SKC Films Library

SKC Films Library >> William Howard Taft's Administration
WILLIAM HOWARD TAFT

William Howard Taft spent most of the first 20 years of his career as a lawyer and judge. He had no real interest in politics, but his wife opposed his career as a judge because she felt it was a "fixed groove." Hardly any other President has been so unhappy in office. When he was appointed Chief Justice, eight years after leaving the White House, Taft said it was the highest honor he ever received. He wrote: "The truth is that in my present life I don't remember that I ever was President."

Chronology of His Life and Career

September 15, 1857 Born in Cincinnati, Ohio.
  1878 Graduated from Yale College.
  1880 Admitted to the Ohio Bar.
  1881 Named Assistant Prosecuting Attorney of Hamilton County, Ohio.
  1882 Appointed Collector of Internal Revenue for the First District.
  1885 Named Assistant County Solicitor for Hamilton County.
  June 19, 1886 Married Helen Herron.
  1887 Appointed to the Cincinnati Superior Court.
  1890 Appointed Solicitor General of the United States.
  1892 Appointed judge of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
1901-1904 Governor of the Philippines.
1904 Appointed Secretary of War.
  1908 Elected President of the United States.
  1913 Became Professor of Constitutional Law at Yale University.
  1913 Elected president of the American Bar Association.
  1917-1930 Served as a Trustee of the National Geographic Society.
  1917-1919 Chairman of the National War Labor Board.
  1921 Appointed Chief Justice of the United States.
March 8, 1930 Died in Washington, D.C.
December 2, 1969 The William Howard Taft National Historic Site was established.

See Also

Ohio
Yale University

Questions or comments about this page?
SKC Films Library >> William Howard Taft's Administration

This page was last updated on December 07, 2018.