born Sept. 15, 1857, Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.
died March 8, 1930, Washington, D.C.
27th president of the U.S. (1909–13).
He served on the Ohio superior court (1887–90), as U.S. solicitor general (1890–92), and as U.S. appellate judge (1892–1900). He was appointed head of the Philippine Commission to set up a civilian government in the islands and was the Philippines' first civilian governor (1901–04). He served as U.S. secretary of war (1904–08) under Pres. Bull Moose Party resulted in the electoral victory of {{link=Wilson, Thomas Woodrow">Woodrow Wilson . Taft later taught law at Yale University (1913–21), served on the National War Labor Board (1918), and was a supporter of the League of Nations. As chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1921–30), he introduced reforms that made the court more efficient. His important opinion in Myers v. U.S. (1926) upheld the president's authority to remove federal officials.
William Howard Taft, 1909.
Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.