Passed Chief Justices - # 10 – William Howard Taft

Bust of Justice Taft, U.S. Supreme Court,

Washington, D.C. (14 November 2008)

When I introduced the magnificent United States Supreme Court building in 2019, I also announced my intent to visit the last resting places of the sixteen men who served as the Chief Judicial Officer of this nation…which is fewer than half the number of presidents we’ve had.

This first one is a ‘gimme’…since we already told the man’s story in 2014 and showed his grave site then. The nation’s tenth Chief Justice was also the twenty-seventh president.

Taft Grave, Arlington National Cemetery (14 November 2013)

After Woodrow Wilson defeated William Howard Taft in the election of 1912, Taft taught law at Yale for eight years before President Warren Harding appointed him to the Court…the job he really wanted all his life…one hundred years ago this year. I can count on two fingers the number of presidents who took public service jobs after leaving the nation’s highest office…unheard of in this age of book deals and lucrative speaking gigs.

I took some liberties with Bill and his career trajectory by suggesting an imaginary dialogue with his wife who wanted to live in the White House since she was a teenager. Bill’s strength was the law and most agree he was happiest as a judge. After a mediocre presidency, his final act was at the pinnacle of his profession.

By Bureau of Engraving and Printing; Imaging by

Gwillhickers – U.S. Post Office, Public Domain,

https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10960943

This four-cent postage stamp was issued 

a few months after the Chief Justice died.

Taft’s eight-year term as Chief Justice was marked by conservative decisions…which by today’s thinking should not be confused with ‘reactionary.’ I suspect it was more about narrow interpretations of the law.

He also should be remembered for getting Congress to create what is now the Judicial Conference of the United States, the national policy-making body of the federal courts. He also greatly improved the Court’s procedures and efficiency and then initiated the building of the current Supreme Court building…which he did not live long enough to see completed.

Our heaviest president (and Chief Justice) struggled with ill health his entire term on the Court. When he was no longer able to work, he resigned on February 3, 1930 and died a month later when his heart gave out at the age of 72. He was the first president to be buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Taft Grave, Arlington National Cemetery (8 August 2005)

Name – William Howard Taft

Born – 15 September 1857

Died – 8 March 1930; Age 72

Appointed by – Warren G. Harding

Preceded by – Edward Douglas White

Succeeded by – Charles Evans Hughes

Served as Chief Justice – 11 July 1921 to 3 February 1930

(8 years, 207 days)

Resting Place – Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia

Dates Visited – Many

I was surprised to read that the guy stayed on the job longer because he didn’t want the Republican Herbert Hoover to appoint his replacement on the Court. Called him a Bolshevik…Herbert Hoover?!? I understand Taft was conservative, but jeez. Good thing he didn’t live to see President FDR.

Shots of the Day - # 39 – Winter Fog

Another morning of Covid isolation.

But Wait!

Overnight conditions have created an atmosphere of mystery everywhere you look…even in my unremarkable suburban neighborhood.

In the last post, I referred to misty conditions as ‘extremely overcast’. Today, the clouds came all the way to the ground. To me, every view is moody and mysterious. Familiar scenes take on a whole different perspective.

This time of year, when the land is cooling and the nights are longer, the air temperature goes down. When the dew point is reached, fog forms. This is called radiation fog and it usually burns off after the sun is higher in the sky.

Mystery Woods (12 December 2020)

A thin grey fog hung over the city, 

and the streets were very cold;

for summer was in England.

Rudyard Kipling, The Light That Failed

 

Crowded Canopies (12 December 2020)

Writing is like driving at night in the fog. You can only see as

far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.

E. L. Doctorow

To say the woods around here are thick is an understatement. When the trees are in full leaf, not much light reaches the ground.

What Lies Beyond? (12 December 2020)

I can answer that. Another cul du sac with houses…but fog limits the distance and leaves the rest to your imagination. I think it is difficult to take a bad picture in the fog. Today’s editing software allows you to create a foggy caste on any picture you have. I prefer the real thing.

You are trying to capture the fog, 

and no one can do that.

Patrick D. Smith, A Land Remembered

Pea Soup Morning (12 December 2020)

The grass field is still green but the fully diffuse and subdued light reflected a stale green cast to the sky. I chose to remove all color and make this a composition of grays.

I like the muted sounds, the shroud of grey, 

and the silence that comes with fog.

Om Malik

Shots of the Day – # 38 - Autumn Mist

 It’s a New Year. After all that ranting and travel reporting last year, I feel like starting the year easy. Less words. More pictures. I’m certain many of you approve.

I posted last year about how the Covid restrictions don’t have to suspend one’s photographic impulses. The sun-lit world is there for the taking. I say ‘sun-lit’ referring to everything outdoors in the daytime. I know wonderful pictures can be made at night and indoors with artificial light…just not by me.

In the first year of this blog, one of my earliest ‘Tips of the Day’ was to ‘Get Out in the Weather.’

Sometimes, I follow my own advice. Below are some images from a morning walk through the ‘hood in October…and a few quotes.

Misty Morning on Martin Road (22 October 2020)

When you walk in the mist, you get wet.

Dogen

Where the Path Leads (22 October 2020)

Mist in the morning is Earth’s morning breath…

Nanette L. Avery

Misty Autumn 2020 (22 October 2020)

…his old life lay behind in the mists, dark adventure lay in front.

J. R. R. Tolkien

Summer’s Over (22 October 2020)

Day and night cannot dwell together.

The Red Man has ever fled the approach of the White Man,

as the morning mist flees before the morning sun.

Chief Seattle

The soft light and focus give an impressionist quality to some of the images. The trees are shedding their season’s production. The autumn palette is in the air and on the ground. The misty light ensures there are no bright sunspots or dark shadows in the scenes. I believe the uniform diffuse light is the most important feature here.

I like the possibilities that come from extremely overcast days. The next post will take ‘overcast’ to the extreme when the subject is fog.