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William Howard Taft: Chief Justice
Originally published by Simon & Schuster in 1964, this is the ironic story of how William Howard Taft, the only man ever to be both President and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, reformed judicial processes in this country so thoroughly that he helped to undermine the reactionary power of wealth and privilege in which he believed.
354 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1964
About the author
Alpheus Thomas Mason
43 booksA specialist in the American Constitution and the author of several judicial biographies, Alpheus Thomas Mason was McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence Emeritus at Princeton University. He received his BA from Dickinson College in 1920 and his PhD from Princeton University in 1923, and he taught at Princeton from 1925 until his retirement in 1968.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
October 9, 2017
This book will appeal to one very specific type of reader: Legal historians researching Taft and developments in the judiciary during Taft’s time. And even they’re going to find it dry. Other readers—those focused on Taft himself or politics and law in the 1920s—should look elsewhere.
It’s a shame. I picked this book up because I was interested in Taft, specifically in his time as Chief Justice. Not many books have been written about Taft, and the ones that have been written tend to focus on political happenings while he was President—rarely anything before or after, and rarely even anything about his own life.
Since this book is titled “William Howard Taft: Chief Justice,” it seemed like a good option. And while the author does a great job cataloguing the facts of Taft’s efforts to reform the judicial system, at no point does it feel particularly important. There is plenty of coverage of what Taft did, but little of why his work was needed, what the courts would have looked like without his efforts, and why it would have been a bad thing. And most of the focus is on the judiciary, not the major cases and legal developments that took place in the 1920s.
Nor is there much in the way of his personal life, although there is one entertaining anecdote, playing on Taft’s desire for the Chief Justiceship and his wife’s preference for the White House:
Legal historians: You might find this book useful. Instead of having to rummage through Taft’s letters, law review articles, and speeches to various bar associations, you can look to William Howard Taft: Chief Justice, where that work has been done for you. But for your own writing on the subject, be sure to add some meat to the bones.
It’s a shame. I picked this book up because I was interested in Taft, specifically in his time as Chief Justice. Not many books have been written about Taft, and the ones that have been written tend to focus on political happenings while he was President—rarely anything before or after, and rarely even anything about his own life.
Since this book is titled “William Howard Taft: Chief Justice,” it seemed like a good option. And while the author does a great job cataloguing the facts of Taft’s efforts to reform the judicial system, at no point does it feel particularly important. There is plenty of coverage of what Taft did, but little of why his work was needed, what the courts would have looked like without his efforts, and why it would have been a bad thing. And most of the focus is on the judiciary, not the major cases and legal developments that took place in the 1920s.
Nor is there much in the way of his personal life, although there is one entertaining anecdote, playing on Taft’s desire for the Chief Justiceship and his wife’s preference for the White House:
After dinner, the President [Theodore Roosevelt] took his guests to the second-floor library. The mood of the occasion was relaxed; as T.R. sat down in an easy chair, he closed his eyes and began:
“I am the seventh son of a seventh daughter. I have clairvoyant powers. I see a man standing before me weighing three hundred pounds. There is something hanging over his head. I cannot make out what it is…At one time it looks like the Presidency, then again it looks like the Chief Justiceship.”
“Make it the Presidency,” said Mrs. Taft.
“Make it the Chief Justiceship,” said Mr. Taft.
Legal historians: You might find this book useful. Instead of having to rummage through Taft’s letters, law review articles, and speeches to various bar associations, you can look to William Howard Taft: Chief Justice, where that work has been done for you. But for your own writing on the subject, be sure to add some meat to the bones.
October 15, 2025
I have read several biographies of Taft, and they all emphasize his life up to the point of the US Presidency, and then they tend to peter out. Yet the nine years he spent as Chief Justice were more significant both professionally and personally, not to mention politically, than his stint as President. This book gives a lot of information about significant work done by Chief Justice Taft and his court, their interpersonal relations, and Taft’s strengths and weaknesses in the position. The boom is organized somewhat more by theme than chronology, which is occasionally confusing, and seems to vacillate between extremes in its analysis periodically. However, it has a lot of research and helps fill some of a major gap in the history of Taft’s long and varied career.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews