William Howard Taft: The American Presidents Series: The 27th President, 1909-1913
Written by Jeffrey Rosen
Narrated by David Colacci
4/5
()
About this audiobook
In this provocative assessment, Jeffrey Rosen reveals Taft's crucial role in shaping how America balances populism against the rule of law. Taft approached each decision as president by asking whether it comported with the Constitution, seeking to put Roosevelt's activist executive orders on firm legal grounds. But unlike Roosevelt, who thought the president could do anything the Constitution didn't forbid, Taft insisted he could do only what the Constitution explicitly allowed. This led to a dramatic breach with Roosevelt in the historic election of 1912.
Nine years later, Taft achieved his lifelong dream when President Warren Harding appointed him chief justice, and during his years on the Court he promoted consensus among the justices and transformed the judiciary into a modern, fully equal branch. Though he had chafed in the White House as a judicial president, he thrived as a presidential chief justice.
Jeffrey Rosen
Jeffrey Rosen is President and CEO of the National Constitution Center, where he hosts We the People, a weekly podcast of constitutional debate. He is also a professor of law at the George Washington University Law School and a contributing editor at The Atlantic. Rosen is a graduate of Harvard College, Oxford University, and Yale Law School. He is the author of seven previous books, including the New York Times bestseller Conversations with RBG: Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Life, Love, Liberty, and Law. His essays and commentaries have appeared in The New York Times Magazine; on NPR; in The New Republic, where he was the legal affairs editor; and in The New Yorker, where he has been a staff writer.
More audiobooks from Jeffrey Rosen
The Pursuit of Happiness: How Classical Writers on Virtue Inspired the Lives of the Founders and Defined America Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Supreme Court: The Personalities and Rivalries That Defined America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Conversations with RBG: Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Life, Love, Liberty, and Law Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related to William Howard Taft
Related audiobooks
Wilson Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Moralist: Woodrow Wilson and the World He Made Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Eisenhower in War and Peace Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Accidental Presidents: Eight Men Who Changed America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The First Populist: The Defiant Life of Andrew Jackson Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5American Emperor: Aaron Burr's Challenge to Jefferson's America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5America's Great Debate: Henry Clay, Stephen A. Douglas, and the Compromise That Preserved the Union Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Impeached: The Trial of President Andrew Johnson and the Fight for Lincoln's Legacy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Grover Cleveland: The American Presidents Series: The 22nd and 24th President, 1885-1889 and 1893-1897 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Man of Iron: The Turbulent Life and Improbable Presidency of Grover Cleveland Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Washington's Farewell: The Founding Father's Warning to Future Generations Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5George Washington: The Wonder of the Age Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Thomas Jefferson: American Revolutionary Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tip and the Gipper: When Politics Worked Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Ascent of George Washington: The Hidden Political Genius of an American Icon Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Brilliant Solution: Inventing the American Constitution Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Harry S. Truman: The American Presidents Series: The 33rd President, 1945-1953 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5George Washington on Leadership Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Founding Fathers Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The American Spirit Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Washington's Circle: The Creation of the President Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5They Made America Great: 31 Endearing Legacies Worth Heeding Today Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Washington: The Making of the American Capital Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Trials of Harry S. Truman: The Extraordinary Presidency of an Ordinary Man, 1945-1953 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Jefferson Rule: How the Founding Fathers Became Infallible and Our Politics Inflexible Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Unexpected President: The Life and Times of Chester A. Arthur Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5James Monroe: A Republican Champion Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5
Biography & Memoir For You
From Blood and Ash Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sorry I'm Late, I Didn't Want to Come: One Introvert's Year of Saying Yes Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Divine Rivals: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fairy Tale Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Bell Jar Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The House in the Cerulean Sea Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Leave the World Behind: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Good Neighbor: The Life and Work of Fred Rogers Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5And Then There Were None Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Institute: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sure, I'll Join Your Cult: A Memoir of Mental Illness and the Quest to Belong Anywhere Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Twisted Love Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dutch House: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Local Woman Missing Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Ivy League Counterfeiter Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Overstory Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Nothing to See Here Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Good Girls Don't Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Series of Unfortunate Events #1 Multi-Voice, A: The Bad Beginning Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Paris Apartment: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Later Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dead Zone Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5In Five Years: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Year of Magical Thinking Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5See You on the Way Down: Catch You on the Way Back Up! Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5If He Had Been with Me Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How Y'all Doing?: Misadventures and Mischief from a Life Well Lived Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Related categories
Reviews for William Howard Taft
40 ratings2 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5It is on the shorter side which may be a strength. The presidency and life of William Taft is underrated and this does a great job remedying that.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Being a workmanlike analysis of the career of Wm. Howard Taft, using his judicial philosophy and career to explicate his presidency, fair enough since Taft was always a jurist at heart. The book is useful and informative, but unfortunately the considerable space devoted to somewhat abstruse legal musings doesn't have a great deal of readership appeal, particularly since both the political issues of the day and the legal issues which Taft wrestled with were not really formulated with twenty-first century reading interests in mind. As for the more directly political chapters, I was most interested in and learned the most from the passages explicating Taft's split with his predecessor, Theodore Roosevelt.