Bob Taft
Robert Alphonso Taft III is an American politician and attorney who served as the 67th governor of Ohio from 1999 to 2007. A member of the Taft political dynasty and Republican Party, Taft previously served in the Ohio House of Representatives, then as Hamilton County commissioner, and as Ohio secretary of state under governor George Voinovich. He is a son of Senator Robert Taft Jr., a grandson of Senate majority leader Robert A. Taft, and a great-grandson of President William Howard Taft.
Taft was born in Boston and raised in Cincinnati. His first public office was representing the 65th district in the Ohio House of Representatives from 1977 to 1981. He then served as commissioner for Hamilton County from 1981 to 1990. Taft ran for lieutenant governor in 1986 but was unsuccessful. After that, he was elected Secretary of State of Ohio in 1990 and was reelected in 1994. Taft won the 1998 Ohio gubernatorial election with 50 percent of the vote and became governor in January 1999. In his first term, he had high approval ratings and was easily reelected in 2002, defeating his opponent by 628,083 votes.
In August 2005, as a result of the Coingate scandal, Taft was indicted with four misdemeanors related to him receiving undisclosed gifts and accepting illegal campaign contributions, making him the first Ohio governor charged with a crime while in office. He pleaded no contest to the charges and was fined $4,000. Despite his fallout from the conviction, Taft continued to serve as governor until his second term expired in January 2007. After leaving office, Taft worked for the University of Dayton, beginning August 15, 2007.
Early life and education
Taft was born in 1942 in Boston, Massachusetts, to U.S. senator Robert Taft Jr. and Blanca Duncan Noel. Bob's paternal grandfather was U.S. Senate majority leader Robert Alphonso Taft Sr.; his patrilineal great-grandfather was U.S. president and Chief Justice of the United States William Howard Taft; and his patrilineal great-great-grandfather was Attorney General and Secretary of War Alphonso Taft.He was raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he attended the Cincinnati Country Day School through the ninth grade and graduated from The Taft School. At Yale University, he was a member of the Yale Political Union, and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in government in 1963. From 1963 to 1965, he served as a Peace Corps volunteer, teaching in Tanzania. He later attended the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University, receiving a Master of Arts degree in government in 1967. In 1976, he received his Juris Doctor from the University of Cincinnati College of Law.
Early political career
Taft was elected as a Republican to the Ohio House of Representatives and served in the Ohio House of Representatives from 1977 to 1981, and then was Hamilton County commissioner from 1981 to 1990. He ran for Lieutenant Governor of Ohio on the ticket with Jim Rhodes in 1986, but was unsuccessful. In 1990, he was elected Ohio secretary of state, defeating incumbent Democrat Sherrod Brown. He was re-elected in 1994, defeating Democratic candidate Dan Brady.Campaigns for Governor
1998 campaign
In December 1996, Taft announced he would run for Governor of Ohio, becoming the first candidate to enter the race. He had been preparing for his run since 1995, raising money and securing the endorsement of term-limited incumbent George Voinovich. It was reported that a deal was made in 1990 that the state Republican Party would clear the field for Voinovich and in trade, they would clear it for Taft in 1998, but both men denied any deal taking place. Taft won the May 5, 1998 primary to become the Republican nominee. He then defeated Democrat Lee Fisher, the former Ohio attorney general, in the November 3 general election with 50 percent of the vote. He was sworn in for his first term on January 11, 1999.2002 campaign
In January 2002, it was reported that the governor had raised nearly 6 million dollars for his reelection campaign. Taft had high approval ratings going into the election, and experts predicted he would easily win. In the November 5 general election, Taft defeated Democrat Tim Hagan by nearly 20 points, 58%-38%. He was sworn in for his second term on January 13, 2003.Governor of Ohio (1999–2007)
Economic development
The Third Frontier program, started under the Taft administration, as of 2009 was considered an enormous success in modernizing Ohio's 21st century economy. The program focuses on issuing funding for research, development, and commercialization projects to the biomedical, alternative energy, and the advanced propulsion industries and institutions, among others. Between 2003 and 2008 it dispersed $681 million, resulting in a $6.6 billion economic impact return and 41,300 jobs.In 2001, Taft, along with other state leaders, met in Cleveland to unify in calling on the U.S. Congress to grant a funding request for the NASA Glenn Research Center, which was researching projects that included alternative and more efficient energy, and to designate NASA Glenn for the leadership role in biotechnology research. In 2005, Taft mandated that the Ohio Department of Transportation use of B20 biodiesel and of E85 ethanol per year, while selecting flex-fuel vehicles for new purchases. ODOT had been using alternative fuels since 1999, and owned 193 flex-fuel vehicles when this announcement was made. Taft also mandated that ethanol tanks be constructed at all new ODOT facilities. Later in 2005, Taft urged the U.S. Congress to extend tax credits to those who install fuel cell electricity stations. As part of the Ohio Third Frontier program, $100 million in grants had already been issued for the research of fuel cells.
In 2003, Taft unveiled his "Jobs and Progress Plan", which was a $5 billion, 10-year agenda to improve Ohio's highways and roads. Among the notable projects were the $97 million Wilmington Bypass project, the $1 billion Cleveland Inner Belt project, and the $220 million Veterans' Glass City Skyway in Toledo.
In 2003, the state awarded $19.4 million for the creation of the Center for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine. Taft personally delivered the award to the institution in Cleveland. The state awarded another $8 million in 2006 from their Biomedical Research Research and Commercialization Program, which the Taft administration contributed to creating through the Third Frontier program. By 2009, the center had become recognized as a regional leader and had spun off four companies, conducted 51 clinical trials, treated over 250 patients with adult stem cells, and treated over 60 patients with other cell therapies.
Taft spent considerable time during his administration promoting the Great Lakes, which included lobbying the U.S. Congress for funding devoted to restoration projects, and signing pacts that included 8 Great Lakes states and 2 Canadian provinces to preserve the area. These pacts included "The Strategy to Restore and Protect the Great Lakes", which called for a $20 billion investment, cleanup, and renewal of the lakes, "The Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Sustainable Water Resources Agreement", which aimed to prevent new damage to the region, and "The Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact". In 2001, Taft agreed to "Annex 2001", an addition to the Great Lakes Charter. In 2008, he joined the Board of Directors of the Alliance for the Great Lakes to help promote effective implementation of the Compact.
In early 2006, Taft announced his "Energy Action Plan", which included doubling the use of E85 ethanol in state fleets from to 60,000, increasing the use of biodiesel in state fleets by annually, while mandating the purchase of flex-fuel only vehicles for the state fleet, and allocating $3.6 million from the Energy Loan Fund to make state buildings energy efficient. The plan also called for $25 million from the Energy Loan Fund to be set aside over five years for wind turbine producing companies, and to set aside a grant of 1.2 cents per kilowatt-hour of electricity produced by wind energy. Taft called for a pilot program to create jet fuel from coal, moving Ohio's geological information on fossil fuel sources to digital formats, and reaffirming the state's commitment to FutureGen, a clean coal initiative.
Between 1998 and 2007, Ohio's green industry sector grew at the fourth-highest rate in the country, 7.3%. During Taft's tenure, Ohio was awarded the Governor's Cup twice, in 2003 and 2006. The award, selected by Site Selection Magazine, is given to the state that attracts the most business developments over $1 million, creates over 50 jobs, or constructs over 20,000 new square feet of business area during the course of a year. The honor is deemed as being considered the best state in the country for business development, attraction, and capital investment.
Education and workforce policy
When the Taft administration took over, the state was faced with an education crisis as nearly half of students were failing mandatory tests and were attending failing districts. Taft's "Rebuilding Ohio Schools" was an ambitious project that would pour $10 billion over 12 years into new school construction. The Taft administration ultimately presided over the largest increase in education funding in state history. According to the U.S. Department of Education, Ohio student scores increased during Taft's tenure, including 4th and 8th grade math scores every period, with Ohio students scoring above the national average every period in every subject. The number of high school graduates increased, and for the 2006-2007 school year Ohio produced the most advanced percentage of 8th grade science students in the country.Taft signed legislation creating the Ohio Educational Choice Scholarship Pilot Program, which extended choice to students in failing schools, and the Ohio College Opportunity Grant, which extended grants to 11,000 new students.