Summary

Like William Howard Taft, Nellie Herrron was born into a prominent Cincinnati family connected both to the legal profession and to politics. Her father, John Herron, had been a classmate of future president Benjamin Harrison at Miami University of Ohio, and had shared a law office with future president Rutherford B. Hayes. The Herrons and the Hayeses become close friends. At the age of 16, Nellie accompanied her parents on a visit to the White House in 1877 when Hayes was president and was so impressed that she vowed to herself to marry a man who would become president. At the age of 18, she met the 22-year-old Taft at a "coasting party" or winter sledding event, and was impressed by him. Nellie was described by her contemporaries as "handsome" rather than beautiful. She was a bookworm and something of a social butterfly, interested...