Book Review: William Howard Taft (American Presidents Series) by Jeffrey Rosen
The American Presidents Series is a collection of brief (usually around 150 pages) essay-style biographies of each of the Presidents of the United States, published by Times Books. This month's release of the volume on the life of William Howard Taft by GWU law professor Jeffrey Rosen completes the chain from Washington to Bush 43 and marks a refreshing return to a focus on biography and history as opposed to the infusion of political opinion that was allowed to prevail in the editions about more recent Presidents.
Professor Rosen is an excellent choice as Taft's biographer. Taft had the distinction of being the only person thus far to serve as chief executive of both the Executive and the Judicial branches of government, serving as President of the United States from 1909 to 1913, and Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court (the job he really wanted for all of his life) from 1921 until just before his death in 1930. Rosen does an outstanding job of capturing the essence of Taft's approach to both jobs. A fish out of water when it came to politics, Taft was a man with a clear and principled vision of what he understood his role as president to be, guided by the dictates of the Constitution, untethered by populist demands or political expediencies. It was this moral compass, hitched to a sensitivity to criticism, that guided Taft through all of his major decisions as president, popular and (more often) unpopular, leading to his split from his former friend and political sponsor Theodore Roosevelt, and to one of the most humiliating defeats experienced by an incumbent president.
Rosen does an magnificent job, in the brief space allotted, of clearly articulating and explaining who Taft was, what his motivation was for the major decisions of his presidency, how he significantly changed how the United States Supreme Court functions, and his judicial philosophy, which at times seemed inconsistent or contradictory, but really wasn't. Those who love the Constitution will admire how William Howard Taft used it as his guiding star throughout all of the major decisions of his Presidency and throughout his tenure as Chief Justice.
Rosen concludes with a fascinating analysis of how Taft's value system is especially relevant in today's political environment of populism in which twitter followers and facebook likes are mistaken for a well-reasoned consensus on important issues. As Rosen so eloquently puts it, "The fact the all three branches [of government] are institutionally equipped, if they choose, to resist these populist threats and to defend the rule of law is an inspiring tribute to Taft's constitutional legacy."
This edition has been a long-time coming, and the finished product is well worth the wait, making this one of the best volumes in this series.
Professor Rosen is an excellent choice as Taft's biographer. Taft had the distinction of being the only person thus far to serve as chief executive of both the Executive and the Judicial branches of government, serving as President of the United States from 1909 to 1913, and Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court (the job he really wanted for all of his life) from 1921 until just before his death in 1930. Rosen does an outstanding job of capturing the essence of Taft's approach to both jobs. A fish out of water when it came to politics, Taft was a man with a clear and principled vision of what he understood his role as president to be, guided by the dictates of the Constitution, untethered by populist demands or political expediencies. It was this moral compass, hitched to a sensitivity to criticism, that guided Taft through all of his major decisions as president, popular and (more often) unpopular, leading to his split from his former friend and political sponsor Theodore Roosevelt, and to one of the most humiliating defeats experienced by an incumbent president.
Rosen does an magnificent job, in the brief space allotted, of clearly articulating and explaining who Taft was, what his motivation was for the major decisions of his presidency, how he significantly changed how the United States Supreme Court functions, and his judicial philosophy, which at times seemed inconsistent or contradictory, but really wasn't. Those who love the Constitution will admire how William Howard Taft used it as his guiding star throughout all of the major decisions of his Presidency and throughout his tenure as Chief Justice.
Rosen concludes with a fascinating analysis of how Taft's value system is especially relevant in today's political environment of populism in which twitter followers and facebook likes are mistaken for a well-reasoned consensus on important issues. As Rosen so eloquently puts it, "The fact the all three branches [of government] are institutionally equipped, if they choose, to resist these populist threats and to defend the rule of law is an inspiring tribute to Taft's constitutional legacy."
This edition has been a long-time coming, and the finished product is well worth the wait, making this one of the best volumes in this series.