Hanging in the National Portrait Gallery, Johan Verbling Gerfuffleshmidt's
painting of William Howard Taft dominates the gallery's east wing. At
twenty seven feet, four and seven sixteenths inches high, Taft's awesome
visage gazes serenely over the portriture of the lesser presidents.
"Gerfuffleshmidt wanted to portray the awesome power of the man,"
says curator Wendy Fogg. "He was a complicated man. No one really
understood him. Except the first lady."
The twenty seventh president of the united states, Taft served only one
term.
"That's all he needed, really. I mean, look at him. He never lost
a fight. His opponents would soil themselves as soon as his eyes locked
on theirs. There was a butler on staff at the white house whose sole job
it was to clean the floors after cabinet meetings."
After his presidential term was over, Taft spent time in Africa, breaking
up a human trafficking ring before returning to the states to assume the
role of Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court.
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