"President William HowardTaft" our twenty-seventh President was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, the son of a distinguished lawyer. As a member of a family of men involved in Republican politics, the law, and civic work, President William Howard Taft was destined to follow in their foot steps.

President William Howard Taft attended "Yale University" and the "Cincinnati Law School". From the beginning of his career, President William Howard Taft involved himself in Republican politics, and after holding a nuber of minor offices, he was appointed to the "Ohio Superior Court in 1887".

The year prior, President William Howard Taft married "Helen Herron", an ambitious woman whose great desire was to become the First Lady. President William Howard Taft and his wife Helen Herron Taft were blessed with three children.

President William Howard Taft was appointed "United States Solicitor General" by "President Benjamin Harrison" in 1890 and became a "Federal judge in 1892". While in "Washington, D.C." President William Howard Taft struck up a friendship with "President Theodore Roosevelt", then "Civil Service Commissioner".

President Theodore Roosevelt developed an enormous admiration for President William Howard Taft. During his eight years as judge, President William Howard Taft acquired a reputation as a conservative because of his judgments against misuse of labor union power.

In 1900, "President William McKinley" appointed President William Howard Taft president of the "Philippine Commission" and in this post and later as a "Civil Governor of the Philippines", President William HowardTaft was effective in establishing a civil government to replace the military rule that then existed.

During that time President Theodore Roosevelt twice offered him the post of "Supreme Court Justice", but although this was exactly what President William Howard Taft wanted, he declined because he believed he had not finished his job in the Philippines.

In 1904, President William Howard Taft became President Theodore Roosevelt's "Secretary of War" and most trusted advisor. President William Howard Taft prevented a budding revolution in Cuba, supervised the building of the "Panama Canal", and was finally picked by President Theodore Roosevelt to run for the Presidency.

Torn between his own desire for a law career and his wife's ambitions, President William Howard Taft gave in and ran for the Presidency, winning easily over "William Jennings Bryan". President William Howard Taft was uncomfortable as President and, though a capable administrator, became more and more conservative.

When President Theodore Roosevelt returned from a hunting trip in Africa in 1910, he became very disappointed that his hand-picked candidate had turned away from President Theodore Roosevelt's liberal, progressive policies and decided to run again in the "Presidential Election of 1912".

The Republican party was splintered into two parties, which made the election of "President Woodrow Wilson", the Democrat candidate, certain. After leaving the Presidency, President William Howard Taft taught law at "Yale University", became "Chairman of the National War Labor Board" during World War I.

President William Howard Taft's greatest ambition was realized in 1921 when "President Warren Amaliel Harding" appointed  President William Howard Taft "Chief Justice of the Supreme Court".

There President William Howard Taft served for the rest of his life. President William Howard Taft retired as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court because of illness one month before his death in 1930.

Written by:
Karen Palumbo
Photography "NOT" by:
Robert Palumbo
4/22/2010 (c)