Quiz

Although he was famous for his weight, he actually lost 137 pounds after leaving the office. He jokingly said it was because the weight of the job was finally off his shoulders.

At well over 300 pounds, he was the heaviest American president. Once he famously became stuck in the White House bathtub and had to be pried out. Afterwards, a wider tub, built especially for him, was installed.

Pictured on the 50¢ US postage stamp in the Presidential Series, issued 8 December 1938.

Buried with his wife at Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia.

Pictured on a US 4¢ regular series postage stamp issued 4 June 1930.

Only person to become President of the United States and Chief Justice of the United States.

Children: daughter Helen; sons Charles and Robert A. Taft.

Chief Justice of the United States; 11 July 1921 (date took oath) - 3 February 1930 (resigned shortly before his death).

President of the United States, 4 March 1909 - 4 March 1913.

Seventh cousin twice removed of President Richard Nixon.

First president to serve in office over the 48 contiguous states.

First former president of the United States to receive the honor of lying in state who did not die in office.

He become part of the only presidential election in American history in which the major candidates were a former president (Theodore Roosevelt), the incumbent president (Taft) and a future president (Woodrow Wilson).

Goaded into running for the presidency by Theodore Roosevelt, Taft actually hated the job. He preferred the less stressful position of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

No one had more humor about Taft's weight than Taft himself. Once, he famously joked that he was the ultimate gentleman because he gave up his seat on a streetcar to three ladies.

He is the only former president ever to have sworn in a new president into office. In 1923 he swore in Calvin Coolidge while serving as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

Taft was hand-picked to run for president by Theodore Roosevelt after Roosevelt announced he would not run for another term in 1908. After Taft won and took office, Roosevelt was unhappy that many of Taft's policies. When Taft ran for re-election in 1912, Roosevelt, who had been Taft's close friend, turned on him and began to denounce him in public, and challenged his renomination at the Republican convention, and in the general election as a third party candidate. It hurt Taft greatly that his friend turned on him, and the Republican split led to Democrat Woodrow Wilson being elected president. Taft was satisfied Wilson had won and not the ingrate Roosevelt. The two never spoke again.

His great-grandson, Robert Alphonso Taft II (Bob Taft), was the Governor of Ohio (1 January 1, 1999 - 8 January 2007).

In 1914, he awarded the winner's cup in a fat-baby contest to the then one-year-old Lloyd Bridges.

In 1929 Taft kept forgetting the words when he swore Herbert Hoover in as president. It has been suggested that Taft may have been displaying symptoms of Alzheimer's disease at the end of his life.

One of two presidents buried at Arlington National Cemetary, the other being John F. Kennedy.

When he died in 1930, he left the bulk of his estate, valued at $475,000 to his wife, Helen.

Great grandfather of Ohio governor Bob Taft.

Father of US senator Robert A. Taft.

While a professor at the University of Cincinnati School of Law, he advised one of his students, Miller Huggins, to pursue baseball after Huggins realized that he could make more money playing baseball than practicing law. Huggins played for the Cincinnati Reds (1904-1909), and the St. Louis Cardinals (1910-1916), then managed the Cardinals (1913-1917), and New York Yankees (1918-1929).

Inducted into the International Mustache Hall of Fame in 2015 (inaugural class) in the category Politics & Leadership.

Inducted into the Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame in 2009.

One of only two U.S. presidents to have served as U.S. Secretary of War, along with James Monroe.

His vice president, James Sherman (who was running on the ticket for a second term), died just six days before election day in 1912. Taft was able to replace him (on the ticket) with Nicholas Murray Butler in the short time.

His 23.2% of the vote in 1912 was the lowest percentage ever received by both a sitting president and any major party candidate since the two-party system emerged after the Civil War.