George Woodward Wickersham (September 19, 1858 – January 25, 1936) was an American lawyer and

Attorney General of the United States The United States attorney general is the head of the United States Department of Justice and serves as the chief law enforcement officer of the federal government. The attorney general acts as the principal legal advisor to the president of the ...

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 Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was the 28th president of the United States, serving from 1913 to 1921. He was the only History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democrat to serve as president during the Prog ...

and

Herbert Hoover Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was the 31st president of the United States, serving from 1929 to 1933. A wealthy mining engineer before his presidency, Hoover led the wartime Commission for Relief in Belgium and ...

. He was President of the

Council on Foreign Relations The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an American think tank focused on Foreign policy of the United States, U.S. foreign policy and international relations. Founded in 1921, it is an independent and nonpartisan 501(c)(3) nonprofit organi ...

for the latter.

Background

Born in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, in 1858, Wickersham attended local schools and graduated from the

University of Pennsylvania Law School The University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School (also known as Penn Carey Law, or Penn Law; previously University of Pennsylvania Law School) is the law school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private Ivy League research university in Phi ...

in 1880 but had previously been admitted to practice before the courts as he studied law by "

reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

," and preparing through an apprenticeship with an established firm. He married Mildred Wendell. Their son,

Cornelius Wendell Wickersham Cornelius Wendell Wickersham (June 25, 1885 – January 31, 1968) 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 ...

, was an attorney, author, and military officer who attained the rank of major general in the

New York Army National Guard The New York Army National Guard is a component of the New York National Guard and the Army National Guard. Nationwide, the Army National Guard comprises approximately one half of the United States Army's available combat forces and approximate ...

and was promoted to

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...

on the retired list to commend his many years of service to the organization.

Career

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. He was appointed to the office of

from 1909 to 1913, in the administration of

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

William Howard Taft William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) served as the 27th president of the United States from 1909 to 1913 and the tenth chief justice of the United States from 1921 to 1930. He is the only person to have held both offices. ...

. In 1912 Wickersham supported the membership of U.S. Assistant Attorney General William H. Lewis in the

American Bar Association The American Bar Association (ABA) is a voluntary association, voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students in the United States; national in scope, it is not specific to any single jurisdiction. Founded in 1878, the ABA's stated acti ...

, 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. After the election of President

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 The Association of the Bar of the City of New York, commonly referred to as the New York City Bar Association (City Bar), founded in 1870, is a voluntary association of lawyers and law students. Since 1896, the organization has been headquartere ...

. In 1916, Wickersham opposed Wilson's nomination of

Louis Brandeis Louis Dembitz Brandeis ( ; November 13, 1856 – October 5, 1941) was an American lawyer who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, associate justice on the Supreme Court of the United States from 1916 to ...

for the Supreme Court, describing the Jewish nominee's supporters as "a bunch of Hebrew uplifters." Soon after the United States entered

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

in 1917, Wickersham was named by President Wilson to serve on the War Trade Board to

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

. In 1929, President

appointed Wickersham to the

National Commission on Law Observance and Enforcement The National Commission on Law Observance and Enforcement (also known unofficially as the Wickersham Commission) was a committee established by the U.S. president, Herbert Hoover, on May 20, 1929. Former attorney general George W. Wickersham (185 ...

, 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 Alger Hiss (November 11, 1904 – November 15, 1996) was an American government official who was accused of espionage in 1948 for the Soviet Union in the 1930s. The statute of limitations had expired for espionage, but he was convicted of perjur ...

to the U.S. Solicitor General's office; Hiss had served on the committee 1929-1930.) Wickersham did not return to government under Democratic President

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

. He was elected president of a private organization the

, serving from 1933 to 1936.

Personal life and death

Wickersham married; his son was

, a lawyer and a U.S. Army Brigadier General. He lived much of his life in

Cedarhurst, New York Cedarhurst is a village in the Town of Hempstead in Nassau County, on the South Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 7,374 as of the 2020 census. The Incorporated Village of Cedarhurst is located in the region ...

in the

Town of Hempstead The Town of Hempstead is the largest of the three towns in Nassau County (alongside North Hempstead and Oyster Bay) on Long Island, in New York, United States. The town's combined population was 793,409 at the 2020 census. It occupies the so ...

, now known as the Village of Lawrence. Wickersham died in New York City in 1936 and was buried in Brookside Cemetery in

Englewood, New Jersey Englewood is a city in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Englewood was incorporated as a city by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 17, 1899, from portions of Ridgefield Township and the remaining portions of Engle ...

Legacy

Since 1996, the Friends of the Law Library of the Library of Congress have presented an annual award named for Wickersham.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wickersham, George W. Presidents of the Council on Foreign Relations 1858 births 1936 deaths Attorneys general of the United States University of Pennsylvania alumni Presidents of the New York City Bar Association Taft administration cabinet members 20th-century American politicians New York (state) Republicans Pennsylvania Republicans Burials at Brookside Cemetery (Englewood, New Jersey) People associated with Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft University of Pennsylvania Law School alumni