William Howard Taft

(1857-1930) judge, Governor of the Philippines, Secretary of War, President of the United States, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court

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	Appointed 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.
1917-1919	Chairman of the National War Labor Board.
1921	Appointed Chief Justice of the United States.
March 8, 1930	Died in Washington, D.C.