The 27th President of the United States (1909 - 1913) William Howard Taft will be honored on his Birthday with an Armed Forces Full Honor Wreath Laying Ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery, Sept 15, at 9:00 a.m. in section 30.
The ceremony will be conducted by members of the U.S. Army Military District of Washington representing the President of the United States and is open to the public.
During Taft's long government career, he served as Governor of the Philippines, Secretary of War, President of the United States and Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court. He is the only man in U.S. history to have been both President and Chief Justice.
He was a large man, six feet tall and weighing more than 300 pounds. He retired from the Court on Feb. 3, 1930, due to ill health, and died five weeks later on March 8, 1930. His wife, Helen Harron Taft, was responsible for the stone on their gravesite, Stoney Creek Granite, 14.5 feet tall, sculpted by James Earl Frazer, it is in the Greek Stele motif. Helen Harron Taft died at home in Washington, D.C. on May 22, 1943 at the age of 83. She was the first first-lady to be buried in Arlington.
He and his wife are buried in a Special Gravesite in Section 30 of Arlington National Cemetery. He was the first of only two Presidents to be buried in Arlington.
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