William Howard Taft William Howard Taft ( September 15 , 1857 – March 8 , 1930 ) was the 27th President of the United States ( 1909 – 1913 ) and later the tenth Chief Justice of the United States ( 1921 – 1930 ) . He is the only person to have served in both of these offices . Before becoming President , Taft , a Republican , was appointed to serve on the Superior Court of Cincinnati in 1887 . In 1890 , Taft was appointed Solicitor General of the United States and in 1891 a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit . In 1900 , President William McKinley appointed Taft Governor - General of the Philippines . In 1904 , President Theodore Roosevelt appointed Taft Secretary of War in an effort to groom Taft , then his close political ally , into his handpicked presidential successor . Taft assumed a prominent role in problem solving , assuming on some occasions the role of acting Secretary of State , while declining repeated offers from Roosevelt to serve on the Supreme Court . Riding a wave of popular support for fellow Republican Roosevelt , Taft won an easy victory in his 1908 bid for the presidency . In his only term , Taft ' s domestic agenda emphasized trust - busting , civil service reform , strengthening the Interstate Commerce Commission , improving the performance of the postal service , and passage of the Sixteenth Amendment . Abroad , Taft sought to further the economic development of nations in Latin America and Asia through " Dollar Diplomacy " , and showed decisiveness and restraint in response to revolution in Mexico . The task - oriented Taft was oblivious to the political ramifications of his decisions , often alienated his own key constituencies , and was overwhelmingly defeated in his bid for a second term in the presidential election of 1912 . In surveys of presidential scholars , Taft is usually ranked near the middle of lists of all American Presidents . After leaving office , Taft spent his time in academia , arbitration , and the pursuit of world peace through his self - founded League to Enforce Peace . In 1921 , after the First World War , President Warren G . Harding appointed Taft Chief Justice of the United States . He served in this capacity until shortly before his death in 1930 . Early life and education . William Howard Taft was born into the powerful Taft family September 15 , 1857 , near Cincinnati , Ohio as the son of Louisa Torrey and Alphonso Taft . His paternal grandfather was Peter Rawson Taft , a descendant of Robert Taft I , the first Taft in America , who settled in Colonial Mendon and later Uxbridge Massachusetts . Alphonso Taft went to Cincinnati in 1839 to open a law practice , and was a prominent Republican who served as Secretary of War and Attorney General under President Ulysses S . Grant . Young William attended Cincinnati ' s First Congregational - Unitarian Church with his parents ; he joined the congregation at an early age and was an enthusiastic participant . As he rose in the government , he spent little time in Cincinnati . He attended the church much less frequently than he had but worshiped there when he could . Taft attended Woodward High School in Cincinnati , and laid the cornerstone of the new Woodward High School , now the site of the School for Creative and Performing Arts ( SCPA ) . Like others in his family , he attended Yale College in New Haven , Connecticut . At Yale , he was a member of the Linonian Society , a literary and debating society ; Skull and Bones , the secret society co - founded by his father , Alphonso Taft , in 1832 ; and the Beta chapter of the Psi Upsilon fraternity . He was given the nickname " Big Lub " because of his size , but his college friends knew him by the nickname " Old Bill " . Taft received comments , sometimes humorous , about his weight . Making positive use of his stature , Taft was Yale ' s intramural heavyweight wrestling champion . In 1878 , Taft graduated , ranking second in his class out of 121 . After college , he attended Cincinnati Law School , graduating with a Bachelor of Laws in 1880 . While in law school , he worked on the area newspaper " The Cincinnati Commercial " . Legal career and early politics . After admission to the Ohio bar , Taft was appointed Assistant Prosecutor of Hamilton County , Ohio , based in Cincinnati . In 1882 , he was appointed local Collector of Internal Revenue . Taft married his longtime sweetheart , Helen Herron , in Cincinnati in 1886 . In 1887 , he was appointed a judge of the Superior Court of Cincinnati . In 1890 , President Benjamin Harrison appointed him Solicitor General of the United States ; at age 32 , he was the youngest - ever Solicitor General . Taft then began serving on the newly created United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in 1891 ; he was confirmed by the Senate on March 17 , 1892 , and received his commission that same day . In about 1893 , Taft decided in favor of the processing aluminum patents belonging to the Pittsburgh Reduction Company , now known as Alcoa . Along with his judgeship , between 1896 and 1900 Taft also served as the first dean and a professor of constitutional law at the University of Cincinnati . In 1900 , President William McKinley appointed Taft chairman of a commission to organize a civilian government in the Philippines which had been ceded to the United States by Spain following the Spanish – American War and the 1898 Treaty of Paris . Although Taft had been opposed to the annexation of the islands , and had told McKinley his real ambition was to become a justice of the Supreme Court of the United States , he reluctantly accepted the appointment . From 1901 to 1904 , Taft served as the first civilian Governor - General of the Philippines , a position in which he was very popular with both Americans and Filipinos . In 1902 , Taft visited Rome to negotiate with Pope Leo XIII for the purchase of Philippine lands owned by the Roman Catholic Church . Taft then persuaded Congress to appropriate more than $ 7 million to purchase these lands , which he sold to Filipinos on easy terms . In 1903 , President Theodore Roosevelt offered Taft the seat on the Supreme Court to which he had for so long aspired , but he reluctantly declined since he viewed the Filipinos as not yet being capable of governing themselves and because of his popularity among them . This decision was one among many in Taft ' s career which demonstrated a compulsive dedication to the job at hand , without regard to his self - interest . ( Roosevelt actually made the offer of a seat on the Court on several different occasions , being met with a decline every time . ) This dedication to the task at hand was the source of much frustration of his political colleagues . According to biographer Anderson , contrary to the belief of Roosevelt and other allies , Taft ' s role as Governor - General in the Philippines did not serve to equip him with the political skills essential for the White House . Secretary of War ( 1904 – 1908 ) . In 1904 , Roosevelt appointed Taft as Secretary of War . This appointment allowed Taft to remain involved in the Philippines and Roosevelt also assured Taft he would support his later appointment to the Court , while Taft agreed to support Roosevelt in the Presidential election of 1904 . Roosevelt made the basic policy decisions regarding military affairs , using Taft as a well - traveled spokesman who campaigned for Roosevelt ' s reelection in 1904 . Of Taft ' s appointment , Roosevelt said , " If only there were three of you ; I could appoint one of you to the Court , one to the War Department and one to the Philippines . " Taft met with the Emperor of Japan who alerted him of the probability of war with Russia . In 1905 , Taft met with Japanese Prime Minister Katsura Tarō . At that meeting , the two signed a secret diplomatic memorandum now called the Taft – Katsura Agreement . Contrary to rumor , the memorandum did not establish any new policies but instead repeated the public positions of both nations . In 1906 , President Roosevelt sent troops to restore order in Cuba during the revolt led by General Enrique Loynaz del Castillo , and Taft temporarily became the Civil Governor of Cuba , personally negotiating with Castillo for a peaceful end to the revolt . Also in that year Roosevelt made his third offer to Taft of a position on the Court which he again declined out of a sense of duty to resolve pending issues in the Philippines . Had it been for the Chief Justice seat , a different result may well have ensued . Taft indicated to Roosevelt he wanted to be Chief Justice of the Supreme Court , not President , but there was no vacancy and Roosevelt had other plans – in 1907 he began touting Taft as the best choice for the Presidential nomination by the party . Taft ' s spouse was determined to gain the White House and pressured him not to accept a court appointment ; other family members also strongly favored the Presidency for him . He gave Taft more responsibilities along with the Philippines and the Panama Canal . For a while , Taft was Acting Secretary of State . When Roosevelt was away , Taft was , in effect , the Acting President . While serving as the War Secretary Taft generally concentrated on major developments , including the Philippines and the Panama Canal , to the detriment of departmental housekeeping problems , including factionalism within the Department , of which Roosevelt was aware . In 1907 the Hay – Bunau - Varilla Treaty granted the U . S . construction rights for the Panama Canal , which Roosevelt delegated to the War Department , and Taft thereby supervised the beginning of construction on the Canal . Taft promoted a reduction in the tariffs on sugar and tobacco in the Philippines , a position with which Roosevelt disagreed ; Taft offered to resign but this was refused by Roosevelt . Taft also had a disagreement with Roosevelt over the latter ' s conclusion of an executive agreement with the Dominican Republic , in lieu of what Taft thought should have been a treaty , requiring ratification by the Senate . Roosevelt dismissed the complaint as " trifling " , and Taft , in his usual style , let it go . Presidential election of 1908 . Theodore Roosevelt became president after William McKinley was assassinated in 1901 . After getting elected president in his own right in 1904 , on election night on the lawn of the White House , Roosevelt publicly declared he would not run for reelection in 1908 , a decision that he immediately regretted . But he felt bound by his word . Taft was the logical successor , but he was initially reluctant to run , as he had been earlier . As a member of Roosevelt ' s cabinet , he had declared that his future ambition was to serve on the Supreme Court , not the White House . Taft ' s efforts in stumping for the party in the 1906 mid - term elections made him aware of his deficiencies as an effective campaigner . Mrs . Taft even commented during this time , " never did he cease to regard a Supreme Court appointment as more desirable than the presidency . " But , Taft conceded , with his extensive involvement as the most prominent member of the cabinet , that he was the most " available " man ; thus he agreed that were he to be nominated for president , he would put his personal convictions aside and run a vigorous campaign . At the time , Roosevelt was convinced that Taft was a genuine " progressive " and helped push through the nomination of his Secretary of War onto the Republican ticket on the first ballot at the party convention . His opponent in the general election was William Jennings Bryan , who had run for president twice before , in 1896 and in 1900 against William McKinley . During the campaign , Taft undercut Bryan ' s liberal support by accepting some of his reformist ideas , and Roosevelt ' s progressive policies blurred the distinctions between the parties . Bryan , on the other hand , ran an aggressive campaign against the nation ' s business elite . The Democrats referred to Taft ' s nomination and potential election , pre - determined by the powerful Roosevelt , as a possible " forced succession to the presidency . " It did not take long for Taft ' s markedly different style , and lack of political acumen , to emerge . Joseph B . Foraker of Ohio , seeking Taft ' s support in his senatorial re - election , made an appearance with Taft , creating the impression Taft was allied with the big business trusts . And when Taft failed to follow the Hearst papers in denouncing Foraker ' s association with them , Roosevelt became incensed . Taft also showed his political ineptness by choosing Frank Hitchcock to be Chairman of the Republican Party . Hitchcock was quick to bring in men closely allied with big business , which further alienated the progressive wing of the party . Despite the difference in styles , Taft had demonstrated for the most part that the substance of his policies echoed those of Roosevelt . In the end , Taft won by a comfortable electoral margin , giving Bryan his worst loss in three presidential campaigns . Taft defeated Bryan by 159 electoral votes ; however , he garnered just 51 % of the popular vote . Mrs . Taft was quoted quite prophetically , saying that , " There was nothing to criticize , except his not knowing or caring about the way the game of politics is played . " Presidency , 1909 – 1913 . Taft did not enjoy the easy relationship with the press that Roosevelt had , choosing not to offer himself for interviews or photo opportunities as often as the previous president had done . When a reporter informed him he was no Teddy Roosevelt , Taft replied that his main goal was to " try to accomplish just as much without any noise " . Taft even made executive decisions ( see below ) demonstrating his indifference with the press . Indeed , Taft ' s administration marked a change in style from the political charisma of Roosevelt to the passion of Taft for the rule of law . Taft , in fashioning his cabinet , showed also that he was not unwilling to depart to some degree from Roosevelt ' s progressivism ; he named an anti - progressive , Philander Chase Knox Secretary of State , who had primary influence over other appointments . Taft considered himself a progressive , in part from his belief in an expansive use of the rule of law , as the prevailing device that should be actively used by judges and others in authority to solve society ' s , and even the world ' s , problems . But his devotion to the law also often made Taft a slave to precedent , and less adroit in politics than Roosevelt ; he therefore lacked the flexibility , creativity and personal magnetism of his mentor , not to mention the publicity devices , the dedicated supporters , and the broad base of public support that made Roosevelt so formidable . The divergent views of the two men over the powers of the executive is well articulated in their respective memoirs . In summary , Roosevelt for his part believed ' the President has not just a right but a duty to do anything demanded by the needs of the nation , unless such action is forbidden by the Constitution or federal law . " Taft ' s general opinion on the other hand was that " the President can exercise no power which cannot fairly be traced to some specific grant of power in the Constitution or act of Congress . " Domestic policies and politics . Keller argues that " Taft in his way was a Progressive president , surpassing TR in antitrust suits and subscribing to an administrative more than political model of the presidency . " Taft , however , increasingly came to blows with the Progressive faction of the GOP , which looked to Roosevelt or LaFollette for leadership . Taft thus increasingly depended on the conservative faction of his party . When President Roosevelt realized that lowering the tariff would divide the Republican Party , he assumed a low profile on that issue . Taft ignored the political dynamite and kept the tariff rates on his agenda ( he had raised expectations of lower rates in the campaign ) ; he passively encouraged congressional reformers to draft bills including lower rates , while broadcasting a willingness to compromise with conservative leaders in the Congress , who wanted to keep tariff rates high . Taft described this approach as his " policy of harmony " with the Congress . The President displayed a more aggressive role early in the drafting of tariff legislation as it regarded the Philippines . He also assumed a similar role in pushing for a corporate income tax . On other matters , he was content to wait until legislation reached its final stage in a joint House – Senate conference committee . Once there , however , he jumped in with both feet , calling each and every member of the committee for a one - on - one meeting at the White House . The resulting tariff rates in the Payne – Aldrich Tariff Act of 1909 were too high for the progressives , based in part on Taft ' s campaign promises ; but instead of blaming the act ' s shortcomings on Senator Nelson W . Aldrich and big business , Taft claimed the responsibility , calling it the best bill to come from the Republican Party . Again , due to his results - oriented style , politically he had managed to alienate all sides . The Bureau of Trade Relations later concluded the act overall was moderately successful in lowering rates . Congress refused however to fund the Tariff Board which the President included in the Payne – Aldrich Bill , which would have removed the setting of rates from direct continual Congressional manipulation . Taft was less likely to speak critically of big business than Roosevelt . Nevertheless , his rule of law orientation resulted in the filing of 90 antitrust suits during his administration , compared to 54 such suits by Roosevelt ' s two - term Justice Department . Taft ' s efforts included one suit against the country ' s largest corporation , U . S . Steel , for the acquisition of a Tennessee company during Roosevelt ' s tenure . The lawsuit even named Roosevelt personally without Taft ' s knowledge . This was responsible for a complete break with Roosevelt . Progressives within the Republican Party began to actively oppose Taft . Senator Robert LaFollette of Wisconsin created the National Progressive Republican League to replace Taft on the national level ; although , his campaign crashed after a disastrous speech . Most of LaFollette ' s supporters went over to Roosevelt . The business community and the conservative wing of the party were also alienated from Taft and contributions to the GOP dried up . Taft ' s administration got a political boost after 25 western railroads announced an intent to raise rates by 20 % , and Taft responded , first with a threat to enforce the Sherman Antitrust Act against them ; he then negotiated a settlement whereby they agreed to submit delayed rate requests to a new Interstate Commerce Commission having authority over rate requests . In late 1911 , President Taft called for a “ central organization in touch with associations and chambers of commerce throughout the country . ” Just four months later , on April 22 , 1912 , Taft created the United States Chamber of Commerce as a counterbalance to the rise of the labor movement at the time . Taft ' s obsession with the law over politics created more trouble for him in the well noted dispute between his Interior Secretary , Richard Achilles Ballinger , and the Chief of the Forestry Service , Gifford Pinchot . Ballinger ' s job was to assure the proper legal form of land withdrawals made from the private sector as part of Roosevelt ' s conservation policy . Ballinger ' s review in many instances concluded that the legalities were lacking and lands had to be returned to private owners . Pinchot led the objections to these returns , and even convinced an Interior Department subordinate , Louis Glavis , to bring an accusation against Ballinger for fraud and collusion with corporate timber interests . Taft refused to intervene until the resulting discord in the cabinet forced him to act . The President reviewed the matter , then fired Glavis and Pinchot ; Ballinger also tendered his resignation , which would have further served to end the matter were it not for Taft ' s refusal to accept it . By that time the political damage had been done , with further alienation of the Progressives from the administration . Taft , ever reluctant to dismiss cabinet members , nevertheless used the resignations of Ballinger and War Secretary Dickinson to modify the complexion of the cabinet by appointing more progressive Republicans . Walter L . Fisher , from the National Conservation League and an ally of Pinchot , replaced Ballinger . Henry L . Stimson , another progressive , replaced Dickinson . Taft ' s overriding concern in making most appointments , however , was ability and experience , not party or faction alignment . This was particularly the case with respect to judiciary appointments , specifically in the south , where Taft felt the courts were the weakest . Taft ' s high standards , which reduced the influence of Senatorial courtesy in the selection process , resulted in the placement of over one hundred well qualified federal judges . Nevertheless , in the process Taft passed up yet another opportunity to embolden himself politically through the use of patronage . In the area of federal spending , Taft initiated reforms which would revolutionize the Executive ' s role in the federal government ' s budget process . Previously , each executive department presented to the Treasury Dept . its own expense estimates , which were then forwarded to the Congress . Taft ordered each department to begin submitting its requests to the cabinet for review . The first such round of requests and cabinet reviews resulted in a reduction of $ 92 million , representing the first actual presidential budget in modern history . Taft then requested , and received , approval and funding to create the Commission on Economy and Efficiency to study the budgeting process . The study recommended the President be required early in the Congressional session to present the legislature with a comprehensive budget . This recommendation ultimately became law with passage of the Budget and Accounting Act of 1921 . Taft ' s " policy of harmony " with Congress facilitated passage of most of his legislative program . Nevertheless , in the 1910 midterm elections , the Democrats assumed control of the House for the first time in 16 years . At the same time , in the Senate , while the Republicans retained their majority , they lost 8 seats . Corporate income tax . To solve an impasse during the 1909 tariff debate , Taft proposed income taxes for corporations and a constitutional amendment to remove the apportionment requirement for taxes on incomes from property ( taxes on dividends , interest , and rents ) , on June 16 , 1909 . His proposed tax on corporate net income was 1 % on net profits over $ 5 , 000 . It was designated an excise on the privilege of doing business as a corporation whose stockholders enjoyed the privilege of limited liability , and not a tax on incomes as such . In 1911 , the Supreme Court , in " Flint v . Stone Tracy Co . " , upheld the tax . Receipts grew from $ 21 million in the fiscal year 1910 to $ 34 . 8 million in 1912 . In July 1909 , a proposed amendment to allow the federal government to tax incomes was passed unanimously in the Senate and by a vote of 318 to 14 in the House . It was quickly ratified by the states , and on February 3 , 1913 , it became a part of the Constitution as the Sixteenth Amendment . Blacks and immigrants . Taft met with and publicly endorsed Booker T . Washington ' s program for uplifting the African American race , advising them to stay out of politics at the time and emphasize education and entrepreneurship . A supporter of free immigration , Taft vetoed a law passed by Congress and supported by labor unions that would have restricted unskilled laborers by imposing a literacy test . Foreign policy . The President surprised the diplomatic arena with his early dismissal of one of the State Department ' s most experienced diplomats , Henry White , the Ambassador to France . The only suspected reason for this decision was that White was thought to have somehow slighted the President and his wife 25 years earlier on their honeymoon in Europe . Taft was oblivious to the serious damage that this decision caused his political reputation . ( The following year White accepted Taft ' s appointment to head a delegation to the Pan - American Conference in Buenos Aires . ) The President made it a top priority to reorganize the State Department , saying , " It is organized on the basis of the needs of the government in 1800 instead of 1900 . " The Department was for the first time organized into geographical divisions , including the Far East , the Near East , Latin America and Western Europe . This reorganization was engineered in large part by Secretary of State Knox ' s First Assistant Secretary , Huntington Wilson , who served as de facto Secretary of State due to the frequent absence of Knox . Again displaying his inept administrative leadership , Taft , while not sharing any of Knox ' s respect for Wilson ' s ability , deferred to much of Wilson ' s policy making . The President personally engaged in talks with the Chinese to provide American assistance in the expansion of the Chinese railroad industry ; this was accomplished through participation in the multi - national Hukuang Loan . The effort was dubbed " shirt sleeves diplomacy " . Initial success in China led to an extended effort by the President to effect the Open Door Policy , particularly in Manchuria ; this was not successful due in large part to the President ' s reliance on the inexperienced Knox , who failed to properly assess the objections of Japan and Russia . Taft actively promoted the nation ' s role in the economic development of Latin America , specifically through the Honduras and Nicaragua conventions . The concept , referred to as " Dollar Diplomacy " , called for the State Department to coordinate loans to the countries for infrastructure improvement from the largest banks in the U . S . Strategically , this was designed to strengthen security for the Panama Canal , increase American trade , and diminish the presence of European nations in the area . Progressives and Insurgent Republicans in the Senate opposed the Wall Street connection , so the effort was largely a failure . The President was more successful in Argentina , where agreements were reached whereby the U . S . provided loans to enable Argentina to acquire battleships ; some naval construction and design secrets were sacrificed in the arrangement . Another of Taft ' s goals was the furtherance of world peace . He believed that international arbitration between adversarial nations could be utilized as the best means to avoid armed conflict . This was a logical extension of his boundless faith in the rule of law as a Progressive , and it therefore even superseded U . S nationalism as embodied in the Constitution . Hence , he found no objection to surrendering to an international body jurisdiction over the nation ' s rights in international affairs . As a result , he championed arbitration treaties with Britain and France . The Senate was not prepared to make such a surrender of the nation ' s interests , and approved the treaties but only with modifications that provided the Senate with a veto over any decisions made in arbitration . In the 1911 Congressional session Taft ' s most potentially notable achievement was approval of a reciprocity agreement with Canada which proposed to drastically lower trade barriers . The passage was accomplished with the cooperation of some Democrats , and at a considerable cost of Republican unity . The President confessed to Roosevelt " I think it may break the Republican party for a while . " Taft also responded to criticism from party leaders , saying , " I do not give a tinker ' s damn whether it injures my political prospects or not . " Despite the potential benefits of the agreement to the country , which Roosevelt as well understood and anticipated , all was for naught when the Canadian legislature refused to approve it . No foreign affairs controversy tested Taft ' s statesmanship and commitment to peace more than the uprising in Mexico against the authoritarian regime of the aging Porfirio Diaz , which had attracted billions in capital investment for economic development , much of it from the U . S . Anti - regime ( and anti - American ) riots began in 1910 and were reported by Ambassador Henry Lane Wilson to Knox , who failed to pass the information on to the President . Some months later Wilson met with Taft ( Knox was out of town on vacation ) , and upon hearing the information , the President immediately and unilaterally ordered a mobilization of 25 , 000 troops to the Mexican border as well as naval maneuvers in the Gulf of Mexico . Taft publicly directed that no intervention of troops into Mexico was to occur without Congressional authorization . The President ' s restraint in the name of peace was difficult to maintain ; in Arizona two citizens were killed and almost a dozen injured as a result of the uprising ; but Taft would not be goaded into fighting and so instructed the Arizona governor . 1912 presidential campaign and election . The results of the 1910 elections made it clear to the President that Roosevelt had departed his camp , and that he might even contend for the party nomination in 1912 . On his return from Europe , Roosevelt openly broke with Taft in one of the notable political feuds of the 20th century . To the surprise of observers who thought Roosevelt had unstoppable momentum , Taft determined he would not simply step aside for the popular ex - President , despite the diminished support he had in the party . Taft acknowledged this , saying , " the longer I am President , the less of a party man I seem to become . " Roosevelt declared his candidacy for the Republican nomination in February 1912 ; Taft soon decided that he would focus on canvassing for delegates and not attempt at the outset to take on the more able campaigner one on one . As Roosevelt became more radical in his progressivism , Taft was hardened in his resolve to achieve re - nomination , as he was convinced that the Progressives threatened the very foundation of the government . Taft ultimately outmaneuvered Roosevelt and Senator Robert M . La Follette , Sr . in delegate count , regained control of the GOP convention ; and defeated Roosevelt for the nomination . Roosevelt and his group of disgruntled party delegates and members bolted from the party to create the Progressive Party ( or " Bull Moose " ) ticket , splitting the Republican vote in the 1912 election . Taft thought that , despite probable defeat , the party had been preserved as " the defender of conservative government and conservative institutions . " He also felt that the expected defeat would remind the party of the need for self - discipline in the face of populist rancor . Woodrow Wilson , the Democrat , was elected with 41 % of the popular vote ; Roosevelt got 27 % , and Taft garnered 25 % . Taft won a mere eight electoral votes , in Utah and Vermont , making it the worst defeat in American history of an incumbent President seeking reelection . The defeated President had long ago acknowledged his weakness as a campaigner and as well his failure to do the necessary political housekeeping when decisions were made . He also refused to recognize the need to publicize his policies and decisions , saying " After I have made a definite statement , I have to let it go at that until the time for action arises . " Taft ' s indifference towards the press even extended to legislation , where he failed to recognize the press ' need for reduced tariffs on print paper and wood pulp . He further alienated the press when recommending that a deficit in the post office be reduced by eliminating the lower second class rates afforded to magazines and newspapers . Taft commented as follows on the state of his party after the election , " . . . it behooves the Republicans to gather again to the party standard and pledge anew their faith in their party ' s principles and to organize again to defend the constitutional government handed down to us by our fathers . Without compromising our principles , we must convince and win back former Republicans , and we must reinforce our ranks with Constitution - loving Democrats . " In spite of his failure to be re - elected , Taft achieved what he felt were his main goals as President : keeping permanent control of the party and keeping the courts sacrosanct until they were next threatened . While the strife during the election of 1912 devastated the once very close friendship between Taft and Theodore Roosevelt , the two eventually did reconcile not long before Roosevelt ' s death in 1919 . Judicial appointments . Supreme Court . Taft appointed the following justices to the Supreme Court of the United States : Taft ' s six appointments to the Court rank below only those of George Washington ( who appointed all six justices to the first Court ) , and of Franklin D . Roosevelt ( who was president for just over twelve years ) and equals that of Andrew Jackson . Taft ' s appointment of five new justices tied the number appointed by both Dwight D . Eisenhower and Abraham Lincoln . Four of Taft ' s appointees were relatively young , aged 48 , 51 , 53 , and 54 . The appointments of Edward Douglass White and Charles Evans Hughes also are notable because Taft essentially appointed both his predecessor and successor Chief Justices , respectively . Already on the Court as an associate justice since 1894 , White was the first Chief Justice to be elevated from an associate justiceship since President George Washington appointed John Rutledge to Chief Justice in 1795 . Hughes initially was appointed an Associate Justice , but later resigned to run for the Republican Party ' s presidential candidate in the 1916 election , which he would lose . President Herbert Hoover renominated Hughes to the Supreme Court as Chief Justice following Taft ' s retirement . Other judicial appointments . Besides his Supreme Court appointments , Taft appointed 13 judges to the United States Courts of Appeals , and 38 judges to the United States district courts . Taft also appointed judges to various specialty courts , including the first five appointees each to the United States Commerce Court and the United States Court of Customs Appeals . The Commerce Court was abolished in 1913 ; Taft was thus the only President to appoint judges to that body . Post - presidency . Upon leaving the White House in 1913 , Taft was appointed the Chancellor Kent Professor of Law and Legal History at Yale Law School . While at Yale , Taft was initiated as an honorary member of the Acacia Fraternity . At the same time , Taft was elected president of the American Bar Association . He spent much of his time writing newspaper articles and books , most notably his series on American legal philosophy . He was a vigorous opponent of prohibition in the United States , predicting the undesirable situation that the Eighteenth Amendment would create . He also continued to advocate world peace through international arbitration , urging nations to enter into arbitration treaties with each other and promoting the idea of a League of Nations even before the First World War began . Taft was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1914 . When World War I did break out in Europe in 1914 , however , Taft founded the League to Enforce Peace . He was a co - chairman of the powerful National War Labor Board between 1917 and 1918 . Although he continually advocated peace , he strongly favored conscription once the United States entered the War , pleading publicly that the United States not fight a " finicky " war . He feared the war would be long , but was for fighting it out to a finish , given what he viewed as " Germany ' s brutality . " Chief Justice , 1921 – 1930 . Nomination . On June 30 , 1921 , following the death of Chief Justice Edward Douglass White , President Warren G . Harding nominated Taft to take his place . For a man who had once remarked , " there is nothing I would have loved more than being chief justice of the United States " the nomination to oversee the highest court in the land was like a dream come true . There was little opposition to the nomination , and the Senate approved him 60 - 4 in a secret session on the day of his nomination , but the roll call of the vote has never been made public . Taft received his commission immediately and readily took up the position , taking the oath of office on July 11 , and serving until 1930 . As such , he became the only President to serve as Chief Justice , and thus the only former President to swear in subsequent Presidents , giving the oath of office to both Calvin Coolidge ( in 1925 ) and Herbert Hoover ( in 1929 ) . Taft enjoyed his years on the court and was respected by his peers . Justice Felix Frankfurter once remarked to Justice Louis Brandeis that it was " difficult for me to understand why a man who is so good a Chief Justice . . . could have been so bad as President . " Taft remains the only person to have led both the Executive and Judicial branches of the United States government . He considered his time as Chief Justice to be the highest point of his career ; allegedly , he once remarked " I do not remember that I was ever President " . Accomplishments . In 1922 , Taft traveled to Great Britain to study the procedural structure of the English courts and to learn how they dropped such a large number of cases quickly . During the trip , King George V and Queen Mary received Taft and his wife as state visitors . With what he had learned in England , Taft decided to advocate the introduction and passage of the Judiciary Act of 1925 , which shifts the Supreme Court ' s appellate jurisdiction to be largely discretionary upon review of litigants ' petitioning to be granted an appeal ( see also writ of certiorari ) . This allowed the Supreme Court to give preference to what they believed to be cases of national importance and allowed the Court to work more efficiently . Besides giving the Supreme Court more control over its docket , supporting new legislation , and organizing the Judicial Conference , Taft gave the Supreme Court and the Chief Justice general supervisory power over the scattered and disorganized federal courts . The legislation also brought the courts of the District of Columbia and of the Territories ( and soon , the Commonwealths of the Philippines and Puerto Rico ) into the federal court system . This united the courts for the first time as an independent third branch of government under the administrative supervision of the Chief Justice . Taft was also the first Justice to employ two full - time law clerks to assist him . In 1929 , Taft successfully argued in favor of the construction of a separate and spacious Supreme Court building , reasoning that the Supreme Court needed to distance itself from the Congress as a separate branch of the federal government . Until then , the Court had heard cases in the Old Senate Chamber of the Capitol ; the Justices had no private chambers there , and their conferences were held in a room in the Capitol ' s basement . The building was completed in 1935 , five years after Taft ' s death , and remains the seat of the Supreme Court to this day . Opinions . While Chief Justice , Taft wrote the opinion for the Court in 256 cases out of the Court ' s ever - growing caseload . His philosophy of constitutional interpretation was essentially historical contextualism . Some of his more notable opinions include : Medical conditions and weight . Taft is often remembered as being the most obese president . He was 5 feet , 11 . 5 inches tall ; his weight peaked at 335 – 340 pounds ( 150 kg ) toward the end of his Presidency . The truth of the often - told story of Taft getting stuck in a White House bathtub is unclear . Evidence from eyewitnesses , and from Taft himself , strongly suggests that during his presidency he had severe obstructive sleep apnea . His chief symptom was somnolence . While President , he fell asleep during conversations , and at the dinner table , and even while standing . He was also strikingly hypertensive , with a systolic blood pressure over 200 . Within a year of leaving the presidency , Taft lost approximately . His somnolence problem resolved and , less obviously , his systolic blood pressure dropped 40 – 50 mmHg ( from 210 mmHg ) . Undoubtedly , this weight loss extended his life . Soon after his weight loss , he had a revival of interest in the outdoors ; this led him to explore Alaska . Beginning in 1920 , Taft used a cane ; this was a gift from Professor of Geology W . S . Foster , and was made of 250 , 000 - year - old petrified wood . Death and legacy . Taft retired as Chief Justice on February 3 , 1930 , because of ill health . Charles Evans Hughes , whom he had appointed as an Associate Justice while President , succeeded him as Chief Justice . Five weeks following his retirement , Taft died on March 8 , 1930 , the same date as Associate Justice Edward Terry Sanford ' s unexpected death . As it was customary for members of the court to attend the funeral of deceased members , this posed a " logistical nightmare " , necessitating cross - country travel . The house at which Taft died is now the diplomatic mission of the Syrian Arab Republic to the United States . Three days following his death , on March 11 , he became the first president to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery . James Earle Fraser sculpted his grave marker out of Stony Creek granite . Taft is one of two presidents buried at Arlington National Cemetery , and is one of four Chief Justices buried there . Taft was the only Chief Justice to have had a state funeral . In 1938 , a third generation of the Taft family entered the national political stage with the election of the former President ' s oldest son Robert A . Taft I to the Senate , where he became a leader of the conservative Republicans . President Taft ' s other son , Charles Phelps Taft II , served as the mayor of Cincinnati from 1955 to 1957 . Two more generations of the Taft family later entered politics . The President ' s grandson , Robert Taft , Jr . , served a term as a Senator from Ohio from 1971 to 1977 , and the President ' s great - grandson , Robert A . " Bob " Taft II , served as the Governor of Ohio from 1999 to 2007 . William Howard Taft III was the U . S . ambassador to Ireland from 1953 to 1957 . William Howard Taft IV was the general counsel in the former United States Department of Health , Education , and Welfare in the 1970s , was the Deputy Secretary of Defense under Caspar Weinberger and Frank Carlucci in the 1980s , and acted as the United States Secretary of Defense during its vacancy from January to March 1989 . In addition , he served as Legal Adviser at the Department of State from 2000 to 2006 . President Taft ' s enduring legacy includes many things named after him . The William Howard Taft National Historic Site is the Taft boyhood home . The house in which he was born has been restored to its original appearance . It includes four period rooms reflecting family life during Taft ' s boyhood , and second - floor exhibits highlighting Taft ' s life . Others include the courthouse of the Ohio Court of Appeals for the First District in Cincinnati ; streets in Cincinnati , Arlington , Virginia ; and Taft Avenue in Manila , Philippines ; a law school in Santa Ana , California ; and high schools in San Antonio , Texas ; Woodland Hills , California ; Chicago , Illinois ; and The Bronx . Taft , Eastern Samar , a town in the Philippines was named after him . After a fire burned much of the town of Moron , California , in the 1920s , it was renamed Taft , California , in his honor . George Burroughs Torrey painted a portrait of him . Taft is the last President to have sported facial hair while in office .