Robert Taft Jr.

Template:Short description Template:About Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox officeholder Template:Commons category Robert Alphonso Taft Jr. (February 26, 1917 – December 7, 1993) was an American politician and member of the Ohio Taft family. He served as a Republican Representative from Ohio between 1963 and 1965, as well as between 1967 and 1971. Taft also served as a U.S. Senator between 1971 and 1976.

Early life

Robert Alphonso Taft Jr. was born in Cincinnati, Ohio,<ref name=WPObit>Template:Cite news</ref> on February 26, 1917, the second of four sons born to Robert Alphonso Taft Sr. and the former Martha Wheaton Bowers.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Robert Jr.'s paternal grandparents were President William Howard Taft and First Lady Helen Louise "Nellie" Herron while his maternal grandparents were Lloyd Wheaton Bowers (Solicitor General of the United States from 1909 to 1910)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp and Louisa Bennett Wilson. His older brother was William Howard Taft III, who served as Ambassador to Ireland from 1953 to 1957,<ref name="WHT3Obit">Template:Cite news</ref> while his younger brothers were Lloyd Bowers Taft,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> who worked as an investment banker in Cincinnati,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and Horace Dwight Taft, who became a professor of physics and dean at Yale.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Taft graduated from Yale University in 1939 and Harvard Law School in 1942.<ref name=WPObit/>

Career

During World War II, Taft served as an officer in the United States Navy from 1942 to 1946. After law school, Taft joined the Cincinnati law firm, Taft, Stettinius, and Hollister, which had been founded by his father.

State legislature

Taft served in the Ohio House of Representatives from 1955 to 1962 until winning election to the United States House of Representatives.

Congress

Taft won election to the United States House of Representatives in 1962 as an at-large representative from Ohio (at-large seats were barred by the Voting Rights Act).<ref name="RTJrObit"/>

In 1955 he became a compatriot of the Sons of the American Revolution.

In 1964, rather than running for re-election to the House, he ran for the U.S. Senate, but he lost to Stephen M. Young. In 1966, Taft returned to the House of Representatives, unseating Democratic incumbent (and future Governor of Ohio) John J. Gilligan. In 1968, Taft won re-election, defeating Democrat Carl F. Heiser.

U.S. Senate

Taft then won Young's U.S. Senate seat six years after losing to him when Young did not run for re-election, running against Howard Metzenbaum. Taft, however, lost six years later in a rematch against Metzenbaum. He resigned six days before the end of his term to resume the practice of law.<ref name="RTJrObit"/>

Personal life

In 1939, Robert Jr. married Blanca Duncan Noel (1917–1968), daughter of Lewis W. Noel and Natalie Duncan. They were the parents of:<ref name="RTJrObit"/>

• Robert Alphonso "Bob" Taft III (born 1942), Governor of Ohio from 1999 to 2007<ref>"Ohio Third Frontier creates $6.6 billion in economic impact, 41,300 jobs" Template:Webarchive, Med City News, Retrieved September 21, 2009.</ref>
• Sarah Butler Taft
• Deborah Taft
• Jonathan Duncan Taft.

After Blanca's death, Robert Jr. remarried to Katherine Longworth Whittaker, widow of his distant cousin David Gibson Taft. They divorced in 1977 and in October 1978, he married the former Joan McKelvy, also of Cincinnati.<ref name ="JoanObit"/>

Death

On November 29, 1993, Taft suffered a stroke and fell into a coma. He never woke from the coma and died on December 7, 1993.<ref name="RTJrObit">Template:Cite news</ref> Joan died on January 16, 2015.<ref name ="JoanObit">Template:Cite news</ref>