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.

[1] After researching the FTC as one of "Nader's Raiders", William Taft IV briefly was the attorney adviser to the chairman of the Federal Trade Commission in 1970.

Taft assisted Weinberger in the management of the budgetary process, policy review, and program oversight for all of the federal government.

In April 1976 Taft was appointed by President Gerald Ford to serve as general counsel of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare.

Bush's initial nominee, John Tower, was not confirmed by the United States Senate after much contentious debate and testimony.

Although he was only acting secretary of defense and never confirmed as the permanent secretary, 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).

During the Clinton administration, he entered private practice with the Washington, D.C., law firm of Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson.

Alberto R. Gonzales, the White House counsel, subsequently advised Bush in a memo that Taft and Powell were wrong and the Justice Department's analysis was "definitive."

[7] On September 12, 2006, Taft co-signed (along with 28 other retired military or defense department officials) a letter to the chairman and ranking member of the Senate Armed Services committee in which he stated his belief that the Bush Administration's attempt to redefine Common Article 3 of the Geneva Convention "poses a grave threat" to U.S. service members.