Step 1 : Introduction to the question "Who was the only U. S. President to also serve as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court?"
...William Howard Taft never really wanted to be President. He preferred law to politics and always aspired to serve on the Supreme Court. But his ambitions wife, who wanted to be first lady, had other ambitions for him. After four uncomfortable years as President, Taft left the White House and fulfilled a lifelong dream when he was appointed chief justice of the Supreme Court, becoming the only person to have served as both a U.S. chief justice and president. As U.S. president, and chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, Taft became the only man in history to hold the highest post in both the executive and judicial branches of the U.S. government.