Taft's most memorable accomplishments as President may well be starting the tradition of the President throwing out the first ball of the baseball season. During one game, after the 7th inning, the large Taft was growing uncomfortable in the hard chair, and stood up to stretch. The crowd, thinking the President was leaving, also stood (there was apparently a great deal more respect for the President in those days!). Then, Taft sat back down in his chair, and the game resumed. With that gesture, the tradition of the 7th inning stretch was born.
As President, Taft found himself in the position of having to appoint someone else as Chief Justice of the United States, the job he himself wanted above all others. He had always said that a President should only appoint a man young enough to be able to serve at least ten or twenty good years. Above all, he had always said, it should not become a reward to an associate justice in his last years. "I won't make the position of Chief Justice a blue ribbon for the final years of any member of the Court."
But if Taft appointed a younger man, he would probably never get to be Chief Justice himself. However, if he appointed an older man, there was a good possibility that a later Republican President would appoint him. Most people expected Taft to appoint Charles Evans Hughes (who later ran for President in 1916 and went on to become Secretary of State) but Taft appointed Edward White instead.
When Taft signed White's commission, some thought he was very upset. He grieved aloud saying "There is nothing I would have loved more than being Chief Justice of the United States. I cannot help seeing the irony in the fact that I, who desired that office so much, should now be signing the commission of another man."
When Democrat Woodrow Wilson was elected President, White (who was 66 years old when he became Chief Justice) agreed to hold on until a Republican was elected President. He held on until Harding was elected in 1921. White was half blind and half deaf, but he held on until he died in harness in May 1921.
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