Robert Taft Jr.

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Robert Alphonso Taft Jr. (February 26, 1917 – December 7, 1993) was an American Republican politician from Cincinnati, Ohio and a member of the Taft family. He served in the Ohio House of Representatives from 1955 to 1962.

Taft was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and served Ohio from 1963 to 1965 as an at-large representative, and again from 1967 to 1971 for the 1st district. He ran for the U.S. Senate in 1964 but lost to Stephen M. Young. He won a Senate seat in 1970 and served from 1971 until he resigned six days before his term ended in 1976, returning to law practice. He was defeated for re-election in 1976 by Howard Metzenbaum.

Born in Cincinnati, Taft was the son of Robert A. Taft and Martha Wheaton Bowers, and the grandson of President William Howard Taft. He studied at Yale University (BA, 1939) and Harvard Law School (LLB, 1942). He served as a U.S. Navy officer during World War II (1942–1946) and later practiced law at Taft, Stettinius & Hollister.

Taft married Blanca Duncan Noel in 1939; after her death in 1968, he married Katherine Longworth Whittaker in 1969 (divorced 1977), and then Joan McKelvy in 1978. He had four children, including Robert III. Taft died in Cincinnati after a stroke in 1993.