Full title: President was also Chief Justice? William H. Taft "Advancement of modern civilization ... dependent ... on the spread of Christianity " He was the only U.S. President to be appointed Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. His name was William Howard Taft , born SEPTEMBER 15, 1857. After the Spanish-American War, Taft was appointed by President McKinley as the first Governor of the Philippines, 1901-04. President Theodore Roosevelt appointed Taft as Secretary of War in 1904, then in 1906 appointed him Provisional Governor of Cuba. In 1908, Taft ran for President against Democrat candidate William Jennings Bryan....