Burke Marshall
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Burke Marshall (October 1, 1922 – June 2, 2003) was an American lawyer who served as the
United States Assistant Attorney General Many of the divisions and offices of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) are headed by an assistant attorney general. The president of the United States appoints individuals to the position of assistant attorney general with the adv ...
for the Civil Rights Division during the Civil Rights Movement. He was a confidante of the Kennedy family.


Early life

Marshall was born in
Plainfield, New Jersey Plainfield is a City (New Jersey), city in Union County, New Jersey, Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Nicknamed "The Queen City",
. He attended
Phillips Exeter Academy Phillips Exeter Academy (often called Exeter or PEA) is an Independent school, independent, co-educational, college-preparatory school in Exeter, New Hampshire. Established in 1781, it is America's sixth-oldest boarding school and educates an es ...
, graduating in 1940, and received a BA from
Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...
in 1943. He joined the army, working in the intelligence corps as a Japanese
translator Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''trans ...
and cryptoanalyst. It was during his military service that he met Violet Person, whom he later married. After
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, Marshall returned to
Yale Law School Yale Law School (YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824. The 2020–21 acceptance rate was 4%, the lowest of any law school in the United ...
, earning his LL.D. in 1951; he was admitted to the
Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
, bar the same year, joining the Washington-based law firm of
Covington & Burling Covington & Burling LLP is an American multinational law firm. Known as a white-shoe law firm, it is headquartered in Washington, D.C. and advises clients on transactional, litigation, regulatory, and public policy matters. The firm has addition ...
in 1952, where he worked for ten years, specializing in
antitrust Competition law is the field of law that promotes or seeks to maintain market competition by regulating anti-competitive conduct by companies. Competition law is implemented through public and private enforcement. It is also known as antitrust l ...
law for clients such as
Standard Oil Standard Oil Company was a Trust (business), corporate trust in the petroleum industry that existed from 1882 to 1911. The origins of the trust lay in the operations of the Standard Oil of Ohio, Standard Oil Company (Ohio), which had been founde ...
.


Government career

Marshall was appointed Assistant Attorney General in 1961 by Robert F. Kennedy, who was
Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...
in President John F. Kennedy's administration. Despite Marshall's lack of civil rights experience, he was put in charge of the Civil Rights Division, as Robert Kennedy had already decided not to appoint a known rights leader. The relationship between Marshall and Kennedy had a difficult beginning. During their initial meeting, little was said, with Kennedy remarking, "I have nothing in common with that man." However, as the civil rights movement heated up in the South, events brought them together. During his time in government, Marshall was a significant contributor to a number of advances in civil rights. In 1961, segregation on interstate travel was banned. The following year, the
University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi (Epithet, byname Ole Miss) is a Public university, public research university in University, near Oxford, Mississippi, United States, with a University of Mississippi Medical Center, medical center in Jackson, Miss ...
was forced to admit James Meredith, a well-qualified black student. Marshall and the Attorney General persuaded President Kennedy to enforce the order using federal troops. Marshall also ran a campaign to increase voter registration by blacks. Within two years of coming into office, he had launched 42 federal lawsuits against states to reform their electoral legislation. Marshall's focus was on results. He argued to not use the Fourteenth Amendment to overcome discrimination, instead favoring the federal government's constitutional power to regulate interstate commerce. As that power was reserved to the government, states had few legal options of recourse. Marshall used it as a basis to write the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which prohibited discrimination in public facilities, in government and in employment. Marshall's reputation was not that of an office-based bureaucrat, but of a hands-on negotiator who dealt with many of the major figures across the civil rights drama, ranging from
Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister, civil and political rights, civil rights activist and political philosopher who was a leader of the civil rights move ...
to Alabama Governor
George Wallace George Corley Wallace Jr. (August 25, 1919 – September 13, 1998) was an American politician who was the 45th and longest-serving governor of Alabama (1963–1967; 1971–1979; 1983–1987), and the List of longest-serving governors of U.S. s ...
. Marshall resigned his office in December 1964. President
Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), also known as LBJ, was the 36th president of the United States, serving from 1963 to 1969. He became president after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, under whom he had served a ...
wrote on Marshall's formal letter of resignation, "I have never known any person who rendered a better quality of public service."


Later career

After leaving government, Marshall returned to commercial legal practice, briefly rejoining Covington and Burling before becoming a
vice president A vice president or vice-president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vi ...
and
general counsel A general counsel, also known as chief counsel or chief legal officer (CLO), is the chief in-house lawyer for a company or a governmental department. In a company, the person holding the position typically reports directly to the CEO, and their ...
at
IBM International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...
in 1965. He rose to senior vice president in 1969. Despite turning down the offer of a deanship at
Yale Law School Yale Law School (YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824. The 2020–21 acceptance rate was 4%, the lowest of any law school in the United ...
(YLS) when he resigned as Assistant Attorney General, he became a deputy dean and
professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...
at YLS in 1970. In 1986, he was named Nicholas deB. Katzenbach Professor of Law, and later
professor emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retirement, retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". ...
. He was also the George W. Crawford Professorial Lecturer in Law. At the Yale Law School, Marshall taught courses in constitutional law, federal jurisdiction, and political and civil rights. Among his most innovative and well-known courses was "The Limits of the Law," which he co-taught at first with Professor Joseph Goldstein and later with both Professor Goldstein and
Aharon Barak Aharon Barak (; born 16 September 1936) is an Israeli lawyer and jurist who served as President of the Supreme Court of Israel from 1995 to 2006. Prior to this, Barak served as a Justice of the Supreme Court of Israel from 1978 to 1995, and bef ...
, Chief Justice of the Israel Supreme Court. He also co-taught a course on Religion and the Law with Professor Perry Dane at a time when that subject was rarely taught as a course to itself at major law schools. Marshall was the chair of the Vera Institute of Justice Board of Trustees between 1966 and 1986. He also chaired the Center for Employment Opportunities in 1996. In 1999, he received the Eleanor Roosevelt Award for Human Rights.


Death

Marshall died June 2, 2003, aged 80, at his home in
Newtown, Connecticut Newtown ( ) is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. It is part of the Greater Danbury area as well as the New York metropolitan area. Newtown was founded in 1705, and later incorporated in 1711. As of the 2020 census, its p ...
, of complications of myelodysplasia, a
bone marrow Bone marrow is a semi-solid biological tissue, tissue found within the Spongy bone, spongy (also known as cancellous) portions of bones. In birds and mammals, bone marrow is the primary site of new blood cell production (or haematopoiesis). It i ...
disorder. He was survived by his wife Violet P. Marshall, three daughters, Catie Marshall, Jane Marshall, both of
Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...
, and Josie Phillips of
Plymouth, England Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...
, as well as four grandchildren: Ian Marshall Bakerman and Morgan Montgomery Bakerman of Catie Marshall and Nelson Bakerman; and James Marshall Phillips and Samuel Burke Phillips, who are the sons of Josie and Greg Phillips.


References


External links


CBS News, obituary
June 3, 2003

June 3, 2003
Oral History Interview with Burke Marshall, from the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library
June 27, 2003

June 6, 2003
Vera Institute of JusticeNon-Whiz Kid with the Quiet Gun
''Life Magazine'' August 9, 1963, pp. 75–80 on Google Books {{DEFAULTSORT:Marshall, Burke 1922 births 2003 deaths United States assistant attorneys general for the Civil Rights Division Kennedy administration personnel Phillips Exeter Academy alumni Yale Law School alumni Yale Law School faculty American civil rights lawyers People from Newtown, Connecticut People from North Haven, Maine People associated with Covington & Burling Yale College alumni