#27: Taft, William

[GUEST BLOG ENTRY!!!! from my dear friend Eric... As an aside, I am in San Francisco with a band of buddies, two of whom are from Ohio. These two Ohioans married each other last year in a lovely ceremony at the Taft Museum of Art, which was erected at the site where Taft accepted the Republican nomination for the presidency in Cincinnati. Says one Ohioan, "The Tafts are winners."]

William Taft
September 15, 1857 – March 8, 1930

Glad to lend a hand to my favorite blog about drawing and researching the Presidents! I used my parents' 1985 World Book set, which remains within easy reach in their front hallway coat closet an astounding 25 years later! For my drawing, I used pen and paper; I got a little carried away with the hair and moustache.

• World Book mentions Taft's infamous heft a quite a few times. My favorite reference: "A newspaperman wrote that he looked 'like an American bison--a gentler, kind one.'" (neither newspaper nor newspaperman specified) Let's just say you could fit at least two Obamas in this guy.
• Taft didn't really want to be President. His mother thought he would be happiest as a judge, but his wife thought he was better fit for the Presidency. "In the end, Taft's mother proved to be right." In 1913, Taft told incoming Prez Woodrow Wilson, "This is the lonesomest place in the world." So emo!
• Here are some things that happened during his Presidency (1909-1913): New Mexico and Arizona became the 47th and 48th states. The 16th Amendment became law, giving Congress the legal power to levy income taxes. The Post Office began parcel-post service. Imagine where Zappos would be today if this hadn't happened!
• Like his predecessor, Taft was all about the trust busting. "Nearly twice as many 'trust busting' prosecutions took place during Taft's four years in office as had occurred during Roosevelt's administration of almost 8 years."
• Taft had a ridiculously impressive political trajectory: 1890: Solicitor General, 1892: Federal Judge (6th Circuit Court of Appeals), 1901: Governor of the Philippines (!?), 1904: Secretary of War, 1908: Prez, 1921: Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. World Book points out that becoming Chief Justice was his proudest accomplishment. I would like to point out that becoming Guv of the Philippines was his weirdest accomplishment, or at least the last possible thing you would guess he did for a living if you saw a picture of the guy. (Unless your only reference is my drawing, in which he looks ambiguously ethnic, and maybe could pass for Filipino) WB: "Taft's career in the Philippines was an example of the best in colonial government." Hmm...
• His son, Robert Alphonso Taft, "...became a famous U.S. Senator from Ohio.' (never heard of him)

[ed. -- Thank you Eric! You're a champ.]