pier[cionki z brylantamiStephen Pierce There, he focused on studying constitutional law and attended the regular lectures of former President of the United States and future Chief Justice of the United States William Howard Taft. Taft remarked that Minton's post-graduate thesis was among the best he had ever read.[24] Minton continued to improve his oratory skills and continued debating at Yale; he won the Wayland Club prize for extemporaneous public speaking, and helped organize the university’s legal aid society.[25] He earned a post-graduate masters degree from Yale in 1916.