William Howard Taft III
| William Howard Taft III | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| United States Ambassador to Ireland | |
|
In office 1953–1957 |
|
| President | Dwight D. Eisenhower |
| Preceded by | Francis P. Matthews |
| Succeeded by | Scott McLeod |
| Personal details | |
| Born | August 7, 1915 |
| Died | February 23, 1991 (aged 75) |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | Barbara Bradfield |
| Relations | William Howard Taft (grandfather) |
| Children | William Howard Taft IV |
| Parents |
Robert A. Taft Martha Wheaton Bowers Taft |
| Alma mater |
Yale University Princeton University |
| Profession | Diplomat and professor |
William Howard Taft III (August 7, 1915 — February 23, 1991), an American diplomat, was a grandson of President William Howard Taft and First Lady Helen Louise "Nellie" Taft who served as U.S. ambassador to Ireland from 1953 to 1957.
William Howard Taft III was born on August 7, 1915 and was the eldest of four sons born to Robert Alphonso Taft (1889–1953) and Martha Wheaton Bowers (1889–1958), daughter of Lloyd Wheaton Bowers (1859–1910), the former solicitor general of the United States from 1909–1910. His three brothers were:
At the time of his birth, his grandfather had just ended his Presidency and had recently become the Kent Professor of Law and Legal History at Yale Law School. He graduated from Yale University and earned a doctorate from Princeton University.
After graduating from Princeton, he taught English at the University of Maryland and Haverford College. During World War II, Taft became an analyst in military intelligence. After the war ended, he went back to Yale and taught there.
In 1949, he went to Dublin as part of the Marshall Plan aid mission and worked for the Central Intelligence Agency and the Defense Department from 1951 to 1953.
In 1953, President Eisenhower appointed him U.S. ambassador to Ireland. His task as ambassador was made easier by the fact that John A. Costello (Taoiseach, 1954–57) was a personal friend; Taft described Costello as "pleasant and unassuming" whereas he had found Éamon de Valera "formal and aloof". (His predecessor, George A. Garrett, had also found Costello more sympathetic than De Valera.) Taft played a considerable part in organizing Costello's successful State visit to the United States in March 1956.
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