William Howard Taft (1857-1930)

William Howard Taft (1857-1930), was the only man in the history of the United States who served first as President, then as Chief Justice. Taft did not want to be President. At heart, he was a judge and had little taste for politics. Above all, he wanted to be a justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.

Taft, a Republican, spent most of the first 20 years of his career as a lawyer and judge. His mother recognized his distaste for politics. "I do not want my son to be President." she said. "His is a judicial mind and he loves the law." But Taft's wife opposed his career as a judge because she felt it was a "fixed groove."

In the end, Taft's mother proved to be right. Hardly any other President has been so unhappy in the White House. When Taft moved out of the Executive Mansion in 1913, he told incoming President Woodrow Wilson: "I'm glad to be going. This is the lonesomest place in the world." When he was appointed Chief Justice eight years later, Taft said it was the highest honor he had ever received. He wrote: "The truth is that in my present life I don't remember that I ever was President."

Taft was the largest man ever to serve as President. He stood 6 feet tall and weighed more than 300 pounds. A newspaperman wrote that he looked "like an American bison - a gentle, kind one." He had a mild, pleasant personality, but he clung firmly to what he considered the rugged virtues. He did not smoke or drink. He was honest by nature, plain of speech, and straightforward in action. He was completely, and sometimes blindly, loyal to his friends and to his political party.

The modest Taft felt he was not fully qualified for the presidency. He had no gift of showmanship like his predecessor, President Theodore Roosevelt. Taft gave the public an adequate administration, but a poor show. Partly because of this, he failed to capture popular imagination, and many persons called him a failure as President.

During Taft's administration, most of the world was at peace. In Europe, the leading nations lined up in a balance of power that later led to World War I. In China, a revolution overthrew the imperial government and set up a republic. Explorers reached both the North Pole and the South Pole.

In the United States, the pace of life was speeding up. A majority of the people still lived on farms, but more and more were moving to cities. Women had won the right to vote in 12 states. Amendment 16 to the Constitution allowed Congress to pass a federal income tax, although it did not do so until Wilson's administration. The United States grew to 48 states with the admission of Arizona and New Mexico.