“Ohio Senator” Robert A Taft Hand Twice Signed TLS Dated 1951

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“Ohio Senator” Robert A.Taft Hand Twice Signed TLS Dated 1951
ES-8876E
Robert Alphonso Taft Sr.
(September 8, 1889 – July 31, 1953) was an American politician, lawyer, and scion of the
Republican Party
's
Taft family
. Taft represented
Ohio
in the
United States Senate
, briefly served as
Senate Majority Leader
, and was a leader of the
conservative coalition
of
Republicans
and
conservative Democrats
who prevented expansion of the
New Deal
. Often referred to as "
Mr. Republican
", he cosponsored the
Taft–Hartley Act
of 1947, which banned
closed shops
, created the concept of
right-to-work
states, and regulated other labor practices. The elder son of
William Howard Taft
, the 27th
President of the United States
and 10th
Chief Justice of the United States
, Robert Taft was born in
Cincinnati, Ohio
. He pursued a legal career in Cincinnati after graduating from
Harvard Law School
in 1913. Along with his brother
Charles Phelps Taft II
, he co-founded the law partnership of
Taft Stettinius & Hollister
. Taft served in the
Ohio House of Representatives
from 1921 to 1931 and in the
Ohio Senate
from 1931 to 1933. Though he lost re-election in 1932, he remained a powerful force in state and local politics. After winning election to the Senate in
1938
over incumbent
Democrat
Robert J. Bulkley
, Taft
repeatedly sought the Republican presidential nomination, often battling for control of the party with the moderate faction of Republicans led by
Thomas E. Dewey
. He also emerged as a prominent
non-interventionist
and opposed U.S. involvement into
World War II
prior to the 1941
Japanese
Attack on Pearl Harbor
. Taft's non-interventionist stances damaged his 1940 candidacy, and the
1940 Republican National Convention
nominated
Wendell Willkie
. Taft sought the presidency again in 1948, but he lost to Dewey at the
1948 Republican National Convention
. He opposed the creation of
NATO
and criticized President
Harry Truman
's handling of the
Korean War
. Taft again sought the presidential nomination a third time in 1952, and was widely viewed as the front-runner. However, Dewey and other moderates convinced General
Dwight D. Eisenhower
to enter the race, and Eisenhower narrowly prevailed at the
1952 Republican National Convention
and went on to win the
1952 presidential election
. Taft was elected Senate Majority Leader in 1953 but died of pancreatic cancer later that year. A 1957 Senate committee named Taft as one of America's five greatest senators, along with
Henry Clay
,
Daniel Webster
,
John C. Calhoun
, and
Robert M. La Follette Sr.