Rogers, William D. 1927–2007

(William Dill Rogers)

OBITUARY NOTICE—

See index for CA sketch: Born May 12, 1927, in Wilmington, DE; died after a stroke, September 22, 2007, near Upperville, VA. Lawyer, Latin America expert, government advisor, international consultant, and author. Rogers was one of those rare individuals who could serve his government effectively in various capacities, through both Democratic and Republican administrations, but only so far as he could do so in good conscience. When he disagreed with administration policy, he had the option of resigning his post and returning to his longtime, if intermittent, law practice with Arnold and Porter (and predecessor firms). He did this several times, yet was able to contribute to numerous delicate negotiations on Latin American issues over a period spanning some thirty years. Much of Rogers's government service was conducted in connection with Henry A. Kissinger, a man he admired and whose reputation he defended for many years. In the 1960s Rogers was affiliated with the Alliance for Progress of the Agency for International Development. During that time he negotiated aid for the Dominican Republic after the assassination of the dictator Rafael Trujillo. He later left the Alliance when he perceived a growing lack of U.S. interest in Latin America, especially in comparison to increasing U.S. involvement in the Vietnam war, which he opposed. In the seventies, Rogers became assistant secretary of state for inter-American affairs (a position that he refused to accept until after the resignation of Richard M. Nixon) and later undersecretary of state for economic affairs. He advised Kissinger on negotiations regarding Cuba (favoring improved relations with Fidel Castro), Rhodesia/Zimbabwe (in support of black-majority rule), and Panama (planning the eventual transition to Panamanian authority). In 1980 Rogers was sent to El Salvador by the Jimmy Carter administration to investigate the slaying of Roman Catholic women missionaries in that country. In 1982 Rogers joined Kissinger's international consulting firm, Kissinger Associates, but as late as 1989, he was reportedly called upon again to consult with President George H.W. Bush over the feasibility of invading Panama to depose President Manual Noriega, who had fallen out of favor with U.S. officials. In his later years Rogers maintained his connections to Latin America as president of the Center for Inter-American Relations and the American Society of International Law. He was the author of The Twilight Struggle: The Alliance for Progress and the Politics of Development in Latin America(1967) and the coeditor of Foreign Affairs and the U.S. Constitution(1990).

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Los Angeles Times, September 28, 2007, p. B8.

New York Times, September 30, 2007, p. A26; October 2, 2007, p. A2.

Times(London, England), October 22, 2007, p. 54.

Washington Post, September 27, 2007, p. B7.