William Howard Taft: The Reluctant President

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The 27th President of the United States was born William Howard Taft on the 15th day of September, in the year 1857 to Alphonso and Louise Taft, of Cincinnati, Ohio. As he was the first of their sons to survive past infancy, his mother did not mind that he had outgrown all the baby clothes she had sown for him when he was only seven weeks old. Due to his large size he was given the nickname of “Lub” or “Lubber” which only fueled his desire to succeed in school and on the playing field. He later became to be known as the largest president in the history of United States, weighing in at 320 pounds. Although it was rumored that due to his large size he actually got stuck in the White House bath tub. It took six aides and a gallon of butter to dislodge his body from the bath tub. To date the White House has the largest bath tub in the United States in that it can hold four men. William went on to graduate high school in 1874, second in his class. He then enrolled in Yale University where he graduated second in his class in 1878. Taft had dreams of being an attorney and one day becoming the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, in pursuing this dream he enrolled in the University of Cincinnati Law School and graduated in 1880. No matter how hard he tried he could never seem to please his father, Alphonso Taft, who had been appointed

Secretary of War and Attorney General under President Ulysses S. Grant from 1876-77. William

loved the law and he loved sports as well. One day, he wanted to watch a Yale boat race instead

of studying, his father showed his disapproval by scolding him and telling him, in a round about

way that he wanted him to enjoy himself as long as he was a success in life. In other words, he

had not ye...

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...usness that I have done the best I could.” (O’Connell, 2003) Taft stated that the happiest

days of his life were spent in the Supreme Court and he wrote, “The truth is, that in my present

life, I don’t remember that I ever was president.” (O’Connell, 2003)

References:

O’Connell, Kim A. (2003) William Howard Taft – A MyReportsLinks.com Book

Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow Publishers

Taft, Biography of William Howard Retrieved January 16, 2009 from

http:www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents

Taft, William Howard (September 15, 1857 – March 8, 1930) Retrieved January 16, 2009 from

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Howard_ Taft

Taft, William Howard (2009). In Encyclopaedia Britannica. Retrieved February 2, 2009, from

Encyclopaedia Britannica Online: http://search.eb.com/eb/article-9070903

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