situation where non-action would result in damage to the interests of other states.

* ''[[Old Colony Trust Co. v. Commissioner]]'', {{ussc|279|716|1929}} (opinion for the Court)

** Holding that where a third party pays the [[Income tax in the United States|income tax]] owed by an individual, the amount of tax paid constitutes additional income to the taxpayer.

==Medical condition==

Evidence from [[Eyewitness memory|eyewitnesses]], and from Taft himself, strongly suggests that during his presidency he had severe [[sleep apnea|obstructive sleep apnea]] because of his obesity. Within a year of leaving the presidency, Taft lost approximately {{convert|80|lb|kg|abbr=off}}. His somnolence problem resolved and, less obviously, his systolic [[blood pressure]] dropped 40–50 mmHg (from 210 mmHg). Undoubtedly, this weight loss extended his life.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.apneos.com/taft_intro.html|title=''William Howard Taft and Sleep Apnea''}}</ref> Soon after his weight loss, he had a revival of interest in the outdoors; this led him to explore Alaska.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://xroads.virginia.edu/~cap/BARTLETT/49state.html|title=Gislason Erick, ''A Brief History of Alaska Statehood (1867–1959)''.}}</ref> Beginning in 1920, Taft used a cane; this was a gift from Professor of Geology W.S. Foster, and was made of 250,000-year-old wood.<ref>''The [[Edmonton Journal]]'', July&nbsp;10, 1920.</ref>

==Death and legacy==

[[File:Taftheadstone.JPG|thumb|Taft's headstone at [[Arlington National Cemetery]]]]

Taft retired as Chief Justice on February 3, 1930, because of ill health. [[Charles Evans Hughes]], whom he had appointed to the Court while president, succeeded him.

Five weeks following his retirement, Taft died, on March 8, 1930, the same date as Associate Justice [[Edward Terry Sanford]] (who died unexpectedly). As it was customary for members of the court to attend the funeral of deceased members, this posed a "logistical nightmare", necessitating cross-country travel.<ref name="Christensen">[http://web.archive.org/web/20050903032026/http://www.supremecourthistory.org/04_library/subs_volumes/04_c20_e.html Christensen, George A. (1983) ''Here Lies the Supreme Court: Gravesites of the Justices'', Yearbook] [[Supreme Court Historical Society]] at [[Internet Archive]].</ref><ref name="Christensen2">Christensen, George A., ''Here Lies the Supreme Court: Revisited'', ''Journal of Supreme Court History'', Volume 33 Issue 1, Pages 17 – 41 (Feb 19, 2008), [[University of Alabama]].</ref>

[[File:William Howard Taft 1930 Issue-4c.jpg|thumb|left|175px|<center>1st Taft postage stamp</center><center>[[US Presidents on US postage stamps#William Howard Taft|Issue of 1930]]</center>]]

Three days following his demise, on March 11, he became the first president to be buried at [[Arlington National Cemetery]].<ref name="Christensen"/><ref name=Arlington>{{cite web |title=Biography of William Howard Taft, President of the United States and Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court |work=Historical Information |publisher=THE OFFICIAL WEBSITE OF ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY |url=http://www.arlingtoncemetery.org/historical_information/william_taft.html |accessdate=January 4, 2007}} ''See also,'' [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=1014 William Howard Taft memorial at] [[Find a Grave]].</ref> [[James Earle Fraser (sculptor)|James Earle Fraser]] sculpted his grave marker out of [[Stony Creek (Branford)|Stony Creek]] granite.<ref name=Arlington/> Taft is one of two presidents buried at Arlington National Cemetery, and he is one of four Chief Justices buried there. Taft was the only Chief Justice to have had a [[State funerals in the United States|state funeral]].

In 1938, a third generation of the Taft family entered the national political stage with the election of the former President's oldest son [[Robert Taft|Robert A. Taft I]] to the Senate, where he became a leader of the conservative Republicans. President Taft's other son, [[Charles Phelps Taft II]], served as the mayor of Cincinnati from 1955 to 1957.

Two more generations of the Taft family later entered politics. The President's grandson, [[Robert Taft, Jr.]], served a term as a Senator from Ohio from 1971 to 1977, and the President's great-grandson, [[Bob Taft|Robert A. Taft II]], served as the [[List of Governors of Ohio|Governor of Ohio]] from 1999 to 2007. [[William Howard Taft III]] was the U.S. ambassador to Ireland from 1953 to 1957.

[[William Howard Taft IV]], currently in private law practice, was the general counsel in the former [[United States Department of Health, Education, and Welfare]] in the 1970s, was the Deputy Secretary of Defense under [[Caspar Weinberger]] and [[Frank Carlucci]] in the 1980s, and acted as the [[United States Secretary of Defense]] during its vacancy from January to March 1989. In addition, he was a high-level official in the Department of State] from 2000 to 2006.

President Taft's enduring legacy includes many things named after him. Some of these are the courthouse of the Ohio Court of Appeals for the First District in Cincinnati; streets in Cincinnati, [[Arlington, Virginia]]; and [[Manila]], Philippines; a law school in [[Santa Ana, California]];<ref>[http://www.taftu.edu Taft University system,] [[William Howard Taft University]] and Taft Law School (Witkin School of Law).</ref> and high schools in [[San Antonio]], Texas; [[Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California|Woodland Hills]], California; Chicago, Illinois; and [[The Bronx]]. [[Taft, Eastern Samar]], a town in the Philippines was named after him. After a fire burned much of the town of [[Taft, California|Moron]], California, in the 1920s, it was renamed Taft, California, in his honor.

[[George Burroughs Torrey]] painted a portrait of him.

==Media==

[[File:William Taft video montage.ogg|thumb|center|300px|Collection of video clips of the president]]

==See also==

{{multicol}}

* [[Demographics of the Supreme Court of the United States]]

* [[Dollar Diplomacy]]

* [[History of the United States (1865–1918)]]

* [[List of Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States]]

* [[List of law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States]]

{{multicol-break}}

* [[List of United States Chief Justices by time in office]]

* [[List of U.S. Supreme Court Justices by time in office]]

* [[Taft family]]

* [[List of United States Supreme Court cases by the Taft Court|United States Supreme Court cases during the Taft Court]]

* [[List of Presidents of the United States]]

* [[US Presidents on US postage stamps]]

{{multicol-end}}

==Notes==

{{Reflist|2}}

==References==

;Secondary sources

* {{cite book |last=Abraham |first=Henry J. |title=Justices and Presidents: A Political History of Appointments to the Supreme Court |edition=3rd |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1992 |location=New York |isbn=0-19-506557-3 }}}

* Anderson, Donald F. ''William Howard Taft: A Conservative's Conception of the Presidency'' (1973)

* Anderson, Judith Icke. ''William Howard Taft: An Intimate History'' (1981).

* Anthony, Carl Sferrazza. ''Nellie Taft: The Unconventional First Lady of the Ragtime Era'' (2005)

* Bromley, Michael L. ''William Howard Taft and the First Motoring Presidency'' (2003)

* Burton, David H. ''Taft, Holmes, and the 1920s Court: An Appraisal'' (1998)

* Burton, David H., ''Taft, Roosevelt, and the Limits of Friendship'' (2005)

* Burton, David H. ''William Howard Taft, Confident Peacemaker'' (2005)

* Chace, James. ''1912: Wilson, Roosevelt, Taft and Debs – The Election that Changed the Country'' (2004)

* Coletta, Paolo Enrico. ''The Presidency of William Howard Taft'' (1973), standard survey

* Conner Valerie. ''The National War Labor Board' '(1983)

* {{cite book |last=Cushman |first=Clare |title=The Supreme Court Justices: Illustrated Biographies, 1789–1995 |edition=2nd |publisher=([[Supreme Court Historical Society]], Congressional Quarterly Books) |year=2001 |isbn=1568021267; ISBN 978-1-56802-126-3.}}

* Duffy, Herbert S. ''William Howard Taft'' (1930).

* {{cite book

| last = Frank

| first = John P.

| authorlink =

| coauthors = Leon Friedman and Fred L. Israel, editors

| title = The Justices of the United States Supreme Court: Their Lives and Major Opinions

| publisher = [[Chelsea House]] Publishers

| year = 1995

| location =

| pages =

| url =

| doi =

| id =

| isbn = 0791013774; ISBN 978-0-7910-1377-9}}

* Gould, Lewis L. ''The William Howard Taft Presidency''(2010)

* {{cite book|editor-last=Hall |editor-first=Kermit L. |title=The Oxford Companion to the Supreme Court of the United States |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=1992 |location=New York |isbn=0195058356; ISBN 978-0-19-505835-2.}}

* Hechler, Kenneth S. ''Insurgency: Personalities and Politics of the Taft Era'' 1940.

* Michael J. Korzi, ''Our chief magistrate and his powers: a reconsideration of William Howard Taft's "Whig" theory of presidential leadership'' (2003)

* Manners, William. ''TR and Will: A Friendship that Split the Republican Party'' 1969.

* {{cite book

| last = Martin

| first = Fenton S.

| authorlink =

| coauthors = Goehlert, Robert U.

| title = The U.S. Supreme Court: A Bibliography

| publisher = Congressional Quarterly Books

| year = 1990

| location = Washington, D.C.

| pages =

| url =

| doi =

| id =

| isbn = 0871875543}}

* {{cite book |last=Martin |first=Fenton S. |coauthor=Goehlert, Robert U. |title=The U.S. Supreme Court: A Bibliography |publisher=[[Congressional Quarterly]] Books |year=1990 |location=Washington, D.C. |isbn=0871875543 }}

* Minger Ralph E. ''William Howard Taft and United States Diplomacy: The Apprenticeship Years. 1900–1908'' (1975)

* Mowry George E. ''The Era of Theodore Roosevelt'' (1958)

* Pringle, Henry F. ''The Life and Times of William Howard Taft: A Biography'' 2 vol (1939); Pulitzer prize; the standard biography

* Renstrom, Peter G. ''The Taft Court: Justices, Rulings and Legacy'' ABC-CLIO, 2003

* Scholes, Walter V. and Marie V. Scholes. ''The Foreign Policies of the Taft Administration'' 1970.

* {{cite journal |last=Solvick |first=Stanley D. |authorlink= |coauthors= |date=December 1, 1963|title=William Howard Taft and the Payne-Aldrich Tariff |journal=Mississippi Valley Historical Review |volume=50 |issue=3 |pages=424–442 |doi=10.2307/1902605 |url= http://jstor.org/stable/1902605|accessdate= |quote= |issn=0161391X }}

* {{cite journal |last=Sternberg |first=Jonathan |authorlink= |coauthors= |year=2008 |title=Deciding Not to Decide: The Judiciary Act of 1925 and the Discretionary Court |journal=Journal of Supreme Court History |volume=33 |issue=1 |pages=1–16 |doi=10.1111/j.1540-5818.2008.00176.x |url= |accessdate= |quote=}}

* {{cite book |last=Urofsky |first=Melvin I. |title=The Supreme Court Justices: A Biographical Dictionary |publisher=Garland Publishing |year=1994 |location=New York |pages=590 |isbn=0815311761; ISBN 978-0-8153-1176-8.}}

* Warren, Charles. (1928) [http://books.google.com/books?id=pGUTAAAAYAAJ&dq=*Warren,+Charles.+(1928)+%27%27The+Supreme+Court+in+United+States+History%27%27,+2+vols.&printsec=frontcover&source=in&hl=en&ei=cwNWS8v8K5LUMr2WyIQJ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=11&ved=0CCsQ6AEwCg#v=onepage&q=&f=false ''The Supreme Court in United States History''], 2 vols. at [[Google books]].

* Wilensky, Norman N. ''Conservatives in the Progressive Era: The Taft Republicans of 1912'' (1965).

;Primary sources

* Butt, Archie. ''Taft and Roosevelt: The Intimate Letters of Archie Butt'' (1930)

* Taft, William Howard

** ''Liberty Under Law'' Yale University Press, 1922.

** ''Popular Government'' Yale University Press, 1913.

** ''Present Day Problems''

** ''The Anti-Trust Act and the Supreme Court'' Harper and Row, 1914.

** ''The Collected Works of William Howard Taft''. Edited by David H. Burton. Ohio University Press, 2001–. 6 of 8 volumes have appeared.

** ''The President and His Powers''. Columbia University Press, 1924.

* Taft, Mrs. William Howard, ''Recollections of Full Years'' (1914)

{{FJC Bio|2331}}

==External links==

{{Wikisource author}}

{{commons|William Howard Taft}}

{{wikiquote}}

* [http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/presidents/taft/index.html William Howard Taft: A Resource Guide] from the Library of Congress

* {{FJC Bio|2331}}

* {{gutenberg author|id=William+H.+Taft|name=William Howard Taft}}

* [http://www.millercenter.virginia.edu/index.php/academic/americanpresident/taft Extensive essay on William Howard Taft and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and the First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs]

* [http://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/taft.asp Inaugural Address]

* [http://vvl.lib.msu.edu/showfindingaid.cfm?findaidid=TaftW Audio clips of Taft's speeches]

* [http://www.apneos.com/taft_intro.html Taft's sleep apnea]

* [http://www.doctorzebra.com/prez/g27.htm Taft's medical history]

* [http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/wt27.html White House biography]

* [http://williamhowardtaft.org Presidential Biography by Stanley L. Klos]

* [http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/whtaft.htm ArlingtonCemetery.Net citing ''New York Times'' Obituary]

* [http://cylinders.library.ucsb.edu/search.php?query=william+howard+taft&queryType=%40attr+1%3D1 William Howard Taft cylinder recordings], from the [[Cylinder Preservation and Digitization Project]] at the [[University of California, Santa Barbara]] Library.

* [http://victor.library.ucsb.edu/index.php/talent/detail/21772/Taft_William_H._speaker Discography of William Howard Taft] on [[Victor Talking Machine Company|Victor Records]] from the Encyclopedic Discography of Victor Recordings (EDVR)

* [http://taft.stretching-it.com/Taft_humor_pg1.htm W.H. Taft Pages: Taft Humor and Anecdotes]

* [http://www.nps.gov/wiho William Taft National Historic Site]

* [http://www.taftmuseum.org/pages/abouttaft.php The Taft Museum, an art museum in Taft's former home in downtown Cincinnati]

* [http://www.nps.gov/history/NR/twhp/wwwlps/lessons/15taft/15taft.htm ''"Growing into Public Service: William Howard Taft's Boyhood Home",'' a National Park Service Teaching with Historic Places (TwHP) lesson plan]

* [http://www.history.army.mil/books/Last_Salute/Ch2.htm The Last Salute: Civil and Military Funeral, 1921–1969, CHAPTER II, Former President William Howard Taft, State Funeral, 8 – March 11, 1930] by B.&nbsp;C.&nbsp;Mossman and M.&nbsp;W.&nbsp;Stark. [[United States Army Center of Military History]].

* [http://missioninnmuseum.com/collect_movers/mov00005.htm The Taft Chair at the Mission Inn]

* [http://www.ca6.uscourts.gov/lib_hist/courts/supreme/judges/taft/wht-bib.html Bibliography, William Howard Taft] Sixth Circuit [[U.S. Court of Appeals]].

* [http://www.ca6.uscourts.gov/lib_hist/courts/supreme/judges/taft/wht-bio.html Biography, William Howard Taft] Sixth Circuit [[U.S. Court of Appeals]].

* [http://www.ca6.uscourts.gov/lib_hist/courts/supreme/judges/taft/wht-lop.html Location of Papers William Howard Taft] Sixth Circuit [[U.S. Court of Appeals]].

* [http://www.thegolfballfactory.com/the-golf-course/hole18/President-Taft-the-first-golfing-president.htm William Howard Taft, The first golfing President]

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<!-- Link farms -->

{{US Presidents}}

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{{American Governors-General of the Philippines}}

{{T Roosevelt cabinet}}

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{{Taft cabinet}}

{{start U.S. Supreme Court composition | CJ=Taft}}

{{U.S. Supreme Court composition court lifespan| cj=William Howard Taft| years=1921–1930}}

{{U.S. Supreme Court composition 1921–1922}}

{{U.S. Supreme Court composition 1922}}

{{U.S. Supreme Court composition 1923–1925}}

{{U.S. Supreme Court composition 1925–1930}}

{{end U.S. Supreme Court composition}}

<!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]] -->

{{Persondata

|NAME = Taft, William Howard

|ALTERNATIVE NAMES =

|SHORT DESCRIPTION = American politician, lawyer, jurist

|DATE OF BIRTH = September 15, 1857

|PLACE OF BIRTH = Cincinnati, Ohio, United States

|DATE OF DEATH = March 8, 1930

|PLACE OF DEATH = Washington, D.C., United States

}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Taft, William Howard}}

[[Category:William Howard Taft| ]]

[[Category:1857 births]]

[[Category:1930 deaths]]

[[Category:American expatriates in the Philippines]]

[[Category:American legal scholars]]

[[Category:American prosecutors]]

[[Category:American Unitarians]]

[[Category:Articles containing video clips]]

[[Category:Burials at Arlington National Cemetery]]

[[Category:Cardiovascular disease deaths in Washington, D.C.]]

[[Category:Chief Justices of the United States]]

[[Category:United States Supreme Court justices]]

[[Category:Colonial heads of Cuba]]

[[Category:American people of English descent]]

[[Category:Governors-General of the Philippines]]

[[Category:History of the United States (1865–1918)]]

[[Category:Ohio state court judges]]

[[Category:Judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit]]

[[Category:Ohio lawyers]]

[[Category:Ohio Republicans]]

[[Category:People from Cincinnati, Ohio]]

[[Category:Presidents of the American Bar Association]]

[[Category:Republican Party (United States) presidential nominees]]

[[Category:United States Solicitors General]]

[[Category:Taft family]]

[[Category:United States federal judges appointed by Benjamin Harrison]]

[[Category:United States federal judges appointed by Warren G. Harding]]

[[Category:United States presidential candidates, 1908]]

[[Category:United States presidential candidates, 1912]]

[[Category:United States presidential candidates, 1916]]

[[Category:United States Secretaries of War]]

[[Category:University of Cincinnati College of Law alumni]]

[[Category:University of Cincinnati faculty]]

[[Category:Yale Law School faculty]]

[[Category:Yale University alumni]]

[[Category:Presidents of the United States]]

[[Category:Republican Party Presidents of the United States]]

[[Category:Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences]]

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