when Armitage was deputy secretary." Though a staunch Republican, Taft opposed the 2016 presidential campaign of Donald Trump, declaring alongside 49 other Republican former national security officials that he would not vote for the candidate. In 2020, Taft again rebuked his party, endorsing Democrat Joe Biden over Trump. In 2020, Taft, along with over 130 other former Republican national security officials, signed a statement that asserted that President Trump was unfit to serve another term, and "To that end, we are firmly convinced that it is in the best interest of our nation that Vice President Joe Biden be elected as the next President of the United States, and we will vote for him." References External links United States Department of State: US Ambassadors to NATO |- |- |- |- 1945 births American people of English descent Atlantic Council Ford administration personnel George H. W. Bush administration personnel George W. Bush administration personnel Harvard Law School alumni Lawyers from Washington, D.C. Lawyers who have represented the United States government Living people Nixon administration personnel People associated with Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson Permanent Representatives of the United States to NATO Reagan administration personnel St. Paul's School (New Hampshire) alumni Taft family United States Deputy Secretaries of Defense Washington, D.C., Republicans Yale University alumni