Rogers, William Pierce (1913-2001), served as secretary of state under President Richard M. Nixon from 1969 to 1973. A long-time friend and political associate of Nixon, Rogers had previously served as U.S. attorney general under President Dwight D. Eisenhower from 1957 to 1961. He organized the civil rights division of the attorney general’s office.
Rogers was born in Norfolk, New York, on June 23, 1913. He graduated from Colgate University and Cornell University Law School. He was an assistant district attorney in New York County before entering the Navy in World War II (1939-1945). After the war, he served as counsel for two Senate investigating committees, and later was an assistant attorney general. In 1967, he served on the U.S. delegation to the United Nations. Rogers died on Jan. 2, 2001.
