Saxbe, William Bart (1916-2010), served as attorney general of the United States in 1974 and early 1975. President Richard M. Nixon chose him to replace Elliot L. Richardson, who had resigned. From 1975 to 1977, he served as U.S. ambassador to India.
Saxbe entered politics in 1946, when he was elected to the Ohio House of Representatives. He later became majority leader and then speaker of the Ohio House. He served as Ohio attorney general in 1957 and 1958 and from 1963 to 1968. In 1968, he won election to the United States Senate. In the Senate, Saxbe, a Republican, gained a reputation for his political independence from the Nixon Administration. For example, he questioned the nation’s extended involvement in the Vietnam War and particularly criticized the U.S. bombing of North Vietnam in December 1972.
Saxbe was born on June 24, 1916, in Mechanicsburg, Ohio. He graduated from Ohio State University in 1940 and received a law degree there in 1948. He died on Aug. 24, 2010.
