Search results
Herron first met William Howard Taft at a sledding party in 1880, though the Herron family and the Taft family were familiar with one another. They would go on to perform together as part of the community theater company.
Helen “Nellie” Taft was the wife of President William Howard Taft and First Lady of the United States from 1909 to 1913. During their marriage, she relished travel to Japan, China, and ...
25 years old, 19 June, 1886, the Herron home, Pike Street, Cincinnati, Ohio, to William Howard Taft (born 15 September 1857, Cincinnati, Ohio), lawyer (died 8 March 1930, Washington, D.C.) During their courtship, Nellie Herron and Will Taft grew together by a mutual interest and pursuit of intellectual and literary salons she hosted.
The year after this notable visit she met “that adorable Will Taft,” a tall young lawyer, at a sledding party. They found intellectual interests in common; friendship matured into love; Helen Herron and William Howard Taft were married on June 19, 1886.
- Helen Herron Taft
- Early Life and Career
- Became A Political Wife
- Moved to The Philippines
- Became First Lady
- Returned to Washington
- Books
American First Lady Helen Herron Taft (1861-1943) supported her sometimes reluctant husband, William Howard Taft, from his early judicial posts in Ohio through his presidency and final years as a Supreme Court justice. Ambitious and energetic, Taft had a lifelong interest in politics and was the first presidential spouse to publish her memoirs. Her...
The fourth of eleven children, Helen Herron Taft was born Helen Herron on June 2, 1861, in Cincinnati, Ohio. Her family was a wealthy and prominent one. Her father, John Herron, was a member of the Ohio senate and a U.S. attorney with connections to two Ohio men who would become U.S. presidents; he had been a college roommate of Benjamin Harrison (...
The following year, her friendship with William Taft grew closer; he was, as Carl Sferrazza Anthony observed in Nellie Taft: The Unconventional First Lady of the Ragtime Era, “what might be characterized as a ‘conservative feminist’ … that is, one who genuinely believed that women were intellectually equal to men if given full access to education a...
In 1898 the United States assumed control of the Philippine Islands as a result of the Spanish-American War. Two years later President William McKinley appointed William Taft governor of the Philippines, an office which William Taft took with some reservations, but which Helen Taft believed would bring excitement. She studied Filipino culture durin...
Helen Taft was the driving force behind her husband's campaign; Watson wrote that “Taft golfed while Helen organized the campaign.” She wrote his speeches and continued to encourage Roosevelt, a popular figure, to show his support for Taft's election. Her efforts on her husband's behalf bore fruit, and he won the 1908 election. Helen Taft rode with...
In 1921 newly inaugurated President Warren G. Harding appointed fellow Ohioan William Taft to the position of chief justice of the Supreme Court. Taft delightedly accepted, finally achieving the position he had always dreamed of attaining. Helen Taft returned to the capital with her husband, although in a somewhat different capacity; Anthony noted ...
American First Ladies, edited by Robert P. Watson, Salem, 2002. Anthony, Carl Sferrazza, Nellie Taft: The Unconventional First Lady of the Ragtime Era, HarperCollins, 2005. Taft, Helen Herron, Recollections of Full Years, Dodd, Mead & Co., 1914. Watson, Robert P., First Ladies of the United States: A Biographical Dictionary, Lynne Rienner Publisher...
Helen worked hard on every aspect of William Howard Taft’s 1908 presidential campaign with him, but always behind the scenes. Even then, her brashness raised eyebrows, and President Theodore Roosevelt accused her of seeking the presidency for herself instead of understanding her place as a political wife.
People also ask
How did Helen Herron meet William Howard Taft?
Who is Helen Herron Taft's spouse?
What books did William Howard Taft write to Helen Herron?
Did 'Nellie' Herron Taft visit the White House?
What happened to Helen Taft?
When did Herron and Taft get married?
Helen "Nellie" Taft was the wife of President William Howard Taft and First Lady of the United States from 1909 to 1913. During their marriage, she relished travel to Japan, China, and diplomatic missions around the world.
