William Howard Taft / Robert Alphonso Taft

William Howard Taft, born here on September 15, 1857, was the only American to serve as both President and Chief Justice of the United States. After graduating from Yale University and Cincinnati Law School, he began a public career that included becoming an Ohio Superior Court Judge at age 29, appointment in 1892 to the United States Circuit Court of Appeals, service in the Philippines as chief civil administrator in 1900, appointment as Secretary of War in 1904, election as president of the United States four years later, and appointment in 1921 by President Harding as Chief Justice, a post he held until just before his death in 1930. His son Robert Alphonso Taft, born in Cincinnati on September 8, 1889, graduated from Yale University and Harvard Law School and, after holding a number of administrative posts, served in the Ohio Legislature from 1921 to 1932. Elected to the United States Senate in 1938, he served until shortly before his death in 1953, became Senate Majority Leader, sought the Republican presidential nomination in 1940, 1948, and 1952, emerged as a leading figure in the party's conservative wing, co-sponsored the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947 seeking equity between labor and business in collective bargaining, and earned the honorary title "Mr. Republican."

Cincinnati, Ohio · United States