27

William Taft
27th President of the United States

William Taft
1909 - 1913



Vice President: James S. Sherman (1909-12)
Born: September 15, 1857, in Cincinnati, Ohio
Died: March 8, 1930, in Washington, D.C.
Career/Occupation: General
Religion: Unitarian
Education: Graduated from Yale College (1878); Cincinnati Law School (1880)
Political Party: Republican
Nickname(s): none


Other Government Positions:

• Judge in Ohio Superior Court, 1887-90 
• U.S. Solicitor General, 1890-92 U.S. 
• Circuit Court Judge, 1892-1900 
• Governor of the Philippines, 1901-04 
• Secretary of War, 1904-08 (under T. Roosevelt) 
• Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, 1921-30

Presidential Salary: $75,000

Presidential Firsts:

The first president to throw out a ceremonial first pitch. Taft threw his pitch at Griffith Stadium, Washington, D.C., on the Washington Senators' Opening Day. The pitch took place on April 14, 1910.

The first president to own an automobile.

The first president to serve in the federal judiciary, having served on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.

The first president to have been a former solicitor general.

Taft served as solicitor general from 1890 to 1892. He became president in 1909.

The first president to receive the Silver Buffalo Award.

The first president to preside over all of the 48 contiguous states.

Arizona and New Mexico were admitted to the Union under his presidency.

The first president to visit Mexico while in office

The first president to use the Oval Office.

The first president to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States.

Taft left office as president in 1913. He was appointed chief justice in 1921, by President Warren Harding. As chief justice, he administered the oath of office to Calvin Coolidge and Herbert Hoover.

The first president to be both older than his immediate predecessor (Theodore Roosevelt) and younger than his immediate successor (Woodrow Wilson).

The first president to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery

He was also the first member of the Supreme Court to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery upon his death in 1930.