The Best Books To Learn About President William Howard Taft
(You can view the rest of our presidential Best Book lists by going to our Best US President Books page, or for a more in-depth look at how we found and ranked the books you can visit our Best Book About Every United States President article.)
William Howard Taft Quick Facts |
| President Number | 27 |
| Terms In Office | 1 |
| Years | 1909-1913 |
| Political Party | Republican |
| Vice President | James S. Sherman (died) / Vacant |
| Home State | Ohio |
| Presidential Pet | Gog (Caruso) & Cows (Mooly Wooly & Pauline Wayne) |
| Articles Used in Ranking | 13 |
| Number of Unique Books | 22 |
The Best Book About William Howard Taft
(Appears on 6 Lists)
The Life & Times of William Howard Taft by Harry F. Pringle
Lists It Appears On:
- At Times Dull
- Best Presidential Bios
- Library of Congress
- Mandi Lindner
- Presidents USA
- The Washington Post
#2
(Appears on 4 Lists)
The Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the Golden Age of Journalism by Doris Kearns Goodwin
Lists It Appears On:
- Library of Congress
- Mashable
- Presidents USA
- The Tailored Man
The Bully Pulpit is also the story of the muckraking press, which arouses the spirit of reform that helps Roosevelt push the government to shed its laissez-faire attitude toward robber barons, corrupt politicians, and corporate exploiters of our natural resources. The muckrakers are portrayed through the greatest group of journalists ever assembled at one magazine—Ida Tarbell, Ray Stannard Baker, Lincoln Steffens, and William Allen White—teamed under the mercurial genius of publisher S.S. McClure.
#3
(Appears on 3 Lists)
William Howard Taft: An Intimate History by Judith Icke Anderson
Lists It Appears On:
- All The Presidents Books
- Library of Congress
- Presidents USA
This book deals with the impact of Taft’s numerous inner conflicts and his decision-making ability–and, in particular, on his frequent failure to make decisions at all. Here is the evolution of Taft’s conflicts and extraordinary dependencies, which began in childhood, were exacerbated by certain kinds of success–all of which were peculiarly illuminated by fluctuations in his weight.
#4-7
(Appear on 2 List)
William Howard Taft: Confident Peacemaker by David H. Burton
Lists It Appears On:
- Library of Congress
- Presidents USA
This book is a study of the internationalism of William Howard Taft. In the months after war broke out in 1914, Taft was second only to Woodrow Wilson in his awareness of the need to preserve the peace of the world through a new version of international organization. Built upon a synthetic interpretation of Taft’s foreign policy ideas and initiatives, the book encompasses the whole of his public career as a statesman, from his years as civil governor of the Philippines through his tenure as chief justice of the Supreme Court. During those years, he moved from a basic belief in the theory and practice of balance of power to the application of dollar diplomacy. In response to the calamity of World War I, Taft came to recognize that world peace must be based upon a combination of idealism and realism, of high-minded principles placed and kept in effect by force, deliberately chosen and carefully applied.
William Howard Taft: A Conservative’s Conception of the Presidency by Donald F. Anderson
Lists It Appears On:
- Library of Congress
- Presidents USA
The William Howard Taft Presidency by Lewis Gould
Lists It Appears On:
- Best Presidential Bios
- Presidents USA
The only president to later serve as chief justice of the United States, William Howard Taft remarked in the 1920s that “I don’t remember that I ever was President.” Historians have agreed, and Taft is usually portrayed, when written about at all, as nothing more than a failed chief executive. In this provocative new study, the first treatment of the Taft presidency in four decades, Lewis L. Gould presents a compelling assessment of Taft’s accomplishments and setbacks in office. Rich in human interest and fresh analysis of the events of Taft’s four years in Washington, Gould’s book shows why Taft’s presidency is very much worth remembering on its own terms.
Chief Executive to Chief Justice: Taft Betwixt the White House and Supreme Court by Lewis L. Gould
Lists It Appears On:
- Library of Congress
- Presidents USA
As our 27th president from 1909 to 1913, and then as chief justice of the Supreme Court from 1921 to 1930, William Howard Taft was the only man ever to lead two of America’s three governing branches. But between these two well-documented periods in office, there lies an eight-year patch of largely unexplored political wilderness. It was during this time, after all, that Taft somehow managed to rise from his ignominious defeat by both Woodrow Wilson and Theodore Roosevelt in the 1912 election to achieve his lifelong goal of becoming chief justice. In the first in-depth look at this period in Taft’s singular career, eminent presidential historian Lewis L. Gould reveals how a man often derided for his lack of political acumen made his way through the hazards of Republican affairs to gain his objective.
#8-22
(Appear on 1 List)
Lost at the White House: A 1909 Easter Story by Lisa Griest
Lists It Appears On:
- Presidents USA
When Rena gets lost at the 1909 White House Easter egg roll, a guard takes her to meet President William Taft.
President Taft Is Stuck in the Bath by Mac Barnett
Lists It Appears On:
- Presidents USA
George Washington crossed the Delaware in the dead of night. Abraham Lincoln saved the Union. And President William Howard Taft, a man of great stature — well, he got stuck in a bathtub. Now how did he get unstuck? Author Mac Barnett and illustrator Chris Van Dusen bring their full comedic weight to this legendary story, imagining a parade of clueless cabinet members advising the exasperated president, leading up to a hugely satisfying, hilarious finale.
Presidential Anecdotes by Paul F. Boller Jr.
Lists It Appears On:
- NY Times
Taft, Roosevelt, and the Limits of Friendship by David H. Burton
Lists It Appears On:
- Library of Congress
This is a study of the changing relationship between two of the most important political figures of the first decades of the twentieth century. Each served as president, and as such influenced the domestic as well as the diplomatic policies of the national government. Their impact on public policy was not limited to their presidential years, however. Out of office after 1909, Roosevelt’s bolt of the Republican party guaranteed the election of Woodrow Wilson in 1912. As an elder statesman Taft became one of the strongest advocates for American participation in the League of Nations. Focused on public lives, the book becomes a study in American domestic and diplomatic affairs, and contributes, perhaps, to the “great man” theory of history. David H. Burton is an independent scholar.
Taft, Wilson, and World Order by David H. Burton
Lists It Appears On:
- Library of Congress
William Howard Taft and Woodrow Wilson were the two most farsighted American statesmen of their generation. By the end of World War I they had come to agree in principle that there must be created a league of nations organization, the machinery for settling international disputes, thereby avoiding another world war. How as individuals they arrived at this common conclusion and how and why in concert or as individual leaders they failed to achieve their singular purpose this book carefully examines in a non-accusatory fashion.
Taft’s Missions to Japan: A Study in Personal Diplomacy by Ralph Eldin Minger
Lists It Appears On:
- Presidents USA
The Collected Works of William Howard Taft by David H. Burton
Lists It Appears On:
- Presidents USA
The fifth volume of The Complete Works of William Howard Taft presents two publications Taft wrote as Kent Professor of Constitutional Law at Yale University, the position he assumed in 1913 after he was defeated in his bid for re-election as U.S. president. The first, Popular Government, was prepared for a series of lectures, but was motivated by Taft’s passion over the issue of constitutional interpretation, which had been hotly contested during the campaign. Organized around the preamble of the Constitution, the lectures and later the book were opportunities for Taft to restate his opposition to the direct democracy movement and to reveal the workings of a conservative mind.
The Presidency of William Howard Taft by Paolo E. Coletta
Lists It Appears On:
- Library of Congress
The Taft Court: Justices, Rulings, and Legacy by Peter G. Renstrom
Lists It Appears On:
- Library of Congress
An authoritative survey of the Taft Court, which served from 1921 to 1929, and the impact it had on the U.S. legal system, social order, economics, and politics.
William Howard Taft by Jeffrey Rosen
Lists It Appears On:
- Presidents USA
William Howard Taft in Cincinnati by Brian Planitz
Lists It Appears On:
- Presidents USA
William Howard Taft, Chief Justice by Alpheus Thomas Mason
Lists It Appears On:
- Library of Congress
William Howard Taft, in the Public Service by David H. Burton
Lists It Appears On:
- Library of Congress
William Howard Taft: The Man of the Hour by Oscar King Davis
Lists It Appears On:
- Presidents USA
William Howard Taft: The Travails of a Progressive Conservative by Jonathan Lurie
Lists It Appears On:
- Presidents USA
In this biographical study of the only American ever to have been both President and Chief Justice of the United States, Jonathan Lurie reassesses William Howard Taft’s multiple careers, which culminated in Taft’s election to the presidency in 1908 as the chosen successor to Theodore Roosevelt. By 1912, however, the relationship between Taft and Roosevelt had ruptured. Lurie re-examines the Taft–Roosevelt friendship and concludes that it rested on flimsy ground. He also places Taft in a progressive context, taking Taft’s own self-description as ‘a believer in progressive conservatism’ as the starting point. At the end of his biography, Lurie concludes that this label is accurate when applied to Taft.
The Best William Howard Taft Book Lists Consulted
| Source | Article |
| All The Presidents Books | One Through Forty-Two or Forty-Three |
| At Times Dull | Janet’s Presidential Biography Project & Blog |
| Best Presidential Bios | The Best Presidential Biographies |
| Huffington Post | Presidents’ Day History: The Must-Reads Of Presidential Biographies |
| Library of Congress | Selected Bibliography |
| Mandi Lindner | 44 Presidents and Their Definitive Biographies |
| Mashable | Why I’m spending a year reading about every U.S. president |
| NY Times | Good Books About Bad Presidents |
| Presidential History | Presidential Resources |
| Presidential History (Again) | Pulitzer Prize Winning Books About Presidents |
| Presidents USA | FURTHER INFORMATION ABOUT WILLIAM HOWARD TAFT |
| The Tailored Man | The 44 Best Presidential Biographies |
| The Washington Post | The Fix’s list of best presidential biographies |
