一戰中崛起  (1857年九月15日～1930年三月8日)

開端 終結 在位 1909年 1913年 

　　威廉·霍華德·塔夫脫（1857年9月15日－1930年3月8日）是第27任美國總統(1909年3月4日 – 1913年3月4日)。他當過律師、美國首席大法官和陸軍部長。1908年作為共和黨人，在西奧多·羅斯福支持下當選總統。任內代表壟斷資本傢，處處維護他們的利益，對內提高關稅，對外推行“金元外交”，加強侵略拉美國傢。他的政策引起廣泛的不滿，連羅斯福也批評他。在1912年競選連任總統遭到失敗，輸給了新澤西州州長伍德羅·威爾遜。
　　
　　塔夫脫的很多家庭成員也參加了政治。他的兒子和孫子都當過參議員。他的重孫子是現在的俄亥俄州的州長。

　　William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857 – March 8, 1930) was the 27th President of the United States and later the 10th Chief Justice of the United States.
　　
　　Born in 1857 in Cincinnati, Ohio, into the powerful Taft family, Taft graduated from Yale College in 1878, and from Cincinnati Law School in 1880. Then he worked in a number of local legal positions until being appointed an Ohio Superior Court judge in 1887. In 1890 Taft was appointed Solicitor General of the United States and in 1891 a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. In 1900, President William McKinley appointed Taft Governor-General of the Philippines. In 1904, President Theodore Roosevelt, then a political ally of Taft, appointed Taft Secretary of War in order to groom Taft as his successor to the presidency.
　　
　　Riding a wave of popular support of President (and fellow Republican) Theodore Roosevelt, Taft won an easy victory in his 1908 bid for the presidency.
　　
　　In his first and only term, President Taft's domestic agenda emphasized trust-busting, civil service reform, strengthening the Interstate Commerce Commission, improving the performance of the postal service, and passage of the Sixteenth Amendment. Abroad, Taft sought to further the economic development of undeveloped nations in Latin America and Asia through the method he termed "Dollar Diplomacy." However, Taft often alienated his own key constituencies, and was overwhelmingly defeated in his bid for a second term in the presidential election of 1912.
　　
　　After leaving office, Taft spent his time in academia, arbitration, and the search for world peace through his self-founded League to Enforce Peace. In 1921, after the First World War, President Warren G. Harding appointed Taft Chief Justice of the United States, fulfilling Taft's lifelong dream. Taft served in this capacity until his death in 1930.
　　
　　Weighing over 300 pounds on average, Taft was physically the heaviest American president ever elected. Taft is also, to date, the last U.S. president to have facial hair while in office.