10 Interesting Facts About William Taft

10. Play ball!

Taft was the first president to throw the first ball of baseball season, beginning a tradition that continues today. The game was a 1910 game between the Washington Senators and the Philadelphia Athletics. The Senators won 3-0.

9. Tone deaf

Taft was tone deaf and had to be nudged whenever the national anthem was played.

8. First to own a car

Taft was the first president to own a car. He converted the stables into a garage.

7. Last to have a cow

Taft was the last president to keep a cow at the White House to provide fresh milk. Her name was Pauline.

6. The loneliest place

Once, when commenting about the White House, Taft called it “the loneliest place in the world”.

5. A new courthouse

Taft successfully argued for the construction of the U.S. Supreme Court building. He felt that the Supreme Court should distance itself from Congress since it was a separate branch of the government. Prior to then, the Supreme Court heard cases in the Capitol building.

4. A big man

At over 330 pounds, Taft was the heaviest president. Once, he got stuck in the White House bath tub and required six aides to pull him free. The tub was replaced with a new one large enough to hold four men.

3. First in Arlington

William Taft was the first president to be buried in Arlington National Cemetery. President John Kennedy is the only other president to be buried there.

2. Chief Justice Taft

Taft is the only president to ever serve as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, making him the only person to have ever lead both the Executive and Judicial branches of the United States government. Taft considered his time as Chief Justice to be the highest point of his career, higher than that of being president.

1. The only president to swear

Taft is the only former president to ever have sworn in a president. While serving as Chief Justice, Taft administered the Oath of Office to President Calvin Coolidge in 1925 and President Herbert Hoover in 1929.