Jackson, Robert Houghwout, 1892-1954

Variant names
Dates:
Birth 1892-02-13
Death 1954-10-09
Birth 1892-02-13
Death 1954-10-09
Gender:
Male
Americans
English, English

Biographical notes:

U.S. Attorney General.

From the description of Papers, 1940-1941. (Duke University Library). WorldCat record id: 41571245

U.S. Supreme Court justice, attorney general, and solicitor general, and lawyer.

From the description of Robert Houghwout Jackson papers, 1816-1983 (bulk 1934-1954). (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 70982879

Supreme Court Justice.

From the description of Reminiscences of Robert Houghwout Jackson : oral history, 1952. (Columbia University In the City of New York). WorldCat record id: 309739853

Robert Houghwout Jackson (b. Feb. 13, 1892-d. Oct. 9, 1954), lawyer, was United States Attorney General and an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. He was also the chief United States prosecutor at the Nuremberg Trials before the International Military Tribunal (IMT).

From the description of Jackson, Robert Houghwout, 1892-1954 (U.S. National Archives and Records Administration). naId: 10580321

Biographical Note

1892, Feb. 13 Born, Spring Creek Township, Waren Co. Pa. 1912 Graduation certificate, Albany Law School, Union University, Albany, N.Y. (degree awarded June 1941 as a member of the class of 1912) 1913 Admitted to the bar in New York 1916 Married Irene Gerhardt 1918 Corporation counsel, Jamestown, N.Y. 1919 Junior partner, law firm of Dean, Edson and Jackson 1923 Formed law partnership with Henry S. Manley and Gerald A. Herrick 1927 1933 Member, law firm of Jackson and Herrick 1932 Member, Commission to Investigate the Administration of Justice in New York 1934 Assistant general counsel, Bureau of Internal Revenue 1935 Assistant attorney general, Tax Division, Department of Justice 1936 Assistant attorney general, Antitrust Division, Department of Justice 1938 Solicitor general 1940 Attorney general 1941 1954 Associate justice, United States Supreme Court 1945 United States chief of counsel for the prosecution of Axis war criminals, Nuremberg War Crimes Trial 1954, Oct. 9 Died, Washington, D. C.

From the guide to the Robert Houghwout Jackson Papers, 1816-1983, (bulk 1934-1954), (Manuscript Division Library of Congress)

Robert Houghwout Jackson (February 13, 1892 – October 9, 1954) was an American attorney and judge who served as an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. He had previously served as United States Solicitor General and United States Attorney General, and is the only person to have held all three of those offices. Jackson was also notable for his work as Chief United States Prosecutor at the Nuremberg trials of Nazi war criminals following World War II.

Jackson was born in Spring Creek, PA, and raised in Frewsburg, NY. With only a modest education and no college degree, he spent approximately 20 years as a successful attorney in Jamestown before going to Washington, D.C. Jackson was admitted to the bar through a combination of reading law with an established attorney and attending law school. He is the most recent justice without a law degree to be appointed to the Supreme Court. Jackson is well known for his advice that, "Any lawyer worth his salt will tell the suspect, in no uncertain terms, to make no statement to the police under any circumstances," and for his aphorism describing the Supreme Court, "We are not final because we are infallible, but we are infallible only because we are final." Jackson developed a reputation as one of the best writers on the Supreme Court and one of the most committed to enforcing due process as protection from overreaching federal agencies.

Robert Jackson served in the Department of Justice as Solicitor General, Attorney General, and ultimately Associate Supreme Court Justice where he presided over a number of historic decisions including Brown v. Board of Education. While he was on the Court, he was appointed by President Truman to orchestrate, administer, and implement the trials of the major Nazi war criminals in Germany. At Nuremberg, he served as the Chief U.S. Prosecutor at the International Military Tribunal (IMT). Jackson created a trial format that blended the disparate precedent and procedures of four Allied nations; he coined terms for previously undefined felonies such as crimes against humanity and acts of aggression.

After Nuremberg, Jackson returned to the Supreme Court and continued to play a profound role in decisions that impacted a changing nation, including those involving Civil Rights, racial integration, and the religious rights of individuals.

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Subjects:

  • Aircraft industry
  • Aircraft industry
  • Aluminum industry and trade
  • Aluminum industry and trade
  • Automobile industry and trade
  • Automobile industry and trade
  • Bar associations
  • Constitutional law
  • Constitutional law
  • Dairy laws
  • Dairy laws
  • Embargo
  • Embargo
  • Emigration and immigration
  • Emigration and immigration
  • Fuel trade
  • Fuel trade
  • Government aid to private schools
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  • Income tax
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  • Japanese Americans
  • Jehovah's Witnesses
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  • Judges
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  • Law
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  • Motion picture industry
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  • Naturalization
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  • New Deal, 1933-1939
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  • Petroleum products
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  • Practice of law
  • Practice of law
  • Price maintenance
  • Price maintenance
  • Public utilities
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  • Railroads
  • Railroads
  • School integration
  • School integration
  • Segregation in education
  • Segregation in education
  • Social security
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  • Steel industry and trade
  • Steel industry and trade
  • Surplus military property
  • Surplus military property
  • Taxation
  • Taxation
  • Textile industry
  • Textile industry
  • Treason
  • Treason
  • Typhoid fever
  • Typhoid fever
  • Wealth
  • Wealth
  • World War, 1939-1945
  • World War, 1939-1945
  • World War, 1939-1945
  • World War, 1939-1945
  • World War, 1939-1945
  • Aircraft industry
  • Aluminum industry and trade
  • Automobile industry and trade
  • Constitutional law
  • Dairy laws
  • Embargo
  • Emigration and immigration
  • Fuel trade
  • Government aid to private schools
  • Income tax
  • Jehovah's Witnesses
  • Law
  • Motion picture industry
  • Naturalization
  • Neutrality
  • Petroleum products
  • Practice of law
  • Price maintenance
  • Public utilities
  • Public utilities
  • Railroads
  • School integration
  • Segregation in education
  • Social security
  • Steel industry and trade
  • Surplus military property
  • Taxation
  • Textile industry
  • Treason
  • Typhoid fever
  • Wealth
  • World War, 1939-1945
  • World War, 1939-1945
  • World War, 1939-1945
  • World War, 1939-1945

Occupations:

  • Cabinet officers
  • Jurists
  • Lawyers
  • Public officials

Places:

  • Pennsylvania, PA, US
  • Washington, D. C., DC, US
  • Secret service (as recorded)
  • New York (State) (as recorded)
  • United States (as recorded)
  • United States (as recorded)
  • Tennessee (as recorded)
  • New York (State)--Jamestown (as recorded)
  • United States (as recorded)

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