President william howard taft biography for kids
Fun Facts About President William Taft
William Taft, our 27th president, is known for many things, but being an effective president is not one of them. President Taft attended Yale and climbed the political ladder through his knowledge of the law. Presidents McKinley and Roosevelt appointed him to political positions that eventually led to his nomination for president. Though he won, he disliked being commander in chief and only served one term. Here are some other interesting facts about President Taft:
- Taft was the first president to throw the first pitch of baseball season, beginning a tradition that continues today. The game was in 1910, between the Washington Senators and the Philadelphia Athletics. The Senators won 3-0.
- Taft was the first president to own a car. He actually converted the White House stables into a garage!
- Taft was the last president to keep a cow at the White House to provide fresh milk. Her name was Pauline.
- Taft successfully argued for the construction of the U.S. Supreme Court Building. He felt that the Supreme Court should distance itself from Congress, since it was a separate branch of the government. Prior to this, the Supreme Court heard cases in the Capitol Building.
- At over 330 pounds, Taft was the heaviest president. Once, he got stuck in the White House bath tub and required six aides to pull him free. After that, the tub was replaced with a new one, large enough to hold four men.
- William Taft was the first president to be buried in Arlington National Cemetery. John F. Kennedy is the only other president buried there.
- Taft was the only president to ever serve as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, making him the only person to ever hold a position in both the Executive and Judicial branches of the United States government.
- Taft considered his time as Chief Justice to be the highest point of his career. In fact, he once wrote, “I don’t remember that I ever was president.”
William Howard Taft was born on September 15, 1857, in Cincinnati, Ohio, to judge Alphonso Taft and his wife Louisa. He graduated from Yale, and then returned to Ohio, studied at the Cincinnati Law School, and began his law practice. He made a swift climb in politics through Republican judiciary appointments, while a seat on the Supreme Court was his ultimate ambition. His route to the White House was mapped gradually through ever more prestigious posts beginning in 1900 when President William McKinley appointed him civil governor of the Philippines. During his tenure, he improved the economy, built roads and schools, and gave the Filipino people limited participation in government. In 1907 President Theodore Roosevelt returned him to Washington to serve as secretary of war, and in 1908 he received the Republican presidential nomination. He won the election and was inaugurated in March 1909.
Taft pledged to continue Roosevelt's presidential agenda, pleasing Progressives who said that "Roosevelt has cut enough hay" and "Taft is the man to put it into the barn." Yet Taft's unexpected support of the 1909 Payne-Aldrich Tariff Act reneged on a campaign promise to lower tariffs and angered liberal Republicans. He further antagonized Progressives by upholding a decision by his secretary of the interior to sell public lands in Alaska and the Rocky Mountains. He fired Gifford Pinchot, the first chief of the U.S. Forest Service, a Roosevelt advisor and a conservationist, for insubordination in opposing the sales.
Angry politics diminished appreciation for Taft's many achievements. He signed the first tariff revision since 1897; established a postal savings system; formed the Interstate Commerce Commission; and prosecuted over 75 antitrust violations, far more than pursued by the "trust- buster" Theodore Roosevelt. The Taft era Congress submitted two Constitutional amendments to the states that were ratified in 1913: the sixteenth amendment created a federal income tax; President of the United States from 1909 to 1913 "William Taft" redirects here. For other uses, see William Taft (disambiguation). William Howard Taft Portrait, c. 1908 William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857 – March 8, 1930) was the 27th president of the United States, serving from 1909 to 1913, and the tenth chief justice of the United States, serving from 1921 to 1930. He is the only person to have he Born in the Mount Auburn section of Cincinnati, Ohio, on September 15, 1857, William Howard Taft was a physically active child, playing sports and taking dancing lessons despite his tendency to obesity. He loved baseball, and he was a good second baseman and a power hitter. Taft studied at Woodward High School, a well-regarded private school in Cincinnati, graduating in 1874 second in the class with a four-year grade point average of 91.5 out of 100. At Yale University, Taft followed his father's advice to refrain from athletics lest his participation impede his academic progress. He graduated second in his class of 132 students and then went on to the University of Cincinnati Law School while working part time as a courthouse reporter for the Cincinnati Commercial. Taft passed his bar exams in May 1880. Taft was raised in a large, close, and stimulating family. He had five siblings, two half brothers by his father's first marriage and two brothers and a sister born to his mother. The family identified with the Unitarian Church, subscribing to a belief in God but not the divinity of Christ. Taft's father, Alphonso Taft, was a lawyer and served as secretary of war and then attorney general in President Ulysses S. Grant's cabinet. President Chester A. Arthur appointed Taft's father to serve as minister (the title of ambassador in those days) to Austria-Hungary and Russia. A significant role model for William, Alphonso Taft was sensible, kind, gentle, and highly "Victorian"—a man who kept his emotions under rigid control. Politically active in the Republican Party, the senior Taft served on Cincinnati's city council and sought unsuccessfully the 1875 Republican nomination in the Ohio gubernatorial race. Alphonso had liberal views on women's rights, however, and encouraged Taft's mother, Louisa Maria Torrey Taft, in her independent ways and numerous outside activities and her intellectual
William Howard Taft
In office
March 4, 1909 – March 4, 1913Vice President Preceded by Theodore Roosevelt Succeeded by Woodrow Wilson In office
July 11, 1921 – February 3, 1930Nominated by Warren G. Harding Preceded by Edward Douglass White Succeeded by Charles Evans Hughes In office
February 1, 1904 – June 30, 1908President Theodore Roosevelt Preceded by Elihu Root Succeeded by Luke Edward Wright In office
September 29, 1906 – October 13, 1906Appointed by Theodore Roosevelt Preceded by Tomás Estrada Palma
(as President)Succeeded by Charles Edward Magoon In office
March 16, 1900 – December 23, 1903Appointed by William McKinley Preceded by Jacob Gould Schurman
(as Chairman of the First Philippine Commission)Succeeded by Luke Edward Wright In office
March 17, 1892 – March 15, 1900Appointed by Benjamin Harrison Preceded by Seat established Succeeded by Henry Franklin Severens In office
February 4, 1890 – March 20, 1892President Benjamin Harrison Preceded by Orlow W. Chapman Succeeded by Charles H. Aldrich Born (1857-09-15)September 15, 1857
Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.Died March 8, 1930(1930-03-08) (aged 72)
Washington, D.C., U.S.Resting place Arlington National Cemetery Political party Republican Spouse Children Parents Relatives Taft family Education Occupation Signature William Taft: Life Before the Presidency
Living Up to High Expectations