William Taft was America’s 27th President serving between 1909 and 1913. Taft was hand-picked by Teddy Roosevelt to carry out his plan after Roosevelt regrettably decided not to seek a third term. Only this didn’t work out as planned. Taft was a reluctant leader and did not enjoy politics; in fact, his real dream was to be Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. The other thing people remember about Taft was that he holds the record as our heaviest president (350+ lbs). He once joked about himself on a streetcar: “I got up and gave my seat to three ladies.” Since Taft was not exactly into his position as President, he delegated a lot of power to his cabinet members who pretty much did as they pleased. This made Teddy Roosevelt crazy; he believed Taft was unraveling all of his work and became quite vindictive. In the 1912 election, TR tried to gain back the Republican nomination, but his party chose Taft (he was easier to control). Furious, TR joined a new “Progressive” party to run against Taft and the Democratic nominee Woodrow Wilson. Just like Ross Perot did in the 1992 election, Roosevelt split the Republican vote making it possible for the Democrats to secure the Executive Office.
