Community hub
Recent from talks
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
William Howard Taft IV
William Howard Taft IV (born September 13, 1945) is an American diplomat and attorney who served in the United States government under several Republican administrations. He is a son of William Howard Taft III and a great-grandson of President William Howard Taft.
Taft was born on September 13, 1945, in Washington, D.C., the second child of William Howard Taft III and Barbara Bradfield. Taft IV's patrilineal great-grandfather was U.S. President William Howard Taft. He attended St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire graduating in 1962. Taft IV earned his bachelor of arts degree in English from Yale University in 1966 and his Juris Doctor degree from Harvard Law School in 1969.
He married Julia Vadala in 1974. The couple has three children.
As is evident in official photographs, he is missing his upper left lateral incisor.
After researching the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) as one of the first of "Nader's Raiders"; during 1969–1970, he was briefly the attorney adviser to the chairman of the FTC. During 1970–1973, he was the principal assistant to Caspar W. Weinberger, who was deputy director, then director of the Office of Management and Budget in the Executive Office of the President under President Richard Nixon. Taft assisted Weinberger in the management of the budgetary process, policy review, and program oversight for all of the federal government.
Taft served from 1973 to 1976 as the executive assistant to the United States Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare. In April 1976 Taft was appointed by President Gerald Ford to serve as general counsel of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. In the post, as the chief lawyer for the department and the principal administrator of the Office of the General Counsel, he supervised over 350 lawyers in Washington and 10 regional offices. During the Carter administration, he was an attorney with the Washington, D.C. law firm of Leva, Hawes, Symington, Martin and Oppenheimer.
In February 1981, Taft was among President Ronald Reagan first nominations, as General Counsel of the Department of Defense. Taft was appointed Deputy Secretary of Defense and served from January 1984 to April 1989. He served as acting Secretary of Defense from January to March 1989 after George H. W. Bush became president. Bush's initial nominee, John Tower, was not confirmed by the United States Senate after much contentious debate and testimony. The eventual appointee confirmed in March was Dick Cheney (later Vice President of the United States, 2001–2009). Although he was only acting secretary of defense, he became the third member of his family to hold a position as civilian head of a military department, after his great-great-grandfather Alphonso Taft (under President Ulysses S. Grant) and his great-grandfather William Howard Taft (under President Theodore Roosevelt)[citation needed]
Taft served as U.S. Permanent Representative to NATO, which has the rank of ambassador, from 1989 to 1992, during the Gulf War. In 1992, prior to the Clinton administration taking power, he entered private practice with the Washington, D.C. law firm of Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson as a partner.
Hub AI
William Howard Taft IV AI simulator
(@William Howard Taft IV_simulator)
William Howard Taft IV
William Howard Taft IV (born September 13, 1945) is an American diplomat and attorney who served in the United States government under several Republican administrations. He is a son of William Howard Taft III and a great-grandson of President William Howard Taft.
Taft was born on September 13, 1945, in Washington, D.C., the second child of William Howard Taft III and Barbara Bradfield. Taft IV's patrilineal great-grandfather was U.S. President William Howard Taft. He attended St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire graduating in 1962. Taft IV earned his bachelor of arts degree in English from Yale University in 1966 and his Juris Doctor degree from Harvard Law School in 1969.
He married Julia Vadala in 1974. The couple has three children.
As is evident in official photographs, he is missing his upper left lateral incisor.
After researching the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) as one of the first of "Nader's Raiders"; during 1969–1970, he was briefly the attorney adviser to the chairman of the FTC. During 1970–1973, he was the principal assistant to Caspar W. Weinberger, who was deputy director, then director of the Office of Management and Budget in the Executive Office of the President under President Richard Nixon. Taft assisted Weinberger in the management of the budgetary process, policy review, and program oversight for all of the federal government.
Taft served from 1973 to 1976 as the executive assistant to the United States Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare. In April 1976 Taft was appointed by President Gerald Ford to serve as general counsel of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. In the post, as the chief lawyer for the department and the principal administrator of the Office of the General Counsel, he supervised over 350 lawyers in Washington and 10 regional offices. During the Carter administration, he was an attorney with the Washington, D.C. law firm of Leva, Hawes, Symington, Martin and Oppenheimer.
In February 1981, Taft was among President Ronald Reagan first nominations, as General Counsel of the Department of Defense. Taft was appointed Deputy Secretary of Defense and served from January 1984 to April 1989. He served as acting Secretary of Defense from January to March 1989 after George H. W. Bush became president. Bush's initial nominee, John Tower, was not confirmed by the United States Senate after much contentious debate and testimony. The eventual appointee confirmed in March was Dick Cheney (later Vice President of the United States, 2001–2009). Although he was only acting secretary of defense, he became the third member of his family to hold a position as civilian head of a military department, after his great-great-grandfather Alphonso Taft (under President Ulysses S. Grant) and his great-grandfather William Howard Taft (under President Theodore Roosevelt)[citation needed]
Taft served as U.S. Permanent Representative to NATO, which has the rank of ambassador, from 1989 to 1992, during the Gulf War. In 1992, prior to the Clinton administration taking power, he entered private practice with the Washington, D.C. law firm of Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson as a partner.