Stephen Joseph Harmelin (May 7, 1939 – May 3, 2025) was an American lawyer who specialized in

corporate A corporation or body corporate is an individual or a group of people, such as an association or company, that has been authorized by the state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law as "born out of s ...

and

transactional law Transactional law is the practice of private law relating to money, business, and commerce. Areas of focus include providing legal aid to entrepreneurs through contract drafting, real estate acquisition, and intellectual property affairs. Transact ...

. He was the co-chairman of the Philadelphia-based law firm Dilworth Paxson LLP. He also served as the

White House Director of Speechwriting The White House Director of Speechwriting is a role within the Executive Office of the President of the United States. The officeholder serves as senior advisor and chief speechwriter to the president of the United States The president of ...

and as a

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

aide for 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 ...

from 1964 to 1965.

Early life and education

Harmelin was born on May 7, 1939, into a

Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

ish family in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. Harmelin attended Central High School. He later went on to graduate from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

and

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...

. He served in the

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and Admiralty law, law enforcement military branch, service branch of the armed forces of the United States. It is one of the country's eight Uniformed services ...

Career

From 1964 to 1965, Harmelin served as the

and as a White House aide to President

. Johnson tasked Harmelin with the creation of the White House Fellows program. He joined Dilworth Paxson LLP in 1965 and worked under former Philadelphia Mayor

Richardson Dilworth Richardson K. Dilworth (August 29, 1898 – January 23, 1974) was an American Democratic Party politician who served as the 91st mayor of Philadelphia from 1956 to 1962. He twice ran as the Democratic nominee for governor of Pennsylvania, in ...

. In 1970, Harmelin briefly left Dilworth Paxson and served as a Special Philadelphia Assistant District Attorney under

Arlen Specter Arlen Specter (February 12, 1930 – October 14, 2012) was an American lawyer, author and politician who served as a United States Senator from Pennsylvania from 1981 to 2011. Specter was a Democrat from 1951 to 1965, then a Republican fr ...

. In 1989, Harmelin was appointed by Pennsylvania Governor,

Bob Casey Sr. Robert Patrick Casey (January 9, 1932 – May 30, 2000) was an American lawyer and politician from Pennsylvania who served as the 42nd governor of Pennsylvania from 1987 to 1995. He served as a member of the Pennsylvania Senate for the 22 ...

as a Commissioner on the Board of the Pennsylvania Convention Center Authority. He served in that role until 2002. In 1992, he served as General Counsel for the Legislative Reapportionment Commission on behalf of the

Pennsylvania State Senate The Pennsylvania State Senate is the upper house of the Pennsylvania General Assembly, the Pennsylvania state legislature. The State Senate meets in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg. Senators are elected for four-year terms, stagger ...

and the

Pennsylvania General Assembly The Pennsylvania General Assembly is the legislature of the U.S. commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The legislature convenes in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg. In colonial times (1682–1776), the legislature was known as the Pennsylvani ...

. From 2007 to 2008, he worked as the ''receiver

ad litem ''Ad litem'' (Latin: "for the suit") is a term used in law to refer to the appointment by a court of one party to act in a lawsuit on behalf of another party such as a child or an incapacitated adult, who is deemed incapable of representing him ...

'' for the

Commodity Futures Trading Commission The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the US government created in 1974 that regulates the U.S. derivatives markets, which includes futures contract, fut ...

and recovered $170 million, the largest in the commission's history. He also served as a member of the

Third Circuit Court of Appeals The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (in case citations, 3d Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts for the following districts: * District of Delaware * District of New Jersey * Eas ...

Task Force to select counsel in certain lawsuits. He retired from Dilworth Paxson in 2019. Harmelin served as

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 ...

to the

National Constitution Center The National Constitution Center is a non-profit institution that is devoted to the study of the Constitution of the United States. Located at the Independence Mall (Philadelphia), Independence Mall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the center is a ...

. Harmelin was awarded the Replansky Award by the Philadelphia Bar Association Corporate Law Committee for distinguished accomplishments in civics, law, and professionalism. He also sat on the National Constitution Center's Board of Trustees from the center's opening in 2000.

Personal life

Harmelin was the founder of the Philadelphia Constitution Foundation, where he led a project to bring the original copy of the

Magna Carta (Medieval Latin for "Great Charter"), sometimes spelled Magna Charta, is a royal charter of rights agreed to by King John of England at Runnymede, near Windsor, on 15 June 1215. First drafted by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Cardin ...

to Philadelphia in 1987 as a way to commemorate the U.S. Constitution's 200th anniversary, and then again in 2001. He also sat on the boards of the

Barnes Foundation The Barnes Foundation is an art collection and educational institution promoting the appreciation of art and horticulture. Originally in Merion, the art collection moved in 2012 to a new building on Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia, ...

, the

Atlantic Legal Foundation Established in 1977, Atlantic Legal Foundation, also known as ALF, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, nonpartisan public interest law firm that litigates individual liberty, deregulation, free enterprise, and private property rights. The foundation was st ...

, the

College of Physicians of Philadelphia The College of Physicians of Philadelphia is the oldest private medical society in the United States. Founded in 1787 by 24 Philadelphia physicians "to advance the Science of Medicine, and thereby lessen human misery, by investigating the dise ...

, and ''

The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'', often referred to simply as ''The Inquirer'', is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded on June 1, 1829, ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is the third-longest continuously operating da ...

''. He appeared in the

History Channel History (formerly and commonly known as the History Channel) is an American pay television television broadcaster, network and the flagship channel of A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Disney General Entertainme ...

show '' Save Our History'' where he spoke about the

. Harmelin helped draft the Russian Federation's Constitution, which was enacted in 1993. In 2013, Harmelin led a project to return Pennsylvania's original copy of the

Bill of Rights A bill of rights, sometimes called a declaration of rights or a charter of rights, is a list of the most important rights to the citizens of a country. The purpose is to protect those rights against infringement from public officials and pri ...

, which was held in the

New York Public Library The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second-largest public library in the United States behind the Library of Congress a ...

. He arranged an agreement with the library that allowed the copy to be shared between the library and the state of Pennsylvania for 100 years. According to Jeffrey Rosen, who serves as the president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, " here isno one else in American history who's responsible for restoring two original copies of the Bill of Rights to their owners." Harmelin was close friends with former longtime Pennsylvania Senator,

. He served as the Treasurer for Specter's successful re-election campaign in 2004. Stephen Harmelin died from Parkinson's disease at home in

Society Hill Society Hill is a historic neighborhood in Center City, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, with a population of 6,215 . Settled in the early 1680s, Society Hill is one of the oldest residential neighborhoods in Philadelphia.The Center ...

, on May 3, 2025, four days before his 86th birthday.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Harmelin, Stephen 1939 births 2025 deaths American political fundraisers Corporate lawyers Harvard Law School alumni Jewish American government officials Lawyers from Philadelphia Pennsylvania lawyers Central High School (Philadelphia) alumni United States Coast Guard officers University of Pennsylvania alumni 21st-century American Jews Deaths from Parkinson's disease in Pennsylvania