LOOKING EAST
William Howard Taft and the 1905 U.S. Diplomatic Mission to AsiaThe Photographs of Harry Fowler Woods
FOREWORD by Kevin Grace
The second reason is that Taft, serving his community and country as a judge, as a law school dean both at UC and Yale University, as secretary of war and governor of the Philippines, and, as president of the United States and chief justice of the Supreme Court, was most content as a teacher and jurist. In laboring as president from 1908 to 1912, he answered the call of his wife, Theodore Roosevelt, and the Republican Party. But he was not a happy chief executive. Those particular years in Washington, D.C. were ones of duty. But, he loved the law. He loved teaching about it, writing about it, and administering it. Garbed in his bronze statue gown, Taft’s personality and ardor are evident.
William Howard followed in his father’s footsteps. He graduated from Woodward High School in Cincinnati, took his undergraduate degree at Yale, and then attended the Cincinnati Law School where Alphonso had taught.
In his dedication speech, Taft stated that a grounding in general education was essential for lawyers, “No man can sit in a court of justice and not realize how men suffer, how injustice is done that cannot be remedied…”
It is inconceivable that the University of Cincinnati would be the world-class institution it is today without the involvement of Alphonso Taft and his progeny. And in this volume, there is considerably more evidence of the Taft ideals of service and global responsibility.
WILLIAM HOWARD TAFT’S CAREER TIMELINE
- 1857 Born September 15, 1857, in Cincinnati, Ohio to Alphonso Taft and Louise Torrey
- 1878 Graduated from Yale College
- 1880 Appointed assistant prosecutor for Hamilton County (Cincinnati)
- 1886 Married Helen Herron on June 19, 1886, they had three children
- 1887 Served on the Superior Superior Court of Cincinnati
- 1890 President Harrison appointed him Solicitor General of the United States
- 1892 President Harrison appointed him to the U.S. Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit, based in Cincinnati
- 1896 Taft became dean and Professor at the Cincinnati Law School
- 1900 President McKinley appointed Taft on the commission to organize a civilian government in the Philippines
- 1904 President Theodore Roosevelt appointed Taft to become Secretary of War
- 1905 Secretary Taft led the U.S. Diplomatic Mission to Asia
- 1909 Became President of the United States
- 1913 Became Kent Professor of Law and Legal History at Yale Law School
- 1921 Became Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court
- 1930 Died in Washington, D.C. on March 8, 1930