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William Howard Taft was the second circuit judge to serve on the newly-created United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in 1892. He was the only man in American history to serve as both President and Chief Justice of the United States. His public career also included service as State prosecuting attorney, Superior Court judge in Cincinnati, Governor General of the Philippines, Secretary of War and professor of law. Taft resigned as Solicitor General of the United States in 1892 to accept an appointment by President Benjamin Harrison as Circuit Judge, where he served for eight years. He was President from 1909 to 1913 and Chief Justice from 1921 until his resignation on February 3, 1930.
Born in Cincinnati September 15, 1857, Taft completed his undergraduate work at Yale University and was a graduate of the Law School of the University of Cincinnati. During his tenure as Circuit Judge he served as Dean of the Law School and lecturer on real property law, and was instrumental in reorganizing the school. His opinions as Circuit Judge are reported in volumes 51-101 of the Federal Reporter. Taft resigned from the Court of Appeals in 1900 to head a commission to establish civil rule in the Philippines. He succeeded Elihu Root as Secretary of War. After his term as President, he served as Professor of Constitutional Law at Yale.
In 1921, he realized his lifelong ambition when he was appointed Chief Justice by President Warren G. Harding. One of his goals as Chief Justice was to make the Supreme Court "a model for the courts of the country'' in the prompt disposition of litigation. To achieve this goal he assigned to himself considerably more than his share of opinion writing. At the 1922 term, the Court broke all records in the number of cases decided. Chief Justice Taft made an enduring contribution in the area of judicial reform. He personally led the campaign that resulted in the enactment of the Judges Bill of 1925, giving the Supreme Court greater control over its docket.
For many years Taft was one of the most influential leaders of the American Bar Association, serving as its president and heading the committee which formulated the Canons of Judicial Ethics. He laid the ground work for the later adoption of the federal rules of procedure, and led in the creation of the Conference of Senior Judges, which became the Judicial Conference of the United States. He personally lobbied for the legislation authorizing the erection of the Supreme Court Building. At the cornerstone ceremony in October, 1932, Chief Justice Hughes said: "For this enterprise now progressing to completion, we are indebted to the late Chief Justice William Howard Taft more than any one else. The building is the result of his intelligent persistence."
Among his opinions were Traux v. Corrigan, 257 U.S. 312 (1921); Bailey v. Drexel Furniture Company, 259 U.S. 20 (1922); and his dissent in Adkins v. Children's Hospital, 261 U.S. 525, 562 (1923). His most noted opinion as a Circuit Judge was United States v. Addyston Pipe and Steel Co., 85 F. 271 (6th Cir. 1898). He resigned as Chief Justice February 3, 1930, and died March 8, 1930. The memorial resolutions at his death made the following reference to his career as a Circuit Judge:
In 1892, the Circuit Courts of Appeals were an experiment. They took over from the Supreme Court a large part of its federal appellate jurisdiction. The first few years of operation would justify or condemn the experiment. It is fair to say that in these early years, no one of those courts did more than that of the Sixth Circuit, under Judge Taft's leadership, to establish them in the public confidence. Its opinions--, in large part, his opinion--touched every field of general litigation, as well as bankruptcy, admiralty and patents. For the patent law and its application Judge Taft displayed an unusual aptitude, and in that line many of his opinions of this period, both in the Circuit Courts and on appeal, have come to be generally accepted guides along the right road.1
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