Taft, Robert Alphonso definition of Taft, Robert Alphonso in the Free Online Encyclopedia.

Taft, Robert Alphonso, 1889–1953, American politician, b. Cincinnati, Ohio; son of William Howard Taft Taft, William Howard, 1857–1930, 27th President of the United States (1909–13) and 10th Chief Justice of the United States (1921–30), b. Cincinnati.

Early Career

After graduating (1878) from Yale, he attended Cincinnati Law School.
..... Click the link for more information. . He practiced law in Ohio and served (1921–26, 1931–32) in the state legislature. Elected to the U.S. Senate in 1938, Taft quickly became the acknowledged leader of conservative Republicans. He attacked President Franklin Delano Roosevelt Roosevelt, Franklin Delano (dĕl`ənō rō`zəvĕlt)
..... Click the link for more information. and the New Deal New Deal, in U.S. history, term for the domestic reform program of the administration of Franklin Delano Roosevelt ; it was first used by Roosevelt in his speech accepting the Democratic party nomination for President in 1932.
..... Click the link for more information. for the expansion of federal power at the expense of state and local government and vigorously urged economy in government and restoration of balanced budgets. A leading advocate of isolationism before World War II, he later backed U.S. participation in the United Nations. In 1947 he helped write the Taft-Hartley Labor Act Taft-Hartley Labor Act, 1947, passed by the U.S. Congress, officially known as the Labor-Management Relations Act. Sponsored by Senator Robert Alphonso Taft and Representative Fred Allan Hartley, the act qualified or amended much of the National Labor Relations
..... Click the link for more information. . After the war Taft again became the voice of the isolationists: he voted against ratification of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and changed his position on the United Nations. Taft was a supporter of Gen. Douglas MacArthur MacArthur, Douglas, 1880–1964, American general, b. Little Rock, Ark.; son of Arthur MacArthur .

Early Career

MacArthur was reared on army posts and attended military school in Texas.
..... Click the link for more information. , who condemned the Korean and China policies of the Truman administration. Known to friends and enemies alike as "Mr. Republican," Taft was a leading contender for the Republican presidential nomination in 1952 but lost to Dwight D. Eisenhower Eisenhower, Dwight David (ī`zənhou'ər), 1890–1969, American general and 34th President of the United States, b.
..... Click the link for more information. . After Eisenhower's election, Taft became Senate majority leader and a friend and influential adviser of Eisenhower in his first months as president. He acted as an important bridge between the Eastern and Midwestern factions of his party. Taft's Foreign Policy for Americans appeared in 1951.

Bibliography

See biography by J. T. Patterson (1972); study by R. Kirk and J. McClelland (1967).