It's the smallest picture Google could find.
"I do not remember that I was ever President."
—William Howard Taft, reflecting on his career as Chief Justice
American president from 1909-1913. Also served as
Governer-General of the Philippines
◊ from 1901-1903 (we named an avenue after him), and Chief Justice of the United States from 1921-1930. New Mexico and Arizona became states during his Presidency.
One probably apocryphal legend credits him for
"the seventh inning stretch"
.
Known for
being pretty heavy and
once getting stuck in his own bathtub.
We also all know that the Oval Office used to be called the Round Office until he walked in. Funny enough, his presidency led to at least 80 pounds' weight loss, and he became more interested in the outdoors afterward. As
America: The Book pointed out, he was also the only President to become Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, but
nobody remembers that.
It's worth noting that becoming Chief Justice was his life's dream: he only ran for president because
T.R. and his wife wanted him to (ironically, his wife suffered a stroke shortly after his inauguration and was never able to enjoy her office as much as she might have liked).
* Almost as ironically, it would be T.R. running third party that prevented Taft from getting a second term; said rift between T.R. and Taft drove the Republican Party away from progressivism, which would later be picked up by Teddy's cousin,
FDR.
Taft was appointed to the court by
Warren Harding, and is the only former president to have administered the oath of office to an incoming president (He did it for both
Calvin Coolidge and
Herbert Hoover).
The last President to have a moustache, or indeed, facial hair of any kind, possibly reflecting a rather unfortunate
bias against it. Also the first president to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
Taft in fiction