William B. Saxbe
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
William Bart Saxbe (born June 24, 1916) was an American politician of the Republican Party, who served as a U.S. Senator from Ohio and as U.S. Attorney General under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald R. Ford.
Saxbe was born in Mechanicsburg, Ohio and received a bachelor's degree from Ohio State University (Columbus, Ohio) (where he joined Chi Phi Fraternity), in 1940 and served in the military during World War II, from 1940 to 1945 and during the Korean War, from 1951 to 1952. In 1948, Saxbe received a law degree from Ohio State University and afterwards practiced law in Columbus.
Saxbe served as an Ohio state representative from 1947 to 1954. He was then elected Ohio attorney general, defeating Democrat Stephen M. Young, and held that office from 1963 to 1968. He was a member of the Ohio Crime Commission from 1967 to 1968. In 1968, Saxbe was elected to the U.S. Senate, defeating Democrat John J. Gilligan. He served in the Senate until 1974, when he was appointed U.S. attorney general. (There was some minor controversy regarding Saxbe's appointment, as it appeared that it violated a minor provision of the Constitution. That provision stated that a legislator could not be appointed to an executive position during the same term that the legislator and legislature had voted to increase the salary of said position. However, because there was no perception that anything intentional had been done to benefit Saxbe, the matter was widely ignored.) Gilligan, who had been elected Governor of Ohio in 1970, appointed Howard Metzenbaum to fill out Saxbe's term. Later that year, former astronaut John Glenn, another Democrat, was elected to replace Saxbe.
Saxbe served as attorney general until 1975, when he was appointed ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to India, in which capacity he served until 1977. After that, Saxbe returned to Mechanicsburg and resumed the practice of law.
| Preceded by: C. William O'Neill |
Ohio Attorney General 1957–1959 |
Succeeded by: Mark McElroy |
| Preceded by: Mark McElroy |
Ohio Attorney General 1963–1969 |
Succeeded by: Paul W. Brown |
| Preceded by: Frank J. Lausche |
United States Senator (Class 3) from Ohio 1969–1974 |
Succeeded by: Howard M. Metzenbaum |
| Preceded by: Elliot Richardson (Robert Bork - acting) |
United States Attorney General 1974–1975 |
Succeeded by: Edward H. Levi |
| United States Attorneys General |  |
|---|---|
| Randolph • Bradford • Lee • Lincoln • R Smith • Breckinridge • Rodney • Pinkney • Rush • Wirt • Berrien • Taney • Butler • Grundy • Gilpin • Crittenden • Legaré • Nelson • Mason • Clifford • Toucey • Johnson • Crittenden • Cushing • Black • Stanton • Bates • Speed • Stanberry • Evarts • Hoar • Akerman • Williams • Pierrepont • Taft • Devens • MacVeagh • Brewster • Garland • Miller • Olney • Harmon • McKenna • Griggs • Knox • Moody • Bonaparte • Wickersham • McReynolds • Gregory • Palmer • Daugherty • Stone • Sargent • W Mitchell • Cummings • Murphy • Jackson • Biddle • T Clark • McGrath • McGranery • Brownell • Rogers • Kennedy • Katzenbach • R Clark • J Mitchell • Kleindienst • Richardson • Saxbe • Levi • Bell • Civiletti • W Smith • Meese • Thornburgh • Barr • Reno • Ashcroft • Gonzales |
