By the Maui Curmudgeon (27th in a 43-part series)

How do the U.S. Presidents stack up? I thought I’d find out by reading biographies of all 43 presidents, in the order of their administrations. Here are briefly the pros and cons of my discoveries, the interesting bits, and how I’d rank him. For comparison, I give you the 1982 Murrary-Blessing ranking, a survey of hundreds of leading historians who ranked each president by number. This survey is the gold standard of presidential rankings and is most cited when this kind of thing needs bringing up in media.

WILLIAM HOWARD TAFT: 1909-1913 ~ 27th U.S. President

An enormous, kindly man, William Howard Taft was steeped in law. A graduate of Yale, he earned his law degree and began his career as a county prosecutor. Between 1886 and 1900 he was a state superior court judge in Ohio, and solicitor general of the United States. He spent eight years as a federal judge on the Sixth Circuit, and he was dean of the University of Cincinnati Law School.

In 1900, President William McKinley appointed him civil governor or the Philippines, and it was under his guidance that Teddy Roosevelt first moved the country to independence. In 1904, Roosevelt made Taft his Secretary of War, and during Teddy’s second term the men became close friends. In 1908, Roosevelt named Taft as his successor, and Taft easily won election. Then all the trouble began.

The Bad:

He disliked politics. (“Politics makes me sick,” he said.) He was a man who enjoyed the rigors and the rules of law. He was more comfortable following a set of precepts than designing them. This lead to all sorts of troubles, including his inability to help formulate and push through Congress bills, especially tariffs, and a domestic agenda.

He lacked the ability to pick good men for his administration, despite the best of intentions. He chose Philander C. Knox (a lawyer) for his secretary of state, a man who had no diplomatic skills or international relations, and a zeal to protect American business interests aboard to the detriment of the administration’s policy initiatives. During four years, Knox bungled relations with Japan, China, Britain, France and Germany.

Read the rest…