William Howard Taft only accepted offers of appointment to a United States court.
William Howard Taft ( September 15 , 1857 -- March 8 , 1930 ) served as the 27th President of the United States ( 1909 -- 1913 ) and as the tenth Chief Justice of the United States ( 1921 -- 1930 ) , the only person to have held both offices . William Taft attended Yale and was a member of Skull and Bones secret society like his father , and after becoming a lawyer was appointed a judge while still in his twenties . He continued a rapid rise , being named Solicitor General and as a judge of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals . Despite his personal ambition to become chief justice , Taft declined repeated offers of appointment to the Supreme Court of the United States , believing his political work to be more important . In 1921 , President Harding appointed Taft as chief justice , an office he had long sought .