William Howard Taft
J.J. Gordon as Taft in Mercedes Ray.
William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857 – March 8, 1930) was an American politician, the 27th President of the United States, and the 10th Chief Justice of the United States.
A fictionalized version of Taft was portrayed by J.J. Gordon in the film Mercedes Ray. In the movie, Taft is parodied as a large man of even larger appetites.
About Taft[]
Taft served as Solicitor General of the United States, a federal judge, Governor-General of the Philippines, and Secretary of War before being nominated for President in the 1908 Republican National Convention with the backing of his predecessor and close friend Theodore Roosevelt.
His presidency was characterized by trust-busting, strengthening the Interstate Commerce Commission, expanding the civil service, establishing a better postal system, and promoting world peace. Roosevelt broke with Taft in 1911, charging Taft was too reactionary. Taft and the conservatives were alarmed at Roosevelt's attacks on the judiciary, and took control of the party machinery. Taft defeated Roosevelt for the Republican nomination in a bruising battle in 1912 that forced Roosevelt out of the GOP and left Taft people in charge for decades. In 1921, he became Chief Justice. He is the only President to have been the Solicitor General or to have served on the Supreme Court of the United States.
Appearances[]
- Mercedes Ray (2007).... J.J. Gordon
Other U.S. Presidents Portrayed in Local Films[]
- Jimmy Carter
- Calvin Coolidge
- Millard Fillmore
- James Garfield
- Ulysses S. Grant
- Andrew Jackson
- Thomas Jefferson
- Abraham Lincoln
- Franklin Delano Roosevelt
- Herbert Hoover
- Franklin Pierce
- Theodore Roosevelt
- William Howard Taft
- John Tyler
- Martin Van Buren
External Links[]
- William Howard Taft at Wikipedia