William Howard Taft Trivia Questions and Answers
Who was the 27th President of the United States?
A: William Howard Taft.
For what period was Taft President of the
U.S.?
A: March 4, 1909 – March 4, 1913.
Who was Taft’s vice president?
A: James Sherman (1909–1912), None (1912–1913)
Who preceded William Howard Taft?
A: Theodore Roosevelt.
Who succeeded Taft as president?
A: Woodrow Wilson.
William Howard Taft was the tenth what?
A: Chief Justice of the United States (1921–1930).
Taft is the only person to have served in what two offices?
A: The presidency and Chief Justice.
In 1887, Taft, a
Republican, was appointed to serve on
what?
A: The Superior Court of Cincinnati.
What was Taft appointed in 1890?
A: Solicitor General of the United States.
In 1891, he was appointed a judge on the what?
A: United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
In 1900, President William McKinley appointed Taft to what
position?
A: Governor-General of the Philippines.
In 1904, what did President Theodore Roosevelt appoint
William Taft?
A: Secretary of War.
Taft won an easy victory in his what?
A: His 1908 bid for the presidency.
After the First World War,
President Warren G. Harding
appointed Taft what?
A: Chief Justice of the United States.
On what date was William Howard Taft born?
A: On September 15, 1857.
Who was his mother?
A: Louisa Torrey.
Who was William’s father?
A: Alphonso Taft.
What church did young William attend?
A: Cincinnati's First Congregational-Unitarian Church.
What high school did William attend?
A: Woodward High School in Cincinnati.
Taft attended what college?
A: Yale College in New Haven, Connecticut.
At Yale, he was a member of what societies?
A: Linonian Society, Skull and Bones, and the Beta chapter of the Psi Upsilon
fraternity.
Taft’s college friends knew him by what nickname?
A: "Old Bill".
Taft graduated in 1878, ranking second in his class out of
how many?
A: 121.
What did he do after college?
A; He attended Cincinnati Law School, graduating with a Bachelor of Laws in
1880.
Who did Taft marry in 1886?
A: His longtime sweetheart, Helen Herron.
At the age of 32, he was the youngest-ever what?
A: Solicitor General.
Between 1896 and 1900 Taft served as the first dean and a
professor of what at the University of Cincinnati.?
A: Constitutional law.
In 1902, Taft negotiated in
Rome with whom for the purchase
of Philippine lands owned by the Roman Catholic Church?
A: Pope Leo XIII.
Taft's spouse was determined to gain the White House and
pressured him not to what?
A: Accept a court appointment.
Taft did not enjoy the easy relationship with who that
Roosevelt had?
A: The press.
Taft considered himself a what?
A: A progressive.
What did Taft create on April 22, 1912?
A: Taft created the United States Chamber of Commerce as a counterbalance to the
rise of the labor movement at the time.
In the 1910 midterm elections, the
Democrats assumed
control of what for the first time in 16 years?
A: The House.
In the Senate the Republicans retained their majority, but
they lost what?
A: 8 seats.
Taft was a supporter of free
immigration, and he vetoed a
law passed by Congress and supported by labor unions that would have done what?
A: Restricted unskilled laborers by imposing a literacy test.
In 1909, Taft and Porfirio Díaz planned a summit in El
Paso, the first time an American president would do what?
A: Cross the border into Mexico.
Why did Diaz request the meeting?
A: To show U.S. support for his planned eighth run as president.
Taft agreed to support Diaz in order to protect what?
A: The several billion dollars of American capital then invested in Mexico.
