William Howard Taft

William Howard Taft adopted a conservative view of presidential power in stark contrast to the feisty and (in Taft’s view) dangerous activism of his predecessor, Theodore Roosevelt. A stickler for strict adherence to the Constitution, Taft helped steer through the Sixteenth Amendment to permit a variety of federal income taxes, so that Congress would not cut corners in adopting Progressive-era reforms. He also initially vetoed the bill granting statehood to New Mexico and Arizona, believing that the latter’s proposed state constitution contained unconstitutional defects. Although Taft lasted only one term, he became the first and only former president to thereafter serve on the Supreme Court, building as chief jus­tice a sterling legacy that eclipsed his record as president.

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