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Bob Taft Biography |
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Robert Alphonso Taft II (born January 8, 1942) has been the Ohio Republican Party List of Governors of Ohio of the U.S. state of Ohio since 1999. He is known beyond the state's boundaries for the recent corruption scandals under his administration, particularly Coingate.
Although Taft was born in Boston, Massachusetts, he was raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he attended the Cincinnati Country Day School through the ninth grade and graduated from Taft High School. He attended Yale University, graduating in 1963. From 1963 to 1965, he served as a Peace Corps volunteer, teaching in the African nation of Tanzania. He then attended Princeton University, receiving a master of arts degree from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs in 1967. In 1976 he received a Juris Doctor from the University of Cincinnati College of Law.
Taft was elected to the Ohio state House of Representatives (1976–1981), and then was Hamilton County, Ohio commissioner (1981–1990). In 1990, he was elected secretary of state, defeating incumbent Democrat Sherrod Brown. He was re-elected in 1994, defeating Democratic candidate Dan Brady. Taft was elected governor of Ohio in 1998, defeating Ohio Democratic Party Lee Fisher 50-45 percent, and was reelected in 2002, defeating Democrat Tim Hagan 58-38 percent. Then in 1999, Taft issued an executive order mandating four hours of ethics training for his cabinet directors, assistant cabinet directors, and senior staff every two years. During his tenure, Taft offered seats in the governor’s box at The Ohio State University football games and invitations to the governor’s mansion in exchange for secret contributions to the Ohio Republican Party.http://www.cincypost.com/2002/jun/22/ludlow_06-22-2002.html In the wake of convictions for ethics violations (see "Criminal charges", below), Gov. Taft's approval rating bottomed out at 6.5%, according to a late November, 2005 poll by Zogby, giving him quite possibly the lowest polled approval rating ever by a United States politician.http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051129/NEWS09/511290414 A SurveyUSA poll that same month gave Taft a rating of 18%. A late-2005 article in Time Magazine named him as one of the three worst governors in the country.http://www.time.com/time/press_releases/article/0,8599,1129509,00.html In February 2006 Taft refused to sign legislation removing the 'Plain Sight' provision from the Ohio concealed carry law. This legislation would also keep the Cleveland Plain Dealer from publishing the names and home addresses of licensees.http://dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/02/2520060225-C1-03.html Family The Taft family has been involved in Republican politics for over a century. His great-great-grandfather Alphonso Taft was United States Secretary of War, United States Attorney General, and an Ambassador; his great-grandfather William Howard Taft was President of the United States and Chief Justice of the United States of the United States; and his grandfather (Robert Taft) and his father (Robert Taft, Jr.) were both United States Senate. His first cousin, William Howard Taft IV formerly served as chief legal advisor to the United States Department of State, before resigning after the reelection of President George W. Bush. His uncle, William Howard Taft III was an Ambassador. His great-grand-uncle Charles Phelps Taft was a U.S. Representative from Ohio and for a time, an owner of the Chicago Cubs baseball team. His great-great-great-grandfather, Peter Rawson Taft, was a member of the Vermont legislature. Other prominent relatives include Seth Chase Taft, Charles Phelps Taft II, Peter Rawson Taft II, Henry Waters Taft, Walbridge S. Taft, and Horace Dutton Taft. Kingsley A. Taft was a U.S. Senator from Ohio and Chief Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court of the Ohio Supreme Court. Bob Taft is also related to current President George W. Bush through at least three different marriages, ranging from eighth-cousin-once-removed to 11th-cousin-once-removed, as well as being a ninth cousin of Vice President Dick Cheney (see Cousin chart to understand these terms). Criminal conviction On August 17, 2005, Taft was charged with four criminal misdemeanors stemming from his failure to disclose golf outings paid for by lobbyists, as well as some undisclosed gifts. The Associated Press reported the total value of the undisclosed gifts as about US$5,800; they included: Note on name Bob Taft's father was a Robert and so was his grandfather. However, he is not Robert Taft III, because the names of all three men are not identical. The grandfather was Robert Alphonso Taft and the father was just plain Robert Taft. Bob Taft's full name is identical to the grandfather's but not the father's, so he is Robert Alphonso Taft II. 
Courtesy of: http://www.wikipedia.org/ |
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