What was William Howard Taft known for?

Answer 1

President: William H. Taft (September 15, 1857 - March 8, 1930)

Term: March 4, 1909 - March 4, 1913

Background: Taft was born on September 15, 1857 near Cincinnati, Ohio. Taft's father, Alphonso Taft, served as Secretary of War under Ulysses S. Grant. Taft attended Woodward High School and then attended Yale College. He graduated second of his class out of 121 students. After Yale, he attended Cincinnati Law School. While there, he worked on the newspaper, The Cincinnati Commercial. Some of his early political positions were Fifth United States Solicitor General, First Civil Governor of the Philippines, 42nd Secretary of War, First Provisional Governor of Cuba, and Tenth Chief Justice to the United States.

Political Party: Republican

Vice-President:

 James S. Sherman (1909-1912)

 None (1912-1913)

Major Domestic Policy: The main reason that Taft was elected was because of the support he received from Roosevelt after he decided not to run for a third term. It was easy to beat William Jennings Bryan because the Republicans had majority over Congress. Despite the support, many controversies surrounded his term. Almost immediately, Representative Payne proposed a low tariff, but by the time the revision done by Congress were done, the tariff had rose many rates. Instead of vetoing it, Taft passed it and called it, "one of the best tariffs passed by the Republicans." Even though Taft's term was surrounded by controversy, he continued to crack down on big business and break up trusts. He passed the Mann-Elkins Act of 1910, which gave more power to the ICC and prevented new rates.

Major Foreign Policy: There were no major foreign events during Taft's presidency. Europe wasn't far from a major war, but there were no major events there. Therefore, Taft focused on domestic issues. Taft did practice Dollar Diplomacy, which was a foreign policy adopted by the United States to further its aims in East Asia and Latin America through economic power and loans granted to other countries.

Major Supreme Court Cases:

 Standard Oil Co. of NJ vs. United States (1909): The Supreme Court ruled that Standard Oil violated the Sherman Act, but the Sherman Act was amended so that only "unreasonable" contracts would violate the law.

 ICC b. Illinois Central Railroad Company (1909): The Supreme Court ruled that they would only review cases where orders violated the Constitution.

 Coyle vs. Smith (1910): The Supreme Court ruled that Oklahoma had the right to locate its seat of government, or it's capital, and that Congress has no right to regulate that.

 Gompers vs. Buck's Stove & Range Company (1910): The Supreme Court refused to reexamine the validity of an injunction made by Samuel Gompers against certain companies because a lower court issued the injunction. However, the convictions were reversed when the lower court treated the case as criminal, when it was actually civil.

 Bailey vs. Alabama (1910): The Supreme Court ruled that an Alabama law that convicted Bailey after he quit his job and did not return the $15 in advance that he received was a violation of the Thirteenth Amendment.

Intellectual and Social Developments:

 First automobile assembly line is built by Henry Ford

 NAACP is formed in 1910

 Women are allowed to vote in Western states

 WWI brings about an end to European migration

 Urban liberalism is common

Taft's Legacy: Taft did not have the political experience and skills to hide his personal conflicts. He also could not compare to the presidency of Roosevelt. He was an overall kind person who sought acceptance, but he had a bit of a temper. He didn't have adequate leadership and did not take the initiative on many issues. He had very few accomplishments during his term in office.

Answer 2

William Howard Taft will be remembered for being the 27th President of the United States. As of 2016 he is also the only person to have served as both Chief Justice and President.

Answer 3

He was best know for being the fattest president ever elected, his nicknames were "Big Lubb" "Old Bill" and "Big Chief"

Answer 4

He has a statue in front of the Supreme Court and he is in Arlington National Cemetary

Answer 5

He's remembered for getting stuck in a bathtub. He weighed over 300 pounds (340, I believe) and was 6'2''

Answer 6

William Howard Taft is famous because he was the fattest president and he got stuck in a bathtub

Answer 7

Being fat !!