Biography:

William Howard Taft was the 27th President of the United States.
Taft was born on September 15, 1857.  He graduated from Yale University second in his class and attended the University of Cincinnati law school.  He became judge of the Cincinnati Superior Court, US solicitor general, and a member of the Sixth US Circuit Court of Appeals.  President McKinley appointed him Governor-General of the Philippines in 1900.  In 1904, he became President Roosevelt’s Secretary of War. 
Roosevelt decided he would not seek re-election in 1908 and choose Taft as his successor.  Taft defeated Democratic candidate William Jennings Bryan and became the 27th President.  Although President Taft broke up twice as many trusts as Roosevelt, he was perceived as a disappointment to many progressives.  Roosevelt quarreled with Taft and accused him of abandoning the ideals of the progressive movement.  In 1912, Roosevelt formed the Progressive or “Bull Moose” Party and ran against Taft.  The split in the Republican Party helped Woodrow Wilson to win the White House.
After leaving Washington, Taft became a Professor at Yale University, and later a Chief Justice of the United States.  He died on March 8, 1930.