Kingsley A. Taft

Kingsley Arter Taft (July 19, 1903 – March 28, 1970) was an American politician and distant relative of Ohio's more famous Taft family. He served as chief justice of the Ohio Supreme Court and also served briefly as a United States Senator. Kingsley's father, Frederick Lovett Taft, II was also a noted figure in the Ohio legal profession.

Taft was born in Cleveland, Ohio. He graduated from high school there and received a bachelor's degree from Amherst College, where he was a member of Phi Kappa Psi,^[1] in 1925. He received a law degree from Harvard University in 1928. Taft then practiced as a lawyer in Ohio. He rose to a partnership in the law firm that would eventually become Arter and Hadden.

Taft served in the Ohio House of Representatives from 1933 to 1934 and then in 1940, he was elected to the Shaker Heights, Ohio, board of education on which he served until 1942, the last year as president. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II, eventually rising to the rank of Major.

In 1946, when U.S. Senator Harold H. Burton (R-Ohio) resigned in order to accept an appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court, the vacancy was filled by a special election. In that election Taft ran and defeated Democrat Henry P. Webber. Taft served out Burton's term, which expired in 1947, but Taft did not run for election to the next full term.

In 1948, he was elected to a judgeship on the Ohio Supreme Court, defeating Democrat Robert M. Sohngen. In 1954, he was re-elected to the position without opposition. In 1960, Taft defeated Joseph H. Ellison for a third term on the Supreme Court. In 1962, Taft decided to run for Chief Justice of the Court defeating Carl V. Weygandt. In 1968, Taft was elected Chief Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court, defeating Democrat John C. Duffy. Taft died in office in 1970.

Taft was buried at Lakeview Cemetery in Cleveland, Ohio.

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