Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach

Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach was a pivotal American lawyer and statesman who served as the 65th United States Attorney General under President Lyndon B. Johnson. His tenure was defined by landmark civil rights enforcement and navigating profound constitutional crises during the 1960s. A key figure in the Kennedy administration and Johnson administration, Katzenbach played a central role in implementing the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and confronting the defiance of George Wallace at the University of Alabama.

Early life and education

Nicholas deBelleville Katzenbach was born in Philadelphia to a prominent family, with his father, Edward L. Katzenbach, serving as New Jersey Attorney General. He attended the prestigious Phillips Exeter Academy before enrolling at Princeton University, where he graduated with an A.B. in 1945. His studies were interrupted by World War II, during which he served as a bombardier in the United States Army Air Forces' 15th Air Force, was shot down and held as a prisoner of war in Germany, and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. After the war, he earned a LL.B. from Yale Law School as a member of the Yale Law Journal, and later studied as a Rhodes Scholar at Balliol College, Oxford, receiving a B.Litt..

Career before Attorney General

After his studies at Oxford, Katzenbach taught law at the University of Chicago Law School and later at Yale Law School. In 1950, he joined the prominent law firm of Rathbone, Perry, Kelley & Drye in New York City. His government career began in 1961 when he was appointed Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel by Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy. He quickly rose to become United States Deputy Attorney General in 1962, serving as the Justice Department's second-in-command. In this role, he provided critical legal advice during the Cuban Missile Crisis and helped draft what would become the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Tenure as Attorney General

Katzenbach was appointed United States Attorney General by President Lyndon B. Johnson in February 1965, succeeding Robert F. Kennedy. His tenure was immediately consumed by the urgent task of enforcing the newly signed Voting Rights Act of 1965. He directed the Justice Department to send federal voting rights examiners and observers into Southern states, a massive federal intervention to protect African Americans' constitutional rights. He also oversaw the federal response to the Selma to Montgomery marches and worked closely with the FBI under J. Edgar Hoover on various national security matters.

Role in civil rights and key legal battles

Katzenbach was the administration's chief legal strategist and enforcer during the climactic battles of the Civil Rights Movement. His most famous confrontation was on June 11, 1963, when, as Deputy Attorney General, he personally faced down Alabama Governor George Wallace at the University of Alabama to enforce the desegregation order for Vivian Malone and James Hood. He later successfully defended the constitutionality of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 before the Supreme Court of the United States in the landmark case Heart of Atlanta Motel, Inc. v. United States. He also provided crucial legal justification for the 24th Amendment, which abolished the poll tax.

Later career and legacy

Katzenbach resigned as Attorney General in October 1966 and was succeeded by Ramsey Clark. He subsequently served as Under Secretary of State under Dean Rusk, where he dealt with major issues including the Vietnam War and the Six-Day War. After leaving government in 1969, he served as general counsel for IBM, notably during the company's lengthy antitrust battle with the United States Department of Justice. He later practiced law in New Jersey and Washington, D.C.. Nicholas Katzenbach died in 2012 in Skillman, New Jersey. He is remembered as a principled and effective lawyer whose calm determination was instrumental in transforming civil rights legislation into enforceable reality during a period of great national turmoil.

Category:1922 births Category:2012 deaths Category:United States Attorneys General Category:American Rhodes Scholars Category:Yale Law School alumni