William Howard Taft was the 27th President of the United States.

Taft was born on September 15, 1857 in Cincinnati, Ohio. He was the third of five children, and was brought up in the Unitarian Church, to which he remained faithful throughout his life. His boyhood home is now the William Howard Taft National Historic Site. At the age of 18, he met his future wife Helen Herron, who he married in 1886.

He went to Yale College, graduating in 1878, and finishing 2nd in his class of 121 students. While there he was a member of the Skull and Bones secret society that had been co-founded by his father. He went to law school and was later admitted to the bar, becoming an assistant prosecutor. In 1887, he became a judge in the Ohio Superior Court, and in 1890 became Solicitor General of the United States. Later he became a member of the United States Court of Appeals. It was here that he met Theodore Roosevelt for the first time. During this time period, he also served as the first dean and a professor of constitutional law at the University of Cincinnati.

At the request of President McKinley, Taft helped organize a civilian government in the Philippines, and later served as the first civilian Governor-General of the Philippines. In 1904, Taft was appointed as Secretary of War by President Roosevelt, a post he held until 1908. Taft’s dream was to become Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, but he was encouraged to run for president by Roosevelt. He became the Republican nominee and eventually served as President of the United States from March 4, 1909 to March 4, 1913. His vice-president was James S. Sherman. Taft battled obesity throughout his life, and extra-large chairs and a bathtub were brought in during his residency at the White House.

Taft strongly believed in the rule of law, but suffered as a politician by often managing to alienate both sides of an argument. As president, he fought for the prosecution of trusts, and established a postal savings bank and parcel post system. He worked to further the economic development of less-developed nations, and strongly encouraged the idea of world peace. He supported the 16th Amendment, which introduced federal income tax, as well as the 17th Amendment, which made senators elected officials. In 1910, Taft began the tradition of the president tossing out the first ball of the Major League Baseball season at Griffith Stadium in Washington, D.C.

Eventually he had a serious falling out with Roosevelt over several issues, and both men began soliciting support within the Republican Party. Many thought this was a battle that Taft had no chance of winning, but he was able to outmanoeuvre Roosevelt to seize control of the GOP, and force him out of the party.

Roosevelt and his supporters created the Progressive Party, and in the next election the Progressive and Republican parties effectively split the vote, enabling Democratic nominee Woodrow Wilson to become the next American president. Taft finished third, winning only the eight electoral votes of Utah and Vermont, making it the single worst defeat in American history for an incumbent President seeking re-election.

In 1913, Taft was appointed as the Chancellor Kent Professor of Law and Legal History at Yale. He reconciled with Roosevelt shortly before his death in 1919. Two years later, Taft was nominated to become Chief Justice of the Supreme Court with virtually no opposition, fulfilling his lifelong ambition. He held this role until 1930, when he retired due to ill health. He died of heart disease on March 8, 1930.