Robert Taft Jr.

This article is about the Senator for Ohio. For the Massachusetts politician, seeRobert Taft, 2nd.

Robert Taft Jr.
Official portrait, 1971
United States Senator fromOhio
In office January 3, 1971 – December 28, 1976
Preceded by	Stephen M. Young
Succeeded by	Howard Metzenbaum
Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromOhio
In office January 3, 1967 – January 3, 1971
Preceded by	John J. Gilligan
Succeeded by	William J. Keating
Constituency	1st district
In office January 3, 1963 – January 3, 1965
Preceded by	seat established
Succeeded by	Robert E. Sweeney
Constituency	at-large
Member of theOhio House of Representatives
In office 1955–1962
Personal details
Born	Robert Alphonso Taft Jr. (1917-02-26)February 26, 1917 Cincinnati, Ohio,U.S.
Died	December 7, 1993(1993-12-07)(aged 76) Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouses	Blanca Duncan Noel ​ ​ (m.1939; died 1968)​ Katherine Longworth Whittaker ​ ​ (m.1969;div.1978)​ Joan McKelvy ​ (m.1982)​
Children	4, includingRobert III
Parent(s)	Robert A. Taft Martha Wheaton Bowers
Relatives	Taft family
Alma mater	Yale University(BA) Harvard University(LLB)

Robert Alphonso Taft Jr.(February 26, 1917 – December 7, 1993) was an American politician. He was a member of theTaft familywho served as aRepublicanRepresentativefromOhiobetween 1963 and 1965, as well as between 1967 and 1971. Taft also served as aU.S. Senatorbetween 1971 and 1976.

Early life

Robert Alphonso Taft Jr. was born inCincinnati, Ohio,on February 26, 1917, the second of four sons born toRobert Alphonso Taft Sr.and the former Martha Wheaton Bowers.Robert Jr.'s paternal grandparents werePresidentWilliam Howard Taftand First LadyHelen Louise "Nellie" Herronwhile his maternal grandparents wereLloyd Wheaton Bowers(Solicitor General of the United Statesfrom 1909 to 1910)and Louisa Bennett Wilson. His older brother wasWilliam Howard Taft III,who served asAmbassador to Irelandfrom 1953 to 1957,while his younger brothers were Lloyd Bowers Taft,who worked as an investment banker in Cincinnati,and Horace Dwight Taft, who became a professor of physics and dean at Yale.Taft graduated fromYale Universityin 1939 andHarvard Law Schoolin 1942.

Career

DuringWorld War II,Taft served as anofficerin theUnited States Navyfrom 1942 to 1946. After law school, Taft joined the Cincinnati law firm,Taft, Stettinius, and Hollister,which had been founded by his father. Taft served in theOhio House of Representativesfrom 1955 to 1962 until winning election to theUnited States House of Representatives.Taft won election to theUnited States House of Representativesin 1962 as an at-large representative from Ohio (at-large seats were barred by theVoting Rights Act).

In 1955 he became a compatriot of theSons of the American Revolution.

In1964,rather than running for re-election to the House, he ran for theU.S. Senate,but he lost toStephen M. Young.In 1966, Taft returned to the House of Representatives, unseating Democratic incumbent (and futureGovernor of Ohio)John J. Gilligan.In 1968, Taft won re-election, defeating Democrat Carl F. Heiser. Taft then won Young's U.S. Senate seat six years after losing to him when Young did not run for re-election, running againstHoward Metzenbaum.Taft, however, lost six years later in a rematch against Metzenbaum. He resigned six days before the end of his term to resume the practice of law.

Personal life

In 1939, Robert Jr. married Blanca Duncan Noel (1917–1968), daughter of Lewis W. Noel and Natalie Duncan. They were the parents of:

• Robert Alphonso "Bob" Taft III(born 1942),Governor of Ohiofrom 1999 to 2007
• Sarah Butler Taft
• Deborah Taft
• Jonathan Duncan Taft.

After Blanca's death, Robert Jr. remarried to Katherine Longworth Whittaker, widow of his distant cousin David Gibson Taft. They divorced in 1977 and in October 1978, he married the former Joan McKelvy, also of Cincinnati.

On November 29, 1993, Taft suffered a stroke and fell into a coma. He never woke from the coma and died on December 7, 1993.Joan died on January 16, 2015.