William Howard Taft

William Howard Taft was the 27th President of the United States and later the 10th Chief Justice of the United States. As of 2009, he is the only President to have served on the Supreme Court. A Republican, Taft was the hand-picked successor of President Theodore Roosevelt, the last Republican President who liberals like. Taft was elected to succeed Roosevelt in 1908, but after being a more conservative President than Roosevelt would have liked, former President Roosevelt challenged Taft for the 1912 Republican nomination. Roosevelt won most of the few primaries that were held, but party bosses renominated Taft anyway. Roosevelt then formed the Progressive Party, also known as the Bull Moose Party, and ran as its nominee for President against Taft. The election of 1912 was the last time an incumbent President running for re-election came in lower than second place; Taft won 2 states, Roosevelt won 6 states, and Democrat Woodrow Wilson won 40 states and the Presidency. However, Taft's people, not Roosevelt's, continued to control the Republican Party, making it suck as we know it today.