William Howard Taft

Taft, William Howard (1909–13), 27th president of the United States. Taft was an imposing figure—he stood 6 ft tall and weighed more than 300 lbs. A good-natured, self-effacing man, he had the misfortune to follow the flamboyant Theodore Roosevelt in office—and suffered in the comparison. In his own time, Taft was judged one of the weakest of U.S. presidents, yet the achievements of his administration were substantial.

Early life

Taft's father, Alphonso Taft, was secretary of war and attorney general under President Ulysses S. Grant, then minister to Austria-Hungary and Russia. William graduated from Yale University in 1878 and, in 1880, earned his degree from the Cincinnati Law School and was admitted to the Ohio bar. In 1886, he married Helen (Nellie) Herron. They had three children.

Law and politics

Taft was appointed a state superior court judge (1887), U.S. solicitor general (1890), and a federal circuit judge (1892). He loved the law, but his father's influence in the Republican Party pushed him into politics. Taft served as the first civil governor of the Philippine Islands (1901–04), then as President Theodore Roosevelt's secretary of war. He became a valued troubleshooter, helping to reorganize the building of the Panama Canal, settle the Russo-Japanese War, and avert a revolution in Cuba.

Roosevelt, who chose not to run for reelection in 1908, pushed Taft as his successor—although Taft would have preferred an appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court. Taft easily defeated his opponent, William Jennings Bryan.

President

Taft resolved to carry on “the same old plan” of the Roosevelt administration: domestic reform, the curbing of big business, and conservation of the nation's resources. Taft's administration won twice as many antitrust suits against business monopolies as Roosevelt's. Taft believed that somewhat lower tariffs would help control trusts, but could get only limited tariff reduction passed. He greatly strengthened the powers of the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) in regulating transportation rates. He saved the government millions of dollars by instituting strict accounting, and laid the basis for a national budget. He also broadened the Civil Service, instituted the Dept. of Labor, pushed through a bill requiring disclosure of campaign expenses in federal elections, and drafted income-tax amendments. In foreign affairs, Taft was less successful. He and his secretary of state initiated “dollar diplomacy”—a policy of using trade and commerce to enhance the nation's influence abroad. It poisoned foreign relations, particularly with Latin America, for more than a generation. Taft's tariff and conservation policies put him at odds with Republican progressives. Theodore Roosevelt ran against him in 1912, splitting the Republican vote and allowing Democrat Woodrow Wilson to win the presidency.

Later life

Taft became a professor of constitutional law at Yale in 1913 and was co-chair of the National War Labor Board (1914–18). In 1921, President Warren G. Harding appointed him chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court—the job Taft had always wanted. Taft served in that role until Feb. 1930, when ill health forced him to retire.