William Howard Taft IV (born September 13, 1945) is an attorney who has served in the United States government under several Republican administrations. He is a son of William Howard Taft III and a great-grandson of President William Howard Taft. Early life and education Taft was born in Washington, D.C., the second child of William Howard Taft III and Barbara Bradfield. His patrilineal great-grandfather was U.S. President William Howard Taft. Taft attended St. Paul's School, graduating in 1962. He earned his bachelor of arts degree in English from Yale University in 1966 and his Juris Doctor degree from Harvard Law School in 1969. Personal life He and his late wife, Julia Vadala Taft, had three children—Maria Consetta Taft, Julia Harris Taft, and William Howard Taft V. Career After researching the FTC as one of "Nader's Raiders", Taft served briefly as attorney adviser to the chairman of the Federal Trade Commission in 1970. From 1970 to 1973, he was the principal assistant to Caspar W. Weinberger, who was deputy director, then director, of the Office of Management and Budget in the Executive Office of the President under President Richard Nixon. Taft assisted him in the management of the budgetary process, policy review, and program oversight for the entire federal government. Taft married Julia Vadala in 1974. Taft served from 1973 to 1976 as the executive assistant to the United States Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare. In April 1976 Taft was appointed by President Gerald Ford to serve as general counsel of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. In that post, as the chief lawyer for the department and the principal administrator of the Office of the General Counsel, he supervised over 350 lawyers in Washington and 10 regional offices. During the Carter administration, he was an attorney with the Washington, D.C. law firm of Leva, Hawes, Symington, Martin and Oppenheimer. In February 1981, as one of his first appointments, President Ronald Reagan appointed Taft as General Counsel of the Department of Defense. Taft was then appointed Deputy Secretary of Defense and served from January 1984 to April 1989. He served as acting Secretary of Defense from January to March 1989 after George H. W. Bush became president. Bush's initial nominee, John Tower, was not confirmed by the United States Senate after much contentious debate and testimony. The eventual appointee confirmed in March was Richard B. Cheney (later Vice President