1. William Howard Taft 27th President
By: Stella Glaubensklee

2. Early Life Born on September 15, 1857 in Cincinnati, Ohio.
He was one of six children of Louisa Maria Torrey and Alphonso Taft.
Attended Yale and University of Cincinnati College of Law.
He dreamed of being a member of the Supreme Court.
Married Helen "Nellie" Herron.
They had three children.

4. Getting to Know William Taft
Taft weighed over 300 pounds in office
Had brown hair, blue eyes, and a handlebar mustache
High expectations set by his wife, Nellie, and his father, Alphonso
William valued law over politics
Tone deaf
He suffered from:
A skull fracture
Typhoid fever
Dysentery
Gout
Lumbago
Rheumatoid Arthritis

5. Before Presidency
Served as an Assistant Prosecutor of Hamilton County.
Appointed Local Collector of Internal Revenue.
Appointed Supreme Court Judge of Cincinnati, he then moved on to Solicitor General of the United States under President Harrison.
William Taft worked on the Phillipine Islands.
Theodore Roosevelt appointed William to be secretary of war.
Roosevelt gave Taft the option of either being president or a member of the supreme court.
He decided to run as president in 1908 with the help of Nellie.

7. Running for President Taft was not a fan of campaigning.
Nellie, Taft’s wife, encouraged him to campaign.
William Taft defeated Democrat William Jennings Bryan in the election.
Won the election by promising to continue the Rooseveltian program.

8. Presidency (1909-1913) Vice President: James Sherman
Taft’s Dollar Diplomacy
Payne-Aldrich Act
16th amendment
17th amendment
Vetoed a bill requiring a literacy test for voting
Defeated by Woodrow Wilson

9. Post Presidency Professor at Yale teaching law.
Appointed as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court by President Warren Harding.
Taft improved the organization and efficiency of the Supreme Court and lobbied congress to pass the Judiciary Act of 1925 (The Judges’ Bill).
Swore in two other presidents (Coolidge and Hoover).
William Taft passed away on March 8, 1930.

10. Legacy Threw the first presidential pitch.
Last to have a cow at the White House.
Only one to lead both the executive and legislative branches.
When traveling to the Panama Canal the captain requested a larger bathtub for Taft.
Last president to have facial hair.
First president to own a car.
Rumor of Taft getting stuck in the White House bathtub.
First president to be buried at the Arlington National Cemetary.
First president to have a radio broadcasted funeral.

13. References
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