William Howard Taft

William Howard Taft was born on September 15, 1857, in Cincinnati, Ohio, and died on March 8, 1930. He served as the 27th president of the United States from 1909 to 1913 and as the tenth chief justice of the United States from 1921 to 1930, the only person in American history to hold both offices. Before the presidency he rose rapidly through federal legal posts, including solicitor general and judge of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, then served as the first civilian governor of the Philippines and as secretary of war under Theodore Roosevelt, who made him his chosen successor. As chief justice, Taft pushed through the Judiciary Act of 1925, which gave the Supreme Court much greater control over its own docket, and he is generally rated by historians as a more effective chief justice than president.