Who Was the Only US President to Serve as Chief Justice?

Elmira | 07 - 09 - 2021
William Howard Taft

William Howard Taft was the only US president to serve as chief justice of the supreme court. He became the 27th president of the United States from 1909 to 1913. Later, he was appointed as the tenth Chief Justice of the United States from 1921 to 1930. Hence he was the only US president who served in both of these offices.

William Howard Taft as Chief Justice

After leaving the presidency, he worked as a law professor at Yale University. In 1921, he was appointed by President Warren G. Harding as Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court. If you want to learn more about president William Howard Taft, read the complete blog.

When Was William Howard Taft Elected as a President?
  • A. 1909
  • B. 1900
  • C. 1921
  • D. 1980

Interesting Facts about the President William Howard Taft

  • William H. Taft was born in 1857 in Cincinnati, Ohio.
  • His father Alphonso Taft was a notable lawyer who worked as secretary of war, ambassador to Austria–Hungary and Russia and attorney general.
  • Taft graduated from Yale and moved to Cincinnati to study law. He was appointed a Federal circuit judge when he was 34.
  • Taft was the only president who proposed a baseball season. The tournament took place in 1910 between the Philadelphia and Washington Senators. The Washington Senators won with a score of 3-0.
  • He was the first president to own a car. He transformed the White House stables into a garage.
  • He was the first president to have a cow in the White House so that he could get fresh milk. The cow’s name was Pauline.
  • President Taft was considered the heaviest president; his weight was more than 330 pounds. Once he got stuck and couldn’t come out from the bathtub of the White House. Later, he replaced it with a new tub.
  • Taft also worked as a reporter for The Cincinnati Commercial.
  • He was the only president buried in Arlington Cemetery. After that, John F. Kennedy was the other president to be buried there.
  • Taft worked in several government jobs including judge of the Ohio Superior Court, served as a judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals and Solicitor General under President Harrison. His dream job was to be on the Supreme Court of the United States.
  • Taft exhibited his talent as an administrator and executive.
  • Taft joined as Roosevelt’s secretary of war in 1904 and he supervised Philippine affairs.
  • He died of heart disease in 1930.

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