Monday, March 20, 2023

27 William Howard Taft

William Howard Taft is perhaps best known as the fattest president who allegedly got stuck in a bathtub, but this episode will show that he was much, much more than that. Taft followed in his eminent father's footsteps to become a Yale graduate, lawyer, and judge. His highest ambition was to join the U.S. Supreme Court, and President McKinley promised to appoint him--if he first agreed to serve as civil governor of the Philippines. After his friend Theodore Roosevelt became president upon McKinley's assassination, Taft would turn down multiple offers to join the Supreme Court so he could finish his work in the Philippines. As Secretary of War, his masterful administrative skills and lovable personality made him Roosevelt's closest advisor and chosen successor for the presidency in 1908. Though Taft still yearned for the Supreme Court, he found himself as our nation's 27th President. He quietly built an impressive record of tariff reform, fiscal responsibility, conservation, antitrust enforcement, and international economic expansion via "Dollar Diplomacy." But his judicial temperament lacked finely-tuned political instincts, and he lost the confidence of the growing progressive wing of the Republican party--which turned to the increasingly radical Roosevelt to challenge Taft in the 1912 election, splitting the party and handing the presidency to the Democrats. Taft went on to serve as a law professor at Yale until 1921, when President Harding floored him with an offer to become Chief Justice of the United States. Finally ensconced in his dream job, Taft would transform the federal judiciary like no Chief Justice since John Marshall.    

Dead Presidents Podcast Homepage (with links to subscribe on your favorite podcast app!)






We're very proud of all of our wonderful Episode 27 sponsors:
Viola Miner funeral – La Crosse Tribune (La Crosse, WI) – March 5, 1909

Edmund J. Neuman funeral – La Crosse Tribune (La Crosse, WI) – July 2, 1910

Louise Dierkop funeral – La Crosse Tribune (La Crosse, WI) – August 12, 1910

William Horne dead – La Crosse Tribune (La Crosse, WI) – November 27, 1909

William Horne’s XXL coffin – La Crosse Tribune (La Crosse, WI) – November 30, 1909

Frank Graf dies using toe knife – La Crosse Tribune (La Crosse, WI) – April 1, 1910

Head crushed by train cars – La Crosse Tribune (La Crosse, WI) – March 25, 1909

Charles Zettel unclaimed – La Crosse Tribune (La Crosse, WI) – March 26, 1909

Charles Zettel buried as pauper – La Crosse Tribune (La Crosse, WI) – March 27, 1909

“The Old Reliable” First National Bank of Comanche – The American (Comanche, OK) – March 4, 1909

$500 Reward for John B. Campbell – The North Star (Britton, OK) – March 18, 1909

Campbell’s drunken note – El Reno Daily American (El Reno, OK) – March 17, 1909

Campbell says he’s sorry – Chickasha Daily Express (Chickasha, OK) – March 20, 1909

Eat and get thin with Marmola Prescription Tablets – La Crosse Tribune (La Crosse, WI) – March 5, 1909

Marmola fixes shiny skin – Leavenworth Times (Leavenworth, KS) – April 18, 1909

$5 reward for purse containing $90 – Cawker City Ledger (Cawker City, KS) – March 4, 1909

$500 if J.B. Brisbois can’t cure your alcoholism – Seattle Star (Seattle, WA) – March 9, 1909