How did William Howard Taft get into the government?

William Howard Taft entered government service through a series of legal and political roles. After graduating from Yale Law School, he served as a law clerk and then as a U.S. District Court judge for the Sixth Circuit. His political career began to take shape when President Theodore Roosevelt appointed him as the Secretary of War in 1904. Taft's close association with Roosevelt and his subsequent election as President in 1908 solidified his position in government.