Joshua Claybourn (born June 10, 1981) is an American attorney, author, and historian considered one of the foremost living scholars on
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...
’s youth in Indiana.
Legal work
Claybourn is an attorney with the law firm of Jackson Kelly, where he represents governmental entities, public officials, businesses, and corporations. His legal work often focuses on constitutional law, separation of powers, intellectual property, and the limits of executive authority. In 2020, he co-authored an article in the ''Indiana Law Review'' with Abby DeMare advocating for greater legislative checks on executive emergency powers. Claybourn also served as co-counsel in a civil suit against the State of Indiana and Governor Eric Holcomb, alleging that certain executive orders issued during the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
exceeded the governor’s constitutional authority. The case was ultimately dismissed as moot after Governor Holcomb rescinded the challenged orders, and the Indiana Court of Appeals later affirmed the dismissal.
In 2025, Claybourn organized and co-authored a high-profile ''amici curiae'' brief filed in '' V.O.S. Selections, Inc. v. Trump'', a federal lawsuit challenging President Donald Trump's tariff and import tax program. The brief brought together a coalition of constitutional scholars, former judges, and senior public officials from across the political spectrum. Signatories included
Steven Calabresi
Steven Gow Calabresi (born March 1, 1958) is an American legal scholar who is the Clayton J. and Henry R. Barber Professor of Law at Northwestern University. He is the co-chairman of the Federalist Society. He is the nephew of Guido Calabresi, a ...
John Danforth
John Claggett Danforth (born September 5, 1936) is an American politician, attorney, diplomat, and Episcopal priest who served as the Attorney General of Missouri from 1969 to 1976 and as a United States Senator from 1976 to 1995. A member of the ...
Alan Sykes
Sir Alan John Sykes, 1st Baronet (11 April 1868 – 21 May 1950) was an English businessman in the bleaching industry and Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician in Cheshire.
Biography
Sykes was born at Cringle House Cheadle, Greater ...
, and Gerard Magliocca. The "McConnell/Claybourn brief" emphasized that the endurance of the American Republic depends not only on democratic elections but also on the faithful preservation of the Constitution’s structural limitations on executive power. Claybourn elaborated on these concerns in a ''Wall Street Journal'' op-ed, emphasizing the importance of maintaining the Constitution's structural limitations on executive authority. The brief proved influential in two district courts overturning Trump's tariffs.
Historical scholarship
Claybourn is considered one of the foremost living scholars of President Lincoln’s youth in Indiana. He appeared as an expert in the six-part
CNN
Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...
documentary ''Lincoln: Divided We Stand.'' Claybourn is editor of ''Abraham Lincoln's Wilderness Years'', a compilation of significant scholarship from J. Edward Murr covering Lincoln's youth. He is co-editor (with William Bartelt) of ''Abe’s Youth: Shaping the Future President'', providing source material from the Indiana Lincoln Inquiry. Claybourn also served as a research assistant to Professor Gerard Magliocca during his work on ''Andrew Jackson and the Constitution: The Rise and Fall of Generational Regimes''.
Claybourn edited ''Our American Story: The Search for a Shared National Narrative'' ( Potomac Books, 2019), a collection of essays by theorists, historians, and politicians addressing the possibility of a shared narrative within a country divided by political polarization. Contributors to the project include
Cass Sunstein
Cass Robert Sunstein (born September 21, 1954) is an American legal scholar known for his work in U.S. constitutional law, administrative law, environmental law, and behavioral economics. He is also ''The New York Times'' best-selling author of ...
John Danforth
John Claggett Danforth (born September 5, 1936) is an American politician, attorney, diplomat, and Episcopal priest who served as the Attorney General of Missouri from 1969 to 1976 and as a United States Senator from 1976 to 1995. A member of the ...
James Wertsch James V. Wertsch (born May 16, 1947) is the David R. Francis Distinguished Professor and Director Emeritus of the McDonnell International Scholars Academy at Washington University in St. Louis.
Education and career
Wertsch received an A.B. i ...
. ''
Kirkus Reviews
''Kirkus Reviews'' is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus. The magazine's publisher, Kirkus Media, is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fiction, no ...
'' wrote that the book's "responses are all over the map, provocatively so" and called it a "mixed-bag collection".
Political commentary
Claybourn frequently writes op-ed columns for prominent national publications including ''The New York Times'' and ''The Wall Street Journal'', as well as regional newspapers and online outlets. His commentary often addresses political, legal, and social topics, including pieces on sports rivalries, taxation, and constitutional concerns. Additionally, his regular columns appear in regional outlets such as the ''Evansville Courier & Press'' and ''State Affairs Pro''.
Claybourn, named one of the 250 most influential leaders in Indiana, often serves as a political advisor. He was cited as a "key supporter" of Congressman Larry Bucshon of and was a principal adviser to Evansville Mayor Lloyd Winnecke's campaign and was a part of Winnecke's 2012 transition team. In 2016, Claybourn was selected as an Indiana delegate to the
2016 Republican National Convention
The 2016 Republican National Convention, in which delegates of the United States Republican Party (United States), Republican Party chose the party's nominees for President of the United States, president and Vice President of the United Sta ...
, but a day after
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
's win in the Indiana primary which made Trump the party's presumptive nominee, Claybourn resigned his position in opposition to the nominee.
Publications
* Claybourn, Joshua A., ed. ''Abraham Lincoln's Wilderness Years: Collected Works of J. Edward Murr''. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2023.
* Claybourn, Joshua A., ed. ''Our American Story: The Search for a Shared National Narrative''. Lincoln: Potomac Books, 2019.
* Bartelt, William, and Joshua A. Claybourn, eds. ''Abe’s Youth: Shaping the Future President''. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2019.
* Claybourn, Joshua A., ed. ''Born of Clay: The Story of the Claiborne · Claybourn · Clayborn Families in the United States''. Evansville: Claybourn Genealogical Society, 2016.