William Howard Taft worked as the Vice President for Teddy Roosevelt, and was chosen by Roosevelt to fill the presidential seat when Roosevelt's two terms were complete. While Roosevelt campaigned for Taft, his support wavered after Taft took office and his policies skewed from Roosevelt's path. Roosevelt would attack situations such as big steel directly, Taft would pull on his legal background and file anti-trust lawsuits, over 80 in total. However his efforts were not strong enough for anti-trust reformers, and too strong for big business. He found himself falling out of favor with the public and Roosevelt would state that he was humiliated by his protégé.
During the next election Roosevelt would run against Taft as a member of the Bull Moose Party essentially splitting the Republican vote and guaranteeing Woodrow Wilson the election. While their friendship had been devastated, it did recover, not long before Roosevelt's death in 1919. Taft holds two distinctions as president, first he was the last president to have facial hair, and second he was the heaviest at 300 pounds. But it was another distinction that he considered his greatest.
When Supreme Court Justice Edward Douglass White died President Warren G. Harding nominated Taft to take his place as the Chief Justice of the United States. The Senate approved him in a 60-4 vote and Taft became the only individual to lead both the Executive and Judicial branches of the US Government. In that role he gained another distinction as the only former president to swear in subsequent presidents giving the oath of office to both Calvin Coolidge and Herbert Hoover. Always considering his time as Chief Justice to be this highest point of his career Taft would remark, "I do not remember that I was ever President". Taft would hold the role of Supreme Court Justice until his death in 1930.
-Professor Walter
Comments