Rogers, William P(ierce) (1913–2001)

US lawyer and cabinet officer. He was chief counsel of the US Senate Committee investigating corruption in government expenditures 1947–50. He served as US attorney-general 1957–61, and as US secretary of state 1969–73.

He was born in Norfolk, New York. He took his law degree from Cornell in 1937. He was assistant district attorney in New York 1938–42, and served with the US Navy 1942–46. Known as a cautious negotiator, he found himself upstaged by Henry Kissinger, but he worked hard and loyally to defend President Nixon's policies. He headed the investigation into the causes of the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger in 1986.