Robert Alphonso Taft III (born January 8, 1942) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 67th governor of Ohio from 1999 to 2007.

In August 2005, as a result of the Coingate scandal, Taft was indicted with four misdemeanors related to him receiving undisclosed gifts and accepting illegal campaign contributions, making him the first Ohio governor charged with a crime while in office.

[12] Taft had high approval ratings going into the election (near 70 percent according to some polls), and experts predicted he would easily win.

[14] The Third Frontier program, started under the Taft administration, as of 2009 was considered an enormous success in modernizing Ohio's 21st century economy.

The program focuses on issuing funding for research, development, and commercialization projects to the biomedical, alternative energy, and the advanced propulsion industries and institutions, among others.

[24] In January 2003, Taft signed Ohio Senate Bill 281 into law, which limited non-economic damages in medical injury lawsuits.

[25] Taft then signed Ohio Senate Bill 80, introduced by Sen. Steve Stivers, into law in January 2005, which placed further caps on lawsuit awards in general.

[26] In December 2000, Taft signed House Bill 408, which designated Interstate 76 as the "Military Order of the Purple Heart Memorial Highway".

[29] In 2003, he signed Ohio Senate Bill 47, introduced by Sen. Steve Stivers, which provided additional time to soldiers on active duty to pay their property taxes, interest free.

Ohio's adjuntant general Maj. Gen. Gregory L. Wayt stated about Taft that "he epitomizes what a commander-in-chief of a National Guard should be.

"[35] His wife, Hope, started the "On the Ohio Homefront" initiative, which is an online database of businesses and charities that provide discounts and services catered toward veterans.

[36] In 2003, Taft unveiled his "Jobs and Progress Plan", which was a $5 billion, 10-year agenda to improve Ohio's highways and roads.

[43] Later in 2005, Taft urged the U.S. Congress to extend tax credits to those who install fuel cell electricity stations.

[51] In February 2006 Taft vetoed legislation passed by both houses of the Ohio General Assembly removing the 'Plain Sight' provision from the state's concealed carry law.

During his term, 24 people were put to death by lethal injection, which made Ohio the first outside the South by number of performed executions.

During Taft's Tenure, the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation (BWC) invested hundreds of millions of dollars in high risk or unconventional investment vehicles run by Republican Party supporters who had made large campaign contributions to senior Ohio Republican officials.

Tom Noe was convicted of running a criminal enterprise, the theft of $13 million from the fund, and of keeping a second set of books to cover for it.

[60] The Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation (BWC) ultimately invested hundreds of millions of dollars in high risk or unconventional investment vehicles run by people closely connected to the Ohio Republican Party who had made large campaign contributions to many senior Republican party officials.

In 2001, a ruling by the Ohio Ethics Commission made clear that any free rounds of golf paid for by lobbyists which were valued over $75 were to be disclosed.

In a 2003 questionnaire for a possible appointment to the Ohio Turnpike Commission, Thomas Noe, at the center of the Coingate investigation, indicated to Taft he was not doing business with the state, although he had been.

[62] Taft personally notified the commission of possible disclosure failures, and offered his cooperation in correcting the issues in voluntarily triggering an investigation.

[61] On August 17, 2005, Taft was charged with four criminal misdemeanors stemming from his failure to disclose golf outings paid for by lobbyists, as well as some undisclosed gifts.

The Associated Press reported the total value of at least 52 undisclosed gifts as about US$5,800, they included:[63] This was the first time an Ohio governor has ever been charged with a crime while in office.

[64] In addition to the criminal sanctions, Taft was issued a public reprimand by the Ohio Supreme Court on December 27, 2006 for accepting and failing to report gifts and golf outings worth more than $6,000.

[67] After the fallout from his conviction, Taft called for a ban on executive-level government officials from accepting gifts of any amount from lobbyists.

[73] Taft's sudden dip in approval ratings was likely due to Ohio's lagging economy and tax increases.

[83] After Taft left the governorship, he and his wife made a trip to Tanzania in February 2007 where he had served as a Peace Corps volunteer.

His job is to help the university launch the Center for Educational Excellence, which encourages students to study science, technology, engineering, and math.

"[3] Thomas Lasley II, dean of the School of Education and Allied Professions, stated Taft was the first professional who refused his salary offer for being too high.

His patrilineal great-granduncle Charles Phelps Taft was a U.S. Representative from Ohio and, for a time, an owner of the Chicago Cubs baseball team.