William Howard Taft

He married Helen Louise Herron in 1886. The couple had three children. His wife played a prominent role in the progression of his career and was one of his key political advisors.

He was obese and suffered from heart ailments for years prior to his death. His health progressively worsened following his retirement from the Supreme Court on February 3, 1930. William Howard Taft died on March 8, 1930, aged 72.

William Howard Taft was born on September 15, 1857, in Ohio to Louisa Torrey and Alphonso Taft. He had five siblings. His father, a prominent Republican of his time, was a lawyer who served as Secretary of War and Attorney General under President Ulysses S. Grant.

He received his primary education from Woodward High School and went on to attend Yale College in New Haven, Connecticut. He was a very good student who excelled in academics and was also active in sports like golf, tennis, and wrestling. He graduated in 1878.

After graduation he went to the Cincinnati Law School, earning a Bachelor of Laws in 1880. Soon he was admitted to the Ohio bar.

William Taft was appointed Assistant Prosecutor of Hamilton County, Ohio, upon his admission to the bar. Over the next few years he steadily rose through the ranks and was appointed a judge of the Superior Court of Cincinnati in 1887.

He was made the Solicitor General of the United States in 1890 by President Benjamin Harrison. Aged just 32 at that time, he was the youngest-ever Solicitor General. From 1892 to 1900 he served as a judge of the United States Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.

He also served as the first dean and a professor of constitutional law at the University of Cincinnati between 1896 and 1900.

In 1901, Taft was made the Governor-General of the Philippines, the first civilian to serve in this position. In this role he was responsible for overseeing the economic development of the islands. He served in this position till 1904 and proved to be very popular with both Americans and Filipinos.

President Theodore Roosevelt appointed Taft as Secretary of War in 1904. He initiated the Second Occupation of Cuba in September 1906 and established the Provisional Government of Cuba, declaring himself Provisional Governor of Cuba. He was succeeded as Provisional Governor by Charles Edward Magoon in October the same year. He served as the Secretary of War till 1908.

Becoming the Chief Justice of the United States was the lifelong dream of the former president. In this position he traveled to England to study the procedural structure of the English courts and advocated the introduction and passage of the Judiciary Act of 1925 in the United States. The act gave the Supreme Court more control over its docket and allowed the Court to work more efficiently.