William Howard Taft III (August 7, 1915 – February 23, 1991) was an American diplomat who served as United States Ambassador to Ireland from 1953 to 1957, and was a grandson of President William Howard Taft and First Lady Helen Louise "Nellie" Taft.
Early life
William Howard Taft III was born on August 7, 1915, and was the eldest of four sons born to Robert A. Taft (1889–1953) and Martha Wheaton Bowers (1889–1958), daughter of Lloyd Wheaton Bowers (1859–1910), the former solicitor general of the United States from 1909 to 1910. His three brothers were: Robert Taft Jr. (1917–1993), who was elected to the U.S. Senate; Lloyd Bowers Taft (1923–1985), who worked as an investment banker in Cincinnati, and Horace Dwight Taft (1925–1983), who became a professor of physics and dean at Yale.
At the time of his birth, his grandfather had just ended his presidency and had recently become the Kent Professor of Law and Legal History at Yale Law School. Taft graduated from Yale University and earned a doctorate from Princeton University.
After graduating from Princeton, Taft taught English at the University of Maryland and Haverford College. During World War II, Taft became an analyst in military intelligence. After the war ended, he went back to Yale and taught there.
- Maria Herron Taft, who married John Clemow, son of Albert George Clemow, in 1971.
- Martha Bowers Taft, who married Michael Golden, son of the British Michael Golden, in 1971.
Taft was a member of the Metropolitan Club of Washington, D.C. He died of prostate cancer at his Washington home on February 23, 1991.
See also
- Taft family