Was William H. Taft a good president?

William Howard Taft, president from 1909 to 1913, was ranked 22nd in a recent poll of political scientists. Teddy Roosevelt, Taft's erstwhile friend and eventual political rival, came in at 4th in the same poll. Ranking presidents is fraught with difficulty and subjectivity, but surveys of experts's opinions make for interesting reading.
In fact, Taft was overshadowed by Teddy Roosevelt. Roosevelt was gregarious and energetic. Taft was relatively taciturn and inactive. Public perception is an extremely important part of presidential appeal, and Taft could not compete with his predecessor's charisma.
Roosevelt chose Taft as his successor with the expectation that he would continue his policies. In many respects, Taft did carry out Roosevelt's policies. For instance, he continued the policy of prosecuting business trusts, but Taft was not progressive enough for Roosevelt and many other Republicans. Taft fought with segments of his own party over tariffs. Roosevelt broke with him because he believed Taft was too soft on environmental protection.
Roosevelt came out of retirement to challenge Taft for the Republican nomination in 1912. By splitting the Republican party, Woodrow Wilson, the Democratic candidate, won an easy victory.
https://www.businessinsider.com/greatest-us-presidents-ranked-by-political-scientists-2018-2