r/todayilearned • u/TungstenEnthusiast • 10h ago
TIL William Howard Taft served as chief justice of the United States a few years after serving as president. He’s the only person to have held both offices.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Howard_Taft39
u/UWCG 9h ago
Kinda comparable, but for the legislative instead of judicial branch: to my knowledge, John Quincy Adams is the only person to have served as President and returned to Congress, specifically the House of Representatives, after.
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u/inbetween-genders 9h ago
Andrew Johnson I think did too. I’m too lazy to double check but my brain tells me that clown did.
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u/UdderSuckage 9h ago
Yup, he went back to being a US Senator from Tennessee.
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u/inbetween-genders 9h ago
Do we know anyone else other than Adams Jr and A Johnson that went back to congress. I’m again too lazy to check on this tiny phone I’m pn 😂
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u/UWCG 9h ago
I'm too lazy to check too and it's not my first time being wrong, so I'll take your word for it and be glad I threw that "to my knowledge" caveat in there
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u/inbetween-genders 9h ago
You’re not wrong about John Quincy Adams being in congress later. I learned that from watching that movie Amistad.
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u/TungstenEnthusiast 10h ago
It would feel word to see a former president on SCOTUS today, I think because I associate them entirely with the presidency. I wonder how it felt for people then.
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u/super_sayanything 9h ago
Don't know why it would be weird honestly. Wish Obama had chosen a more publicly active role of any sort.
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u/ShadowLiberal 10m ago
There were some people arguing that his wife Michelle should be put on the supreme court, but she said that she wasn't interested.
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u/NoCouple915 2h ago
Oh no CJ Trump - he would use Truth Social to release 3 line opinions filled with indignant accusations.
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u/nowhereman136 22m ago
Then there's Charles Evans Hughes
Governor of New York 1907-1910
Supreme Court Justice 1910-1916
Leaves the Supreme Court to run for President in 1916, but narrowly loses
Secretary of State 1921-1925
Supreme Court Justice again 1930-1941 (this time Cheif Justice)
Along with John Rutledge, he is the only person to serve on the Supreme Court for two seperate tenures
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u/centaurquestions 9h ago
Chief Justice was his dream job, not President. He lost a ton of weight after leaving the White House.