Robert A. Taft

'Mr Republican' co-wrote the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947, which banned closed shops, allowed states to pass right-to-work laws and let the president seek injunctions against strikes; Congress passed it over Truman's veto, and it still shapes American labour law. Less remembered, Taft also co-sponsored the Housing Act of 1949, which funded public housing and slum clearance. Unions called Taft-Hartley a 'slave labour bill', and its right-to-work provision is still the central fight in labour politics.