William Howard Taft (1857-1930)
William Howard Taft was the 27th President of the United States. He reigned from March 1909 to March 1913. He had the difficult job to fit in the footsteps of Theodore Roosevelt. His was goal was to consolidate the reforms initiated by Roosevelt. Roosevelt was not only a strong predecessor of Traft, but also a close friend.
Wife: Helen Herron (1861-1943) , wedding on June 19, 1886
Children: Robert Alphonso Taft, Helen Herron Taft, Charles Phelps Taft
Profession: lawyer, civil servant
Presidential orientation: Republican
Presidential salary: USD 75,000/year
Results of the presidential election in 1908:
|
|
Popular Votes |
Electoral Votes |
|
William H. Taft |
7,676,320 |
321 |
|
William J. Bryan |
6,412,294 |
162 |
Vice President: James S. Sherman (1909-1912)
Presidency (1909-1913):
After Theodore Roosevelt did not want to run as a presidential candidate again, he thought Taft would be the ideal successor. William Taft did not have to think twice about it and won the presidential election by a wide margin of about 1.2 million votes against his competitor William Jennings Bryan. However, Taft had no chance to step out of the shadow of his predecessor Roosevelt. He got into a conflict with the communities of interests and the wings of his party. This was because he had set goal to consolidate the reform initiated by Teddy. After an unsuccessful re-election Taft died in 1930 in Washington.
Point of interests:
Taft
- was the Zodiac “Virgo”
- was born on a Tuesday
- married a music teacher
- was portrayed by Joaquin Sorolla in 1909
Nickname: Old Bill (at the Yale-Universität), Big Chief
"I am president now, and tired of being kicked around." (William H. Taft)