 1857 - 1930 (72 years) Has more than 100 ancestors and 9 descendants in this family tree.
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| Name |
William Howard Taft |
| Prefix |
President |
| Birth |
15 Sep 1857 |
Cincinnati, Hamilton, Ohio, United States  |
| Gender |
Male |
| Death |
8 Mar 1930 |
Washington, District of Columbia, United States |
| Burial |
11 Mar 1930 |
Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia, United States |
| Initiatory (LDS) |
17 Aug 1931 |
SLAKE |
| Headstones |
 Submit Headstone Photo |
| Person ID |
I28384 |
mytree |
| Last Modified |
25 Feb 2024 |
| Father |
Alphonso Taft, b. 5 Nov 1810, Townshend, Windham, Vermont, United States d. 21 May 1891, San Diego, San Diego, California, United States (Age 80 years) |
| Mother |
Louisa Maria Torrey, b. 11 Sep 1827, Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, United States d. 8 Dec 1907, Millbury, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States (Age 80 years) |
| Marriage |
26 Dec 1853 |
Millbury, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States |
| Family ID |
F12836 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
Family  |
Helen Herron, b. 2 Jan 1861, Cincinnati, Hamilton, Ohio, United States d. 22 May 1943, Washington, District of Columbia, United States (Age 82 years) |
| Marriage |
19 Jun 1886 |
Cincinnati, Hamilton, Ohio, United States |
| Children |
| + | 1. Robert Alphonso Taft, b. 8 Sep 1889, Cincinnati, Hamilton, Ohio, United States d. 31 Jul 1953, New York City, New York, New York, United States (Age 63 years) |
| > | 2. Helen Herron Taft, b. 1 Aug 1891, Cincinnati, Hamilton, Ohio, United States d. 21 Feb 1987 (Age 95 years) |
| + | 3. Charles Phelps Taft, b. 20 Sep 1897, Cincinnati, Hamilton, Ohio, United States d. 24 Jun 1983, Cincinnati, Hamilton, Ohio, United States (Age 85 years) |
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| Family ID |
F12838 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
| Last Modified |
27 Jun 2026 |
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| Event Map |
|
 | Birth - 15 Sep 1857 - Cincinnati, Hamilton, Ohio, United States |
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| Marriage - 19 Jun 1886 - Cincinnati, Hamilton, Ohio, United States |
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 | Death - 8 Mar 1930 - Washington, District of Columbia, United States |
|
 | Burial - 11 Mar 1930 - Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia, United States |
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 | Initiatory (LDS) - 17 Aug 1931 - SLAKE |
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| Notes |
- 27th President of the United States.
He was the 27th president of the United States (1909–1913) and the ten t h chief justice of the United States (1921–1930), the only person to ha v e held both offices. Taft was elected president in 1908, the chosen suc ce ssor of Theodore Roosevelt, but was defeated for reelection in 1912 b y Wo odrow Wilson after Roosevelt split the Republican vote by running a s a th ird-party candidate. In 1921, President Warren G. Harding appointe d Taf t to be chief justice, a position he held until a month before hi s death.
Taft was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1857. His father, Alphonso Taft, w a s a U.S. attorney general and secretary of war. Taft attended Yale an d jo ined the Skull and Bones, of which his father was a founding member . Afte r becoming a lawyer, Taft was appointed a judge while still in hi s twenti es. He continued a rapid rise, being named solicitor general an d a judg e of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. In 1901, President Will iam McKin ley appointed Taft civilian governor of the Philippines. In 190 4, Rooseve lt made him Secretary of War, and he became Roosevelt's hand-p icked succe ssor. Despite his personal ambition to become chief justice , Taft decline d repeated offers of appointment to the Supreme Court of t he United State s, believing his political work to be more important.
With Roosevelt's help, Taft had little opposition for the Republican nom i nation for president in 1908 and easily defeated William Jennings Brya n f or the presidency in that November's election. In the White House, h e foc used on East Asia more than European affairs and repeatedly interve ned t o prop up or remove Latin American governments. Taft sought reducti ons t o trade tariffs, then a major source of governmental income, but th e resu lting bill was heavily influenced by special interests. His admini stratio n was filled with conflict between the Republican Party's conserv ative wi ng, with which Taft often sympathized, and its progressive wing , toward w hich Roosevelt moved more and more. Controversies over conserv ation and a ntitrust cases filed by the Taft administration served to fur ther separat e the two men. Roosevelt challenged Taft for renomination i n 1912. Taft u sed his control of the party machinery to gain a bare majo rity of delegat es and Roosevelt bolted the party. The split left Taft wi th little chanc e of reelection, and he took only Utah and Vermont in Wil son's victory.
After leaving office, Taft returned to Yale as a professor, continuing h i s political activity and working against war through the League to Enfo rc e Peace. In 1921, Harding appointed Taft chief justice, an office he h a d long sought. Chief Justice Taft was a conservative on business issue s , and under him there were advances in individual rights. In poor healt h , he resigned in February 1930, and died the following month. He was bu ri ed at Arlington National Cemetery, the first president and first Supre m e Court justice to be interred there. Taft is generally listed near th e m iddle in historians' rankings of U.S. presidents.
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