Washington: William B Saxbe, who served as the US ambassador to India during most of the tumultuous days of emergency, has died after a prolong illness.
Saxbe, 94, was suffering from pancreatic cancer.
In the US, he was more known for his tenure as the Attorney General of the United States in the administration of then president Richard Nixon.
In an obituary, The Washington Post said Saxbe was "a blunt-spoken and independent-minded Republican senator from Ohio who helped shield the Watergate investigation from political meddling when he became US attorney general in 1973."
In his autobiography 'I've Seen the Elephant', Saxbe gives his reflection on serving as Nixon's attorney general at the height of the Watergate scandal and descriptions of life as the US ambassador to India.
He was appointed ambassador to India by president Gerald R Ford and he presented his credentials to the then Indian president Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed on March 08, 1975.
Saxbe resigned in 1976 after the election of Jimmy Carter as the president.
PTI
First Published: Thursday, August 26, 2010, 13:50