On Aug. 24, 1912, President William Howard Taft gave Alaska a political birthday gift — signing the Organic Act that created the Territory of Alaska out of a loosely governed district on the birthday of its author, Delegate James Wickersham.
The act’s passage was an important milestone in Alaska’s path toward statehood, which would not come until 1959.
Taft was the 27th president (1909–1913) and the only president to then serve as chief justice of the US Supreme Court, a role he considered to be his highest honor. He served from 1921-1930. During his presidency he also supported the passage of the 16th Amendment, which was ratified in 1913, establishing the federal income tax and fundamentally changing how the government funded itself.
