Lived

September 15, 1857 – March 8, 1930

Home State

Ohio

Party

Republican

Vice President

James S. Sherman

William Howard Taft was Theodore Roosevelt's chosen successor, a former judge who preferred the judiciary to the presidency. He continued antitrust enforcement, established the Department of Labor, and supported the 16th and 17th Amendments. His break with Roosevelt and the Progressive Party split the Republican vote in 1912, delivering the election to Woodrow Wilson. After leaving the White House he became Chief Justice of the United States, the only person to hold both offices. Solicitor General of the United States, federal appellate judge, first civil Governor of the Philippines, Secretary of War under Roosevelt.

Yale College, 1878; Cincinnati Law School, 1880.

Filed twice as many antitrust suits in four years as Roosevelt had in seven. Signed the Mann–Elkins Act strengthening the ICC. Secured the ratification of the 16th and 17th Amendments through his support of their passage. Later, as Chief Justice, wrote Myers v. United States on presidential removal power. Signed the Payne–Aldrich Tariff Act (1909), the Mann–Elkins Act (1910), and the Publicity Act (1910).

Signed the Payne–Aldrich Tariff, which split the Republican Party. His feud with Roosevelt over conservation and dollar diplomacy fractured the progressive wing. He carried only two states in the 1912 election.