Kingsley A. Taft

Biography[edit]

Taft was born in Cleveland, Ohio, to Frederick L. and Mary Alice (née Arter) Taft.^[1] He graduated from high school there and received a bachelor's degree from Amherst College, where he was a member of Phi Kappa Psi,^[2] in 1925. He received a law degree from Harvard University in 1928. Taft then practiced as a lawyer in Ohio. He attained a partnership in the law firm that would eventually become Arter and Hadden.


Taft served in the Ohio House of Representatives from 1933 to 1934. In 1940, he was elected to the Shaker Heights, Ohio, board of education on which he served until 1942, the last year as president. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II, eventually rising to the rank of Major.


In 1946, when U.S. Senator Harold H. Burton (R-Ohio) resigned in order to accept an appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court, the vacancy was filled by a special election. In that election Taft ran and defeated Democrat Henry P. Webber. Taft served out Burton's term, which expired in 1947. He also served with distant family member Robert A. Taft during his four-month tenure, and did not run for election to the next full term.


In 1948, he was elected to a judgeship on the Ohio Supreme Court, defeating Democrat Robert M. Sohngen. In 1954, he was re-elected to the position without opposition. In 1960, Taft defeated Joseph H. Ellison for a third term on the Supreme Court, but in 1962, Taft decided to run for Chief Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court. Taft then beat Democratic incumbent Carl V. Weygandt. Weygant, who was 74 years old and seeking a sixth term, lost by a margin of less than 1,600 votes, out of more than 2.6 million votes cast.^[3] In 1968, Taft was re-elected Chief Justice of the Court, defeating Democrat John C. Duffy, but died in office two years after his last election in 1970.