Rise in government

Taft was appointed as Hamilton County's assistant prosecutor in October 1880. When President Chester A. Arthur appointed Taft as a Collector of Internal Revenue for Ohio's first district in 1882, Taft resigned from his position.

He resigned from his new position in 1883. In 1884, Taft campaigned for former Secretary of State James G. Blaine in the 1884 election. In 1887, Taft was suddenly hired to fulfill a vacancy for a position in Cincinnati's Superior Court, and in 1888, he won his first public election and served for another five years. Sometime in 1880 or earlier, Taft met Helen Herron, who would later be the First Lady. She agreed to marry Taft in 1885 after regularly meeting him the year prior. They officially got married on June 19, 1886. They would have three children, with Robert Taft later becoming a notable U.S. Senator.

In 1889, a Supreme Court vacancy needed to be filled by President Benjamin Harrison. Ohio Governor Joseph Foraker had requested for Harrison to nominate Taft for the position. Though the Supreme Court was Taft's goal, Harrison ended up nominating Taft as the Solicitor General instead. Since the position was vacant, a lot of work needed to be done.

Taft started in February 1890. Even though Taft was good at his job, he gladly resigned in March 1892 to be a judge on the Sixth Circuit of the United States Courts of Appeals. Unlike his previous job, this job was his for life unless he resigned or was impeached. Taft then felt great with his life and his job. He was a man who supported employees over employers, as seen by his many workers' rights cases. He was more liberal than people had thought. Taft became a professor at Cincinnati Law School in 1896 and was committed to it. Also in 1896, William McKinley sought the presidency. Taft was not fond of McKinley and disagreed with things like free silver. In 1898, one year into McKinley's presidency, Taft was upset because McKinley named a different person from him Taft on the Supreme Court.