Official portrait of former Gov. Taft unveiled

COLUMBUS (AP) -- If former Gov. Bob Taft had been wearing the same blue tie, someone might have thought he was looking in a mirror when his official portrait was unveiled Tuesday, former Ohio first lady Hope Taft said.
The reaction of the former governor, wearing a red tie Tuesday, was a little self-effacing. "I particularly like it because it looks so much better than I do in real life," he joked to friends, state lawmakers and other past and present Ohio officials during a ceremony in the Statehouse rotunda, where the portrait of Ohio's 67th governor was displayed for the first time.
Taft, 65, a Republican who left office because of term limits, was replaced by Democrat Ted Strickland, who took over in January. Strickland's wife, Frances, attended the unveiling of Taft's portrait, which was commissioned by the Ohio Historical Society for 16,000 and paid for with private funds.
The painting will hang across from his great-grandfather's in the William Howard Taft Hearing Room, named in honor of the U.S. president and Supreme Court chief justice.
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