The President today announced his intention to nominate Richard Kennon Willard to be an Assistant Attorney General (Civil Division), Department of Justice. He would succeed William F. Baxter.
Since 1983 Mr. Willard has been serving as Acting Assistant Attorney General, Civil Division. Previously he was at the Justice Department as Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Civil Division (1982-1983), and counsel for intelligence policy (1981-1982). He was an attorney with the law firm of Baker & Botts in Houston, TX, in 1977-1981. Prior to that time, he was a law clerk to the Honorable Harry A. Blackmun, Supreme Court of the United States (1976-1977), and to the Honorable Anthony M. Kennedy, U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit in Sacramento, CA (1975-1976).
He graduated from Emory University (B.A., 1969) and Harvard Law School (J.D., 1975). He is married, has two children, and resides in Arlington, VA. He was born September 1, 1948, in Houston, TX.
Ronald Reagan, Nomination of Richard Kennon Willard To Be an Assistant Attorney General Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/259973