Will Taft

One stop on our vacation this week was the childhood home of Willima Howard Taft in Cincinnati, Ohio. When most of us think of Will Taft, we call to mind this image of the jolly 27th President of the United States. There is much more to this fine gentleman, and he would prefer for us to remember him for his tenure as 10th Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.

As President, Taft, who had done everything so well theretofore, seemed to be able to do nothing right. He had three strikes against him: first, he was not TR, his enormously popular predecessor. No one seemed to be able to forgive him for being his own man. Second, Will Taft hated politics. He was oft-quoted as saying "politics make me sick." He didn't like the Machiavellian games that seemed to be in the unwritten portion of the Chief Executive's job description. Third, Taft loved the law, the Constitution, and placed the elements of that great document above politics and his personal opinions. He had always wanted a career in the law, specifically as a judge. But, Will would always answer the call to public service and he always seemed to be pushed in the direction of politics by his beloved wife, Nellie. Nellie knew she had married a man with a Midas touch, one who would do his best at any job.

As Chief Justice, Taft had to referee dynamic and extreme personalities on the Court--Oliver Wendell Holmes, jr. and Willis Van Devanter to name but two. But he thrived in this environment.

I believe that Taft was a fine President and a great Cheif Justice, but the role I admire most from this gentleman was his role of father to his three children, Robert, Charlie and Helen. They all grew into their own accomplishments to our Country. I will post on them in the near future.

Historians and students alike brush by the one-termers. They are seen as "losers" and their single terms are thrown into the back of the book index of former presidents. Taft deserves a second look. The man, the President, the Chief Justice and the husband and father: he did possess the Midas touch in all that he did.