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 * For the former Governor of Ohio (the grandson of the subject of this article), see Bob Taft. For the Robert Taft who was the son of the subject of this article and the father of the former governor, see Robert Taft (Jr.)

Robert Alphonso Taft (September 8, 1889 - July 31, 1953), of the Taft political family of Ohio, was a Republican United States Senator and as a prominent conservative spokesman was the leading opponent of the New Deal in the Senate from 1939 to 1953. He led the successful effort by the Conservative coalition to curb the power of labor unions. He failed in his quest to win the Presidential nomination of the candidate of the Republican Party in 1940, 1948 and 1952.

Family
He was the grandson of Attorney General and Secretary of War Alphonso Taft, and son of President William H. Taft. As a boy he spent four years in the Philippines, where his father was governor. Known throughout his life for his brilliant grasp of complexity, he was first in his class at The Taft School (run by his uncle), at Yale College (1910) and at Harvard Law School (1913), where he edited the Harvard Law Review. After finishing first in his class at Yale and Harvard Law School, he practiced for four years with the firm of Maxwell and Ramsey (now Graydon Head & Ritchey LLP) in Cincinnati, Ohio, his family's ancestral city. After a two-year stint in Washington, working for the federal Food Administration, he returned to Cincinnati, opened his own law office, and ran and was elected to the state legislature. In 1924, he and his brother Charlie helped form the law partnership Taft, Stettinius, and Hollister, with whom he continued to be associated until his death and which continues to carry his name today.