Robert Taft Jr. | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 1963 | |
| United States Senator fromOhio | |
| In office January 3, 1971 – December 28, 1976 | |
| Preceded by | Stephen M. Young |
| Succeeded by | Howard Metzenbaum |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromOhio | |
| In office January 3, 1967 – January 3, 1971 | |
| Preceded by | John J. Gilligan |
| Succeeded by | William J. Keating |
| Constituency | 1st district |
| In office January 3, 1963 – January 3, 1965 | |
| Preceded by | Constituency established |
| Succeeded by | Robert E. Sweeney |
| Constituency | at-large |
| Member of theOhio House of Representatives | |
| In office 1955–1962 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Robert Alphonso Taft Jr. (1917-02-26)February 26, 1917 Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S. |
| Died | December 7, 1993(1993-12-07) (aged 76) Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 4, includingRobert III |
| Parent(s) | Robert A. Taft Martha Wheaton Bowers |
| Relatives | Taft family |
| Alma mater | Yale University (BA) Harvard University (LLB) |
Robert Alphonso Taft Jr. (February 26, 1917 – December 7, 1993) was an American politician and member of the OhioTaft family. He served as aRepublicanRepresentative fromOhio between 1963 and 1965, as well as between 1967 and 1971. Taft also served as aU.S. Senator between 1971 and 1976.
Robert Alphonso Taft Jr. was born inCincinnati, Ohio,[1] on February 26, 1917, the second of four sons born toRobert Alphonso Taft Sr. and the former Martha Wheaton Bowers.[2] Robert Jr.'s paternal grandparents werePresidentWilliam Howard Taft and First LadyHelen Louise "Nellie" Herron while his maternal grandparents wereLloyd Wheaton Bowers (Solicitor General of the United States from 1909 to 1910)[3]: 127 and Louisa Bennett Wilson. His older brother wasWilliam Howard Taft III, who served asAmbassador to Ireland from 1953 to 1957,[4] while his younger brothers were Lloyd Bowers Taft,[5] who worked as an investment banker in Cincinnati,[6] and Horace Dwight Taft, who became a professor of physics and dean at Yale.[7] Taft graduated fromYale University in 1939 andHarvard Law School in 1942.[1]
DuringWorld War II, Taft served as anofficer in theUnited 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.
Taft served in theOhio House of Representatives from 1955 to 1962 until winning election to theUnited States House of Representatives.
Taft won election to theUnited States House of Representatives in 1962 as an at-large representative from Ohio (at-large seats were barred by theVoting Rights Act).[8]
In 1955 he became a compatriot of theSons of the American Revolution.
In1964, rather than running for re-election to the House, he ran for theU.S. Senate, but he lost toStephen M. Young. In 1966, Taft returned to the House of Representatives, unseating Democratic incumbent (and futureGovernor of Ohio)John J. Gilligan. In 1968, Taft won re-election, defeating Democrat Carl F. Heiser.
Taft then won Young's U.S. Senate seat six years after losing to him when Young did not run for re-election, running againstHoward 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.[8]
In 1939, Robert Jr. married Blanca Duncan Noel (1917–1968), daughter of Lewis W. Noel and Natalie Duncan. They were the parents of:[8]
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.[10]
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.[8] Joan died on January 16, 2015.[10]
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