William Howard Taft had held many important posts, prosecutor, and Collector of Internal Revenue and Supreme Court judge. Under Harrison, he was Solicitor General and for a time was Dean of Cincinnati Law School.

President McKinley appointed Taft president of the Philippine Commission in 1901, and he became its first Civil Governor. Taft was also Secretary of War in Theodore Roosevelt’s cabinet.

Taft was chosen to be Roosevelt’s successor and he followed his predecessor’s policies on anti-trust fights. He was appointed by Warren Harding to the post of Supreme Court Judge.

Taft was a conservative and his decisions on the Myers Case (Presidential Removal Power) and on other cases were upheld. His child labor decisions were unfortunate.

Taft was made Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in 1921, resigning because of ill health just before he died.