Presidential Biographies | Taft Administration - Education

Education

William H. Taft began his formal education at Cincinnati's Sixteenth District public school. In 1870 he enrolled in Woodward High School, graduated in 1874, second in his class. In 1874 he entered Yale, graduated in 1878, again second in his class. One of his instructors was William Graham Sumner, a well-known sociologist who had popularized social Darwinism (an extension of Darwinism to social phenomena). About Sumner Taft later wrote, "I have felt that he had more to do with stimulating my mental activities than anyone under whom I studied during my entire course" (Pringle). In his junior year he was elected class orator. Taft completed his formal education by spending two years at Cincinnati Law School. In 1880 he both graduated from law school and passed the state bar examination.