Lawrence Edward Walsh (January 8, 1912 – March 19, 2014) was an American lawyer and judge who was

United States Deputy Attorney General The United States deputy attorney general is the second-highest-ranking official in the United States Department of Justice and oversees the day-to-day operation of the department. The deputy attorney general acts as attorney general during the ...

from 1957 to 1961 and a judge of the

United States District Court for the Southern District of New York The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (in case citations, S.D.N.Y.) is a federal trial court whose geographic jurisdiction encompasses eight counties of the State of New York. Two of these are in New York Ci ...

. He was appointed

Independent Counsel The Office of Special Counsel was a prosecutorial unit within the United States Department of Justice that operated from 1978 until the expiration of its statutory authority on December 31, 1999. Created by the Ethics in Government Act o ...

in December 1986 to investigate the

Iran–Contra affair The Iran–Contra affair (; ), also referred to as the Iran–Contra scandal, the Iran Initiative, or simply Iran–Contra, was a political scandal in the United States that centered on arms trafficking to Iran between 1981 and 1986, facilitat ...

during the

Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party and became an important figure in ...

Administration.

Early life and career

Walsh was born in Port Maitland,

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, the son of Cornelius Edward (1879–1927) and Lila May (Sanders) Walsh. His father was a family doctor and his grandfather was a sea captain. Walsh grew up in

Queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, and became a naturalized citizen at the age of 10. He graduated from

Flushing High School Flushing High School is a four-year public high school in Flushing, in the New York City borough of Queens. The school is operated by the New York City Department of Education. As of the 2020–21 school year, the school had an enrollment of ...

. Walsh received his undergraduate degree from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

in 1932 and a law degree from

Columbia Law School Columbia Law School (CLS) is the Law school in the United States, law school of Columbia University, a Private university, private Ivy League university in New York City. The school was founded in 1858 as the Columbia College Law School. The un ...

in 1935. After graduating from law school, he served a varied career in public life, including as special assistant attorney general of Drukman Investigation from 1936 to 1938 and as a deputy assistant district attorney of

New York County Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the smallest county by area in the U.S. state of New York. Located almost entire ...

from 1938 to 1941. After a period in private practice of law in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

from 1941 to 1943, he served as assistant counsel to

Governor

Thomas E. Dewey Thomas Edmund Dewey (March 24, 1902 – March 16, 1971) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 47th Governor of New York from 1943 to 1954. He was the Republican Party's nominee for president of the United States in 1944 and ...

from 1943 to 1949 and as Counsel to the

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

from 1950 to 1951. He was a Counsel for the Public Service Commission from 1951 to 1953, and the general counsel and Executive Director of the Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor from 1953 to 1954.

Federal judicial service

Walsh was nominated by President

Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was the 34th president of the United States, serving from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, he was Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionar ...

on April 6, 1954, to the

, to a new seat authorized by 68 Stat. 8. He was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

on April 27, 1954, and received his commission the next day. His service terminated on December 29, 1957, due to his resignation, having served only three and one-half years as a judge.

Later career

After his resignation from the federal bench, Walsh served as Deputy Attorney General in the Eisenhower administration from 1957 to 1960. Thereafter, Walsh resumed the private practice of law in New York City, where he practiced from 1961 to 1981 as a partner at

Davis Polk & Wardwell Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, commonly known as Davis Polk, is an American multinational corporation, multinational law firm headquartered in New York City with offices in Washington, D.C., Menlo Park, California, Menlo Park, London, Madrid, Brussel ...

. During this period, he worked on the

Bendectin Pyridoxine/doxylamine, sold under the brand name Diclectin among others, is a combination of pyridoxine hydrochloride ( vitamin B6) and doxylamine succinate. It is generally used for nausea and vomiting of pregnancy (morning sickness); even tho ...

litigation and represented companies such as

General Motors General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing f ...

and

AT&T AT&T Inc., an abbreviation for its predecessor's former name, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the w ...

. In 1969, on the recommendation of his former boss, Secretary of State and former Attorney General

William P. Rogers William Pierce Rogers (June 23, 1913 – January 2, 2001) was an American politician, diplomat, and attorney. A member of the Republican Party, Rogers served as Deputy Attorney General of the United States and then Attorney General of the Un ...

, Walsh was named as an ambassador in the United States Delegation to the

Paris Peace Talks The Paris Peace Accords (), officially the Agreement on Ending the War and Restoring Peace in Viet Nam (), was a peace agreement signed on January 27, 1973, to establish peace in Vietnam and end the Vietnam War. It took effect at 8:00 the follow ...

in 1969, but held the position for only a short period of time. He served as president of 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 ...

from 1975 until 1976. In 1981, approaching Davis Polk's mandatory retirement age, Walsh moved his practice to his wife's hometown of

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Oklahoma, most populous city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat ...

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

, where he joined the firm of

Crowe & Dunlevy Crowe & Dunlevy is an American law firm headquartered in Oklahoma. Founded in 1902, it is the second largest law firm in Oklahoma with offices in Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Dallas, and Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by po ...

Independent Counsel

On December 19, 1986, Walsh was named as the independent counsel in charge of the Iran-Contra investigation. His investigation led to the convictions of both former

Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs The assistant to the president for national security affairs (APNSA), commonly referred to as the national security advisor (NSA),The National Security Advisor and Staff: p. 1. is a senior aide in the Executive Office of the President, based at t ...

Vice Admiral

John Poindexter John Marlan Poindexter (born August 12, 1936) is a retired United States naval officer and Department of Defense official. He was Deputy National Security Advisor and National Security Advisor during the Reagan administration. He was convicte ...

and former NSC staffer Lieutenant Colonel

Oliver North Oliver Laurence North (born October 7, 1943) is an American political commentator, television host, military historian, author, and retired United States Marine Corps lieutenant colonel. A veteran of the Vietnam War, North was a National Sec ...

, though both convictions were subsequently reversed. Walsh also brought an indictment on two counts of perjury and one count of obstruction of justice against former

Secretary of Defense A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divided ...

Caspar Weinberger Caspar Willard Weinberger (August 18, 1917 – March 28, 2006) was an American politician and businessman. As a Republican, he served in a variety of state and federal positions for three decades, most notably as Secretary of Defense under ...

in June 1992. That September, one count, obstruction of justice, was dismissed. On the eve of the 1992 presidential election, on October 30, Walsh obtained a grand jury re-indictment of Weinberger on one count of false statements. One phrase in that superseding indictment referred to President

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushBefore the outcome of the 2000 United States presidential election, he was usually referred to simply as "George Bush" but became more commonly known as "George H. W. Bush", "Bush Senior," "Bush 41," and even "Bush th ...

. Some believe that Bush had been closing the gap with

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

, and that this event stopped his momentum. Clinton administration attorney Lanny Davis called the decision to indict a week before the election rather than after the election "bizarre." Judge Thomas F. Hogan dismissed the October indictment two months later for being outside the

statute of limitations A statute of limitations, known in civil law systems as a prescriptive period, is a law passed by a legislative body to set the maximum time after an event within which legal proceedings may be initiated. ("Time for commencing proceedings") In ...

. Weinberger's subsequent pardon by President

in December 1992 preempted any trial. Walsh steadfastly denied that the investigation was politically motivated, while Bush and others criticized it as "the criminalization of policy differences." Walsh submitted his final report on August 4, 1993, and later wrote an account of his experiences as counsel, ''Firewall: The Iran-Contra Conspiracy and Cover-Up''. In 2003, Walsh published his autobiography, ''The Gift of Insecurity: A Lawyer's Life.'' Walsh was the model for the hero of Jacob Appel's novel, ''The Biology of Luck'' (2013). Walsh described having a fictional character based upon him as "flattering" during an August 2013 interview.

Personal life and death

In his senior year of college, Walsh began to date Maxine Winton of Tampa, Florida, a former Barnard College student then attending Columbia Business School. They were married from 1936 until her death from cancer, at age 52, in 1964. In 1965, Walsh married Mary Alma Porter; they were married until her death on December 22, 2012. He was the father of five children — Barbara, Janet, Dale, Sara and Elizabeth. On January 8, 2012, Walsh celebrated his 100th birthday. On March 19, 2014, Walsh died at the age of 102 in Oklahoma City.

References

Sources

*
Final Report of the Independent Counsel for Iran/Contra Matters
*

*

External links

Finding aid to the Lawrence E. Walsh Papers at Columbia University. Rare Book & Manuscript Library
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Walsh, Lawrence 1912 births 2014 deaths American men centenarians Canadian emigrants to the United States Canadian men centenarians Columbia College (New York) alumni Columbia Law School alumni Davis Polk & Wardwell lawyers Flushing High School alumni Judges of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York Lawyers from New York City Lawyers from Oklahoma City Naturalized citizens of the United States People from Yarmouth County Special prosecutors United States deputy attorneys general United States district court judges appointed by Dwight D. Eisenhower