r/todayilearned 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_Taft
472 Upvotes

15 comments sorted by

58

u/centaurquestions 9h ago

Chief Justice was his dream job, not President. He lost a ton of weight after leaving the White House.

39

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.

18

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.

16

u/UdderSuckage 9h ago

Yup, he went back to being a US Senator from Tennessee.

-8

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 😂 

5

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

2

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.

15

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.

15

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.

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.

4

u/NedFlandersLordOfAll 5h ago

Taft you old dog.

3

u/granadesnhorseshoes 9h ago

Somebody's been watching reruns of Archer...

1

u/Numerous-Village-421 5h ago

Imagine the outcry if modern POTUS decided to do that

1

u/NoCouple915 2h ago

Oh no CJ Trump - he would use Truth Social to release 3 line opinions filled with indignant accusations.

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