William Howard Taft

William Howard Taft
27th President of the United States
Term of office March 4, 1909 - March 4, 1913
Political party	Republican
Vice Presidents	James S. Sherman (1909-1912) None (1912-1913)
Preceded by	Theodore Roosevelt
Succeeded by	Woodrow Wilson
Born	September 15, 1857 Cincinnati, Ohio
Died	March 8, 1930 Washington, D.C.
Spouse	Helen Herron Taft
Religion	Unitarian

William Howard Taft was the 27th President of the United States of America, serving from 1909 to 1913. He is particularly famous for being the portliest president in history, requiring a special bathtub to be installed in the White House. Taft is the only President to go on to serve as Chief Justice of the United States, in addition to being the first-ever president to toss out the ceremonial first pitch at a baseball game. He was also the last Unitarian President, and the only incumbent President in history to seek re-election only to come in third in the popular vote. This happened in the 1912 Presidential election after Taft's supporters prevented Theodore Roosevelt from winning the nomination of the Republican party, leading Roosevelt to form the Progressive Party and come in ahead of Taft but behind Woodrow Wilson on election day.

He died on February 3, 1930 at the age of 71. Along with John F. Kennedy, he is one of only two presidents to be buried at Arlington_National_Cemetery.

Taft and Progressivism

William Howard Taft was never popular with progressives. When progressives, assuming Taft and congress will bow down to their ludicrous demands, asked congress to lower tarrif rates, congress passed a weak Payne-Aldrich Tarrif, which hardly lowered tarrif rates and even raised them in some areas. Progressives grew angry at Taft and finally severed with him after an incident involving Roosevelt's secretary of the interior.