William Alfred Taggart, 77, a former aide to U.S. Sen. Robert J. Dole (KS) and later a government relations consultant, died January 15, 2009 at Reston Hospital Center in Reston, Virginia. He was a resident of Arlington, Virginia at the time of his death. Mr. Taggart was born April 15, 1931 in Manhattan, Kansas, the son of Logan and Dessie (Oakley) Taggart. A veteran of the U.S. Army, he graduated from the University of Kansas with a degree in journalism and worked at the Wichita Eagle and the High Plains Business Journal before founding two weekly newspapers in Douglas and Jefferson counties. By 1960 Mr. Taggart had become active in Kansas Republican politics, especially in the campaigns of Mr. Dole. For nearly five decades he was a close advisor to Mr. Dole in campaigns for the U.S. House, Senate, Vice President and President. At the time he joined Sen. Dole's staff as a legislative assistant for agriculture issues in 1969, Mr. Taggart was public relations director of one of the leading grain marketing firms on the Kansas City Board of Trade. When he left Capitol Hill a decade later, Mr. Taggart was staff director of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry. In the private sector, Mr. Taggart first served as vice president of the Martin Haley Companies, Inc., a public affairs and government relations firm in Washington, D.C. Four years later he established his own firm, Taggart and Associates, and represented agriculture and pharmaceutical interests. Over the course of his professional career, Mr. Taggart held a number of key positions in the Republican Party and the federal government that helped influence U.S. agriculture policy. He served on the GOP platform committees in 1976 and 1980, and was on President Ronald Reagan's transition committees for domestic and agricultural policy. He also served as a delegate and advisor to the World Food Conferences in Rome, Italy under agriculture secretaries Earl Butz, Bob Bergland, and Richard Lyng, and was on former secretary Jack Block's advisory committee. For many years he was an officer and member of the boards of directors of the Commodity Club of Washington, and the Kansas Society in the nation's capital. Mr. Taggart married Judith Ferrell on January 26, 1957 in Atchison, Kansas. In addition to his wife, Mr. Taggart is survived by four children: Lura (Mike) Svestka, of Lansdowne, Virginia; William (Bonnie) Taggart, Jr., of Overland Park, Kansas; Sarah (Tom) Crowson, of Waynesville, North Carolina; and Carlene (Brent) Bahler of Alexandria, Virginia. He is also survived by a brother, Richard Taggart of Hays, Kansas, and five grandchildren. A memorial service was held Saturday, January 24, 2009 at 2pm at the Fairlington United Methodist Church, 3900 King Street, Alexandria, Virginia, with interment at Arlington National Cemetery. A reception immediately following the memorial service was held at The Monocle, 107 D Street NE, Washington, D.C. Memorial contributions may be made to the Dole Institute of Politics at the University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas.