George Woodward Wickersham (September 19,1858 – January 25,1936) was an American lawyer and Attorney General of the United States in the administration of President William H. Taft. He returned to government to serve in appointed positions under both Republican and Democratic administrations,for Woodrow Wilson and Herbert Hoover. He was President of the Council on Foreign Relations for the latter. [1]
Born in Pittsburgh,Pennsylvania,in 1858,Wickersham attended local schools and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1880 but had previously been admitted to practice before the courts as he studied law by "reading," and preparing through an apprenticeship with an established firm. [2]
He married Mildred Wendell. Their son,Cornelius Wendell Wickersham,was an attorney,author,and military officer who attained the rank of major general in the New York Army National Guard and was promoted to lieutenant general on the retired list to commend his many years of service to the organization.
After several years of practice,in 1883 Wickersham entered the longtime law firm of Strong and Cadwalader in New York City. He became a partner four years later,and the firm was eventually named Cadwalader,Wickersham &Taft.[ citation needed ]
He was appointed to the office of Attorney General of the United States from 1909 to 1913,in the administration of President William Howard Taft. In 1912 Wickersham supported the membership of U.S. Assistant Attorney General William H. Lewis in the American Bar Association,after Southerners protested the African American's presence and the executive committee voted to oust him. Wickersham sent a letter to all 4,700 members urging their support for Lewis,who refused to resign. [3] [4]
After the election of President Woodrow Wilson in 1912,the Democrat appointed his own people to federal positions. During Wilson's first term,from 1914 to 1916,Wickersham was out of government and served as president of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York.[ citation needed ] In 1916,Wickersham opposed Wilson's nomination of Louis Brandeis for the Supreme Court,describing the Jewish nominee's supporters as "a bunch of Hebrew uplifters." [5]
Soon after the United States entered World War I in 1917,Wickersham was named by President Wilson to serve on the War Trade Board to Cuba.
In 1929,President Herbert Hoover appointed Wickersham to the National Commission on Law Observance and Enforcement,better known as the "Wickersham Commission." (It was described as the "Wickersham Committee" by William L. Marbury Jr. in a 1935 letter seeking the support of U.S. Senator George L. P. Radcliffe for appointment of Alger Hiss to the U.S. Solicitor General's office;Hiss had served on the committee 1929-1930. [6] )
Wickersham did not return to government under Democratic President Franklin D. Roosevelt. He was elected president of a private organization the Council on Foreign Relations,serving from 1933 to 1936. [7]
Wickersham married;his son was Cornelius Wendell Wickersham,a lawyer and a U.S. Army Brigadier General.[ citation needed ]
He lived much of his life in Cedarhurst,New York in the Town of Hempstead,now known as the Village of Lawrence.[ citation needed ]
Wickersham died in New York City in 1936 and was buried in Brookside Cemetery in Englewood,New Jersey. [8]
Since 1996,the Friends of the Law Library of the Library of Congress have presented an annual award named for Wickersham. [9]
Charles Evans Hughes Sr. was an American statesman,politician,academic,and jurist who served as the 11th chief justice of the United States from 1930 to 1941. A member of the Republican Party,he previously was the 36th governor of New York (1907–1910),an associate justice of the Supreme Court (1910–1916),and 44th U.S. secretary of state (1921–1925). As the Republican nominee in the 1916 presidential election,he lost narrowly to Woodrow Wilson.
William Howard Taft was the 27th president of the United States and the tenth chief justice of the United States,the only person to have held both offices. Taft was elected president in 1908 as a Republican and defeated for reelection in 1912 by Democratic nominee Woodrow Wilson in a three-way race that included former president Theodore Roosevelt. In 1921,President Warren G. Harding appointed Taft to be chief justice,a position he held until February 1930,one month before his death.
Hiram Warren Johnson was an American attorney and politician who served as the 23rd governor of California from 1911 to 1917 and represented California in the U.S. Senate for five terms from 1917 to 1945. Johnson achieved national prominence in the early 20th century as a leading progressive and ran for vice president on Theodore Roosevelt's Progressive ticket in the 1912 presidential election. As a U.S. senator,Johnson was a leading critic of the foreign policy of both Woodrow Wilson and Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Cadwalader,Wickersham &Taft LLP is a white-shoe law firm based in New York City. It is the city's oldest law firm and one of the oldest continuously operating legal practices in the United States. Attorney John Wells founded the practice in 1792. Cadwalader's Lower Manhattan headquarters is one of five offices in three countries. In 2022,the firm had approximately 400 attorneys.
Robert Porter Patterson Sr. was an American judge who served as Under Secretary of War under President Franklin D. Roosevelt and U.S. Secretary of War under President Harry S. Truman. He was a US circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit after he had been a district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.
George Lovic Pierce Radcliffe was a Democratic Party member of the United States Senate who represented Maryland from 1935 to 1947.
Donald Hiss,also known as "Donie" and "Donnie",was the younger brother of Alger Hiss. Donald Hiss's name was mentioned during the 1948 hearings wherein his more famous and older brother,Alger,was accused of spying for the Soviet Union,and two years later convicted of perjury before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC).
The National Commission on Law Observance and Enforcement was a committee established by the U.S. president,Herbert Hoover,on May 20,1929. Former attorney general George W. Wickersham (1858–1936) chaired the 11-member group,which was charged with investigating the causes and costs of crime,Prohibition enforcement,policing,courts and antiquated criminal procedures,and prisons,parole and probation practices,among other topics in order to improve the American criminal justice system.
Joseph Patrick Tumulty was an American attorney and politician from New Jersey,a leader of the Irish Catholic political community,and the private secretary of Woodrow Wilson from 1911 until 1921,during Wilson's service as both New Jersey governor and then as the nation's 28th president.
Francis Patrick Walsh was an American lawyer. Walsh was noted for his advocacy of progressive causes,including Georgism and the land value tax,improved working conditions,better pay for workers,and equal employment opportunities for all,including women. He was appointed to several high-profile committees to investigate and report on working conditions. He was also active in championing independence for Ireland.
Henry Waters Taft was an American lawyer and writer. He was the son of Alphonso and brother of President William Howard Taft. A renowned antitrust lawyer,he was a name partner at Cadwalader,Wickersham &Taft.
The presidency of William Howard Taft began on March 4,1909,when William Howard Taft was inaugurated as 27th president of the United States,and ended on March 4,1913. Taft was a Republican from Ohio. The protégéand chosen successor of President Theodore Roosevelt,he took office after easily defeating Democrat William Jennings Bryan in the 1908 presidential election. His presidency ended with his landslide defeat in the 1912 election by Democrat Woodrow Wilson,after one term in office.
John Lambert Cadwalader was an American lawyer.
From January 23 to June 4,1912,delegates to the 1912 Republican National Convention were selected through a series of primaries,caucuses,and conventions to determine the party's nominee for president in the 1912 election. Incumbent president William Howard Taft was chosen over former president Theodore Roosevelt. Taft's victory at the national convention precipitated a fissure in the Republican Party,with Roosevelt standing for the presidency as the candidate of an independent Progressive Party,and the election of Democrat Woodrow Wilson over the divided Republicans.
Cornelius Wendell Wickersham was a decorated United States Army officer with the rank of Lieutenant general;a lawyer and an award-winning author of philatelic literature. He studied at the Harvard University and practiced law for several years,before embarked for France during World War I. Wickersham served as Assistant Chief of Staff for Operations of IV Corps during Battle of Saint-Mihiel and received Army Distinguished Service Medal.
William Henry Lewis was an African-American pioneer in athletics,law and politics. Born in Virginia to freedmen,he graduated from Amherst College in Massachusetts,where he had been one of the first African-American college football players. After going to Harvard Law School and continuing to play football,Lewis was the first African American in the sport to be selected as an All-American.
Wade Hampton Ellis was a Republican politician in the U.S. state of Ohio who served as Ohio Attorney General (1904–1908),then Special Assistant to the Attorney General of the United States (1909–1911) and special counsel to the U.S. Department of Justice where he gained fame as a trust buster before resuming a private practice. The United States Supreme Court also appointed Ellis as special master in the case of Massachusetts v. New York. While splitting his time between Washington,D.C.,and Cincinnati,Ohio,Ellis acquired and restored Rippon Lodge,which proved to be built by his ancestors and which a descendant placed on the National Register for Historic Places
Stephen Neal Shulman was an American attorney known for representing Egil Krogh during the Watergate scandal. He also served as General Counsel of the Air Force in from 1965 to 1966 and Chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission from 1966 to 1967.
Woodrow Wilson appointed three Associate Justices to the Supreme Court of the United States,James Clark McReynolds,Louis Brandeis,and John Hessin Clarke.