William P. Rogers
Encyclopedia
William Pierce Rogers was an American
politician, who served as a Cabinet
officer in the administrations of two U.S. Presidents in the third quarter of the 20th century.
. He was raised, from early in his teens, following the death of his mother, Myra (Beswick) Rogers, by his grandparents, in Canton, New York
.
and Cornell University Law School
, he passed the bar
in 1937. As an undergrad, he was initiated into the Sigma Chi
fraternity. Under Thomas E. Dewey he worked from 1938 to 1942 in the prosecution of organized crime
in New York City
.
, including her action in the Battle of Okinawa
. His final rank in the Navy was lieutenant commander.
law office, he became an assistant district attorney and was appointed by Thomas E. Dewey to a sixty-man task force aimed at routing out New York's organized crime.
In 1950, Rogers became a partner in a New York City
law firm, Dwight, Royall, Harris, Koegel & Caskey. Thereafter, he returned to this firm when he was not in government service. The firm was later renamed Rogers & Wells
, and subsequently Clifford Chance Rogers & Wells
. He worked in the firm's Washington, D.C.
office until several months before his death.
committee, he examined the documentation from the House Un-American Activities Committee
's investigation of Alger Hiss
at the request of then-Congressman Richard M. Nixon, and advised Nixon that Hiss had lied and that the case against him should be pursued.
Rogers joined the Administration of President Dwight D. Eisenhower
as Deputy Attorney General
in 1953, and then served as Attorney General
from 1957 to 1961. He remained a close advisor to then-Vice-President Nixon, throughout the Eisenhower administration, especially in the slush fund
scandal that led to Nixon's Checkers speech
, and during Eisenhower's two medical crises.
In 1959, Dr. Martin Luther King praised him for advocating the integration of an Alabama elementary school that excluded the children of black military personnel.
As Deputy Attorney General, Rogers had some role in or insight into the process that led to the execution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg
for espionage.
He also served as Secretary of State
in the Nixon Cabinet
, from January 22, 1969 through September 3, 1973, when he among other things initiated efforts at a lasting peace in the Arab-Israeli conflict through the so-called Rogers Plan
. However, his influence was drastically circumscribed throughout his tenure by Nixon's determination to handle critical foreign policy strategy and execution directly from the White House through his national security adviser, Henry Kissinger
. According to the New York Times, in a conversation with his secretary, Rose Mary Woods
, Nixon "offered sharp skepticism" about Rogers' views "about the future of black Africans":
On October 15, 1973, Rogers received the Presidential Medal of Freedom
from President Richard Nixon
. At the same ceremony, his wife Adele Rogers was presented with the Presidential Citizens Medal
.
Rogers is also notable for leading the investigation into the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger
. This panel, called the Rogers Commission, was the first to criticize NASA
management for its role in negligence of safety in the Space Shuttle
program. Among the more famous members of Rogers' panel were astronauts Neil Armstrong
and Sally Ride
, Air Force general Donald Kutyna, and physicist Richard Feynman
.
Rogers died of congestive heart failure on January 2, 2001, at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center
in Bethesda, Maryland
and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery
. At the time of his death, he was the last surviving member of the Eisenhower Administration.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
politician, who served as a Cabinet
Cabinet (government)
A Cabinet is a body of high ranking government officials, typically representing the executive branch. It can also sometimes be referred to as the Council of Ministers, an Executive Council, or an Executive Committee.- Overview :...
officer in the administrations of two U.S. Presidents in the third quarter of the 20th century.
Early Life
Rogers was born June 23, 1913, in Norfolk, New YorkNorfolk (town), New York
Norfolk is a town in St. Lawrence County in the US state of New York. The town is in the northern part of the county and is north of Potsdam. The population was 4,565 at the 2000 census. The town's name is pronounced as "Nor-fork".- History :...
. He was raised, from early in his teens, following the death of his mother, Myra (Beswick) Rogers, by his grandparents, in Canton, New York
Canton (village), New York
Canton is a village in St. Lawrence County, New York, United States. The village is centrally located in both the town of Canton and the county of St. Lawrence. The population was 5,882 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of St. Lawrence County...
.
Education
Following education at Colgate UniversityColgate University
Colgate University is a private liberal arts college in Hamilton, New York, USA. The school was founded in 1819 as a Baptist seminary and later became non-denominational. It is named for the Colgate family who greatly contributed to the university's endowment in the 19th century.Colgate has 52...
and Cornell University Law School
Cornell Law School
Cornell Law School, located in Ithaca, New York, is a graduate school of Cornell University and one of the five Ivy League law schools. The school confers three law degrees...
, he passed the bar
Bar examination
A bar examination is an examination conducted at regular intervals to determine whether a candidate is qualified to practice law in a given jurisdiction.-Brazil:...
in 1937. As an undergrad, he was initiated into the Sigma Chi
Sigma Chi
Sigma Chi is the largest and one of the oldest college Greek-letter secret and social fraternities in North America with 244 active chapters and more than . Sigma Chi was founded on June 28, 1855 at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio when members split from Delta Kappa Epsilon...
fraternity. Under Thomas E. Dewey he worked from 1938 to 1942 in the prosecution of organized crime
Organized crime
Organized crime or criminal organizations are transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals for the purpose of engaging in illegal activity, most commonly for monetary profit. Some criminal organizations, such as terrorist organizations, are...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
Military Service
He entered the US Navy in 1942, serving on the USS IntrepidUSS Intrepid (CV-11)
USS Intrepid , also known as The Fighting "I", is one of 24 s built during World War II for the United States Navy. She is the fourth US Navy ship to bear the name. Commissioned in August 1943, Intrepid participated in several campaigns in the Pacific Theater of Operations, most notably the Battle...
, including her action in the Battle of Okinawa
Battle of Okinawa
The Battle of Okinawa, codenamed Operation Iceberg, was fought on the Ryukyu Islands of Okinawa and was the largest amphibious assault in the Pacific War of World War II. The 82-day-long battle lasted from early April until mid-June 1945...
. His final rank in the Navy was lieutenant commander.
Law Practice
William P. Rogers received his law degree and passed the New York Bar in 1937. After serving about a year as an attorney for a Wall StreetWall Street
Wall Street refers to the financial district of New York City, named after and centered on the eight-block-long street running from Broadway to South Street on the East River in Lower Manhattan. Over time, the term has become a metonym for the financial markets of the United States as a whole, or...
law office, he became an assistant district attorney and was appointed by Thomas E. Dewey to a sixty-man task force aimed at routing out New York's organized crime.
In 1950, Rogers became a partner in a New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
law firm, Dwight, Royall, Harris, Koegel & Caskey. Thereafter, he returned to this firm when he was not in government service. The firm was later renamed Rogers & Wells
Rogers & Wells
Rogers & Wells was a New-York based international law firm founded in 1873. After several name changes, it was renamed for William P. Rogers and John A. Wells. The firm was well known for its litigation arm...
, and subsequently Clifford Chance Rogers & Wells
Clifford Chance
Clifford Chance LLP is a global law firm headquartered in London, United Kingdom and a member of the 'Magic Circle' of leading UK law firms. It is one of the ten largest law firms in the world measured by both number of lawyers and revenue...
. He worked in the firm's Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
office until several months before his death.
Official of the U.S. Government
While serving as a Committee Counsel to a US SenateUnited States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
committee, he examined the documentation from the House Un-American Activities Committee
House Un-American Activities Committee
The House Committee on Un-American Activities or House Un-American Activities Committee was an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives. In 1969, the House changed the committee's name to "House Committee on Internal Security"...
's investigation of Alger Hiss
Alger Hiss
Alger Hiss was an American lawyer, government official, author, and lecturer. He was involved in the establishment of the United Nations both as a U.S. State Department and U.N. official...
at the request of then-Congressman Richard M. Nixon, and advised Nixon that Hiss had lied and that the case against him should be pursued.
Rogers joined the Administration of President Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...
as Deputy Attorney General
United States Deputy Attorney General
United States Deputy Attorney General is the second-highest-ranking official in the United States Department of Justice. In the United States federal government, the Deputy Attorney General oversees the day-to-day operation of the Department of Justice, and may act as Attorney General during the...
in 1953, and then served as Attorney General
United States Attorney General
The United States Attorney General is the head of the United States Department of Justice concerned with legal affairs and is the chief law enforcement officer of the United States government. The attorney general is considered to be the chief lawyer of the U.S. government...
from 1957 to 1961. He remained a close advisor to then-Vice-President Nixon, throughout the Eisenhower administration, especially in the slush fund
Slush fund
A slush fund, colloquially, is an auxiliary monetary account or a reserve fund. However, in the context of corrupt dealings, such as those by governments or large corporations, a slush fund can have particular connotations of illegality, illegitimacy, or secrecy in regard to the use of this money...
scandal that led to Nixon's Checkers speech
Checkers speech
The Checkers speech or Fund speech was an address made by Richard Nixon, the Republican vice presidential candidate and junior United States Senator from California, on television and radio on September 23, 1952. Senator Nixon had been accused of improprieties relating to a fund established by his...
, and during Eisenhower's two medical crises.
In 1959, Dr. Martin Luther King praised him for advocating the integration of an Alabama elementary school that excluded the children of black military personnel.
As Deputy Attorney General, Rogers had some role in or insight into the process that led to the execution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg
Ethel Greenglass Rosenberg and Julius Rosenberg were American communists who were convicted and executed in 1953 for conspiracy to commit espionage during a time of war. The charges related to their passing information about the atomic bomb to the Soviet Union...
for espionage.
He also served as Secretary of State
Secretary of State
Secretary of State or State Secretary is a commonly used title for a senior or mid-level post in governments around the world. The role varies between countries, and in some cases there are multiple Secretaries of State in the Government....
in the Nixon Cabinet
Cabinet (government)
A Cabinet is a body of high ranking government officials, typically representing the executive branch. It can also sometimes be referred to as the Council of Ministers, an Executive Council, or an Executive Committee.- Overview :...
, from January 22, 1969 through September 3, 1973, when he among other things initiated efforts at a lasting peace in the Arab-Israeli conflict through the so-called Rogers Plan
Rogers plan
The Rogers Plan was a framework proposed by United States Secretary of State William P. Rogers to achieve an end to belligerence in the Arab-Israeli conflict following the Six-Day War and the continuing War of Attrition. The plan was publicly proposed in a December 9, 1969 speech at an Adult...
. However, his influence was drastically circumscribed throughout his tenure by Nixon's determination to handle critical foreign policy strategy and execution directly from the White House through his national security adviser, Henry Kissinger
Henry Kissinger
Heinz Alfred "Henry" Kissinger is a German-born American academic, political scientist, diplomat, and businessman. He is a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. He served as National Security Advisor and later concurrently as Secretary of State in the administrations of Presidents Richard Nixon and...
. According to the New York Times, in a conversation with his secretary, Rose Mary Woods
Rose Mary Woods
Rose Mary Woods was Richard Nixon's secretary from his days in the Congress in 1951, through his Vice Presidency, Presidency, and until the end of his political career. Before H.R...
, Nixon "offered sharp skepticism" about Rogers' views "about the future of black Africans":
“Bill Rogers has got — to his credit it’s a decent feeling — but somewhat sort of a blind spot on the black thing because he’s been in New York CityNew YorkNew York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
,” Nixon said. “He says well, ‘They are coming along, and that after all they are going to strengthen our country in the end because they are strong physically and some of them are smart.’ So forth and so on."
“My own view is I think he’s right if you’re talking in terms of 500 years,” he said. “I think it’s wrong if you’re talking in terms of 50 years. What has to happen is they have be, frankly, inbred. And, you just, that’s the only thing that’s going to do it, Rose.”
On October 15, 1973, Rogers received the Presidential Medal of Freedom
Presidential Medal of Freedom
The Presidential Medal of Freedom is an award bestowed by the President of the United States and is—along with thecomparable Congressional Gold Medal bestowed by an act of U.S. Congress—the highest civilian award in the United States...
from President Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
. At the same ceremony, his wife Adele Rogers was presented with the Presidential Citizens Medal
Presidential Citizens Medal
The Presidential Citizens Medal is the second highest civilian award in the United States, second only to the Presidential Medal of Freedom. It is awarded by the President of the United States, and may be given posthumously....
.
Rogers is also notable for leading the investigation into the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger
Space Shuttle Challenger
Space Shuttle Challenger was NASA's second Space Shuttle orbiter to be put into service, Columbia having been the first. The shuttle was built by Rockwell International's Space Transportation Systems Division in Downey, California...
. This panel, called the Rogers Commission, was the first to criticize NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
management for its role in negligence of safety in the Space Shuttle
Space Shuttle
The Space Shuttle was a manned orbital rocket and spacecraft system operated by NASA on 135 missions from 1981 to 2011. The system combined rocket launch, orbital spacecraft, and re-entry spaceplane with modular add-ons...
program. Among the more famous members of Rogers' panel were astronauts Neil Armstrong
Neil Armstrong
Neil Alden Armstrong is an American former astronaut, test pilot, aerospace engineer, university professor, United States Naval Aviator, and the first person to set foot upon the Moon....
and Sally Ride
Sally Ride
Sally Kristen Ride is an American physicist and a former NASA astronaut. Ride joined NASA in 1978, and in 1983 became the first American woman—and then-youngest American, at 32—to enter space...
, Air Force general Donald Kutyna, and physicist Richard Feynman
Richard Feynman
Richard Phillips Feynman was an American physicist known for his work in the path integral formulation of quantum mechanics, the theory of quantum electrodynamics and the physics of the superfluidity of supercooled liquid helium, as well as in particle physics...
.
Rogers died of congestive heart failure on January 2, 2001, at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center
Walter Reed Army Medical Center
The Walter Reed Army Medical Center was the United States Army's flagship medical center until 2011. Located on 113 acres in Washington, D.C., it served more than 150,000 active and retired personnel from all branches of the military...
in Bethesda, Maryland
Bethesda, Maryland
Bethesda is a census designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, just northwest of Washington, D.C. It takes its name from a local church, the Bethesda Meeting House , which in turn took its name from Jerusalem's Pool of Bethesda...
and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery
Arlington National Cemetery
Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington County, Virginia, is a military cemetery in the United States of America, established during the American Civil War on the grounds of Arlington House, formerly the estate of the family of Confederate general Robert E. Lee's wife Mary Anna Lee, a great...
. At the time of his death, he was the last surviving member of the Eisenhower Administration.