General then as Secretary of War. He was later appointed US Ambassador to the Austria-Hungary Empire. Three of Alphonso's sons entered into politics also, former US Representative of Ohio's 1st District Charles Phelps Taft, former US president and Chief Justice of the United States William Howard Taft, and former Republican Party Delegate Henry Waters Taft. Both of William H. Taft's sons entered into politics. Robert A. Taft was a former US Senator and his other son Charles Phelps Taft II was former Mayor of Cincinnati. Both men were seen as great politicians. The next generation of Taft politicians came from two of Robert's children. Robert Taft, Jr. served in both houses of the US Congress. His brother William Howard Taft III was Ambassador to Ireland. The current generation of Tafts in politics are former Ohio Governor Bob Taft, son of Robert Taft Jr. William Howard Taft IV, son of William H. Taft III, has been an Ambassador to NATO and United States Deputy Secretary of Defense. Controversies In 2005, the Republican fundraiser and coin dealer Thomas Noe ran a rare coin fund that the State of Ohio had invested $50 million in. Soon valuable coins came up missing and an investigation discovered Noe had taken around $13 million from the fund. He was convicted in 2006 and was sentenced to 18 years in state prison. Noe was a top fundraiser for the George W. Bush campaign in Ohio in 2004, and the chairman for his campaign in Northwest Ohio. He was later convicted of making illegal contributions to the Bush campaign. Noe had ties to then Governor Bob Taft. It was discovered through this scandal that the Governor and some of his top aides took improper gifts from Noe and other lobbyist. In 2005, Gov. Taft was charged with four misdemeanors related to these gifts. This scandal had a negative effect on the Ohio Republican Party, who lost many seats in Congress after 2006 and the Governorship went to Ted Strickland. In 2008, Barack Obama won Ohio's 20 electoral college votes on his way to the presidency. Elected officials Members of Congress U.S. Senate J. D. Vance U.S. House of Representatives Brad Wenstrup, 2nd district Jim Jordan, 4th district Bob Latta, 5th district Bill Johnson, 6th district Max Miller, 7th district Warren Davidson, 8th district Mike Turner, 10th district Troy Balderson, 12th district David Joyce, 14th district Mike Carey, 15th