William D. Rogers, a lawyer, diplomat and enthusiastic foxhunter, died Sept. 22, after suffering a heart attack while hunting with the Orange County Hunt (Va.). He was 80.
Mr. Rogers was born in Wilmington, Del., and graduated from St. Andrews School (Del.) in 1944, from Princeton University (N.J.) in 1948 and from the Yale Law School (Conn.) in 1951. In 1953, he joined Arnold & Porter, now one of Washington D.C.’s most significant law firms.
In 1961, Mr. Rogers joined the Kennedy Administration as Special Counsel and then Coordinator of the Alliance for Progress, the Latin American development program in the Department of State. He was responsible for the full range of U.S. economic assistance to political and economic development in the Americas.
In August of 1947 Henry Kissinger asked Mr. Rogers to become Assistant Secretary of State for Latin America. During his time in the State Department, Mr. Rogers was responsible for the U.S. negotiations with Panama, which led to the Panama Canal Treaties, for secret negotiations with the Castro regime in Cuba aimed at normalization of relations with the island, and for chairing the U.S. delegation to the North South Development Dialogue in Paris.
Mr. Rogers was also president of the American Society of International Law in the 1970s. He was a three-term member of the Board of the Council on Foreign Relations and vice-chairman of the Board of Directors of the Cordell Hull Institute.
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His career in diplomacy and law didn’t hinder his passion for foxhunting, however, as he was an active member of the Orange County Hunt (Va.), Piedmont Fox Hounds (Va.) and Fairfax Hunt (Va.). He kept three hunt horses at his Stillhouse Farm in Upperville, Va. Even though he worked in Washington, D.C., Mr. Rogers commuted to Upperville every Friday to hunt Saturday and Monday.
“I spent many happy hours riding with Bill out on the Virginia countryside,” said friend Chris Stafford. “We’d ride around the trails in Upperville.”
Mr. Rogers and his wife, Suzanne Rogers, were patrons of the Upperville Horse Show (Va.) and sponsors of the National Sporting Library in Middleburg, Va. He was also a sponsor of the National Sporting Library Coaching Drive and a keen supporter of the countryside and land preservation.
He is survived by his wife, Suzanne Rochford Rogers; and two sons, William Rogers and Daniel Rochford Rogers.
Memorial donations may be made to the Piedmont Environmental Council, 45 Horner Street, Warrenton, VA 20186.
