William Howard Taft

Before we had a Chief Justice Taft, there was President Taft, and those two jobs did not hold an equal value to the man born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio. William Howard Taft may have been the one person to win a Presidential election who never truly wanted to hold the office, and unfortunately for him, served his one term in between two powerhouses -- Teddy Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson. While he may fall into the camp as one of our more forgettable Presidents, this actually was not due to bad decision-making or being someone not engaged with the job. Oddly enough, his downfall from the Presidency could be more attributed to his disdain for the popularity that came with the office.

In this episode of Unpresidented, we dive into how someone with a calm, pragmatic political philosophy goes on to win a Presidential election at the height of the Progressive Era in the US. Taft comes to power at a time where environmental conservation, antitrust laws, and social welfare programs are popular with a majority of people, and is criticized for not publicly championing Progressive policies like his predecessor. Is this criticism fair, though? Did Taft actually work to reign in the Progressive movement, or was he only someone guilty of unsuccessfully defending himself from being characterized that way? Examining Taft’s Presidency helps us to shed light on what types of personalities do not thrive with being the Chief Executive, regardless of what they actually accomplish in office.

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