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A review by kennethjohnston9
William Howard Taft: The American Presidents Series: The 27th President, 1909-1913 by Jeffrey Rosen
3.0
Started this as a Presidents' Day read.
Our fattest and one of the most boring presidents is also one of my favorites, simply because he didn't want to be president. This history is a refreshing history of an administration that faced no major crises or wars and focused on trade and labor disputes. That's about it. Taft stayed principled about the Constitution and not extending executive power. He is interesting because of how uninteresting he was, especially between the populism of Teddy Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson.
The end of the book concerns his much more successful, and happy and thin, tenure as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, a follow-on career unlike that of any other president. He had been offered a seat on the Court several times, but reluctantly refused for various reasons. The cases covered during his tenure aren't terribly exciting, but the author only highlight the ones with important ramifications. Decently enjoyable brisk coverage of a unique president.
Also thank him for the Lincoln Memorial, cherry blossoms, the Supreme Court building, and the Oval Office.
Our fattest and one of the most boring presidents is also one of my favorites, simply because he didn't want to be president. This history is a refreshing history of an administration that faced no major crises or wars and focused on trade and labor disputes. That's about it. Taft stayed principled about the Constitution and not extending executive power. He is interesting because of how uninteresting he was, especially between the populism of Teddy Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson.
The end of the book concerns his much more successful, and happy and thin, tenure as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, a follow-on career unlike that of any other president. He had been offered a seat on the Court several times, but reluctantly refused for various reasons. The cases covered during his tenure aren't terribly exciting, but the author only highlight the ones with important ramifications. Decently enjoyable brisk coverage of a unique president.
Also thank him for the Lincoln Memorial, cherry blossoms, the Supreme Court building, and the Oval Office.