William Howard Taft, the 27th president of the United States, fulfilled a lifelong dream when he was appointed chief justice of the Supreme Court, becoming the only person to have served as both a U.S. chief justice and president.

• William Howard Taft was the first president to also serve on the United States Supreme Court
• First president to throw out a ceremonial first pitch. Taft threw his pitch at Griffith Stadium, Washington, D.C., on the Washington Senators’ Opening Day. The pitch took place on April 14, 1910.
• First president to own an automobile.
• First president to serve in the federal judiciary, having served on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
• First president to have been a former solicitor general. Taft served as solicitor general from 1890 to 1892. He became president in 1909.
• First president to receive the Silver Buffalo Award.
• First president to preside over all of the 48 contiguous states (Arizona and New Mexico were admitted to the Union under his presidency).
• First president to visit Mexico while in office
• First president to use the Oval Office.
• First president to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States. Taft left office as president in 1913. He was appointed chief justice in 1921, by President Warren Harding. As chief justice, he administered the oath of office to Calvin Coolidge and Herbert Hoover.
• First president to be both older than his immediate predecessor (Theodore Roosevelt) and younger than his immediate successor (Woodrow Wilson).
• First president to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery He was also the first member of the Supreme Court to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery upon his death in 1930.