Nicholas Katzenbach

Nicholas Katzenbach
Yoichi R. Okamoto, White House Press Office (WHPO) · Public domain · source
Name	Nicholas Katzenbach
Caption	Official portrait, c. 1960s
Office	Deputy Attorney General of the United States
President	John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson
Term start	1962
Term end	1965
Predecessor	Byron White
Successor	Ramsey Clark
Office2	66th Attorney General of the United States
President2	Lyndon B. Johnson
Term start2	1965
Term end2	1966
Predecessor2	Robert F. Kennedy
Successor2	Ramsey Clark
Office3	Under Secretary of State
President3	Lyndon B. Johnson
Term start3	1966
Term end3	1969
Predecessor3	George Ball
Successor3	Elliot Richardson
Birth date	17 January 1922
Birth place	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Death date	8 May 2012
Death place	Skillman, New Jersey, U.S.
Party	Democratic
Education	Phillips Exeter Academy
Alma mater	Princeton University (BA), Yale Law School (LLB), University of Oxford (MA)
Spouse	Lydia King Phelps Stokes
Branch	United States Army Air Forces
Serviceyears	1943–1945
Battles	World War II

Nicholas Katzenbach was a prominent American lawyer and government official who served as United States Attorney General and United States Under Secretary of State during the 1960s. He is best remembered as a key strategist and enforcer for the Kennedy administration and Johnson administration during the pivotal legislative battles of the Civil Rights Movement. His direct actions, including the famous confrontation with George Wallace at the University of Alabama, were instrumental in advancing federal desegregation efforts and the passage of landmark civil rights laws.

Early Life and Education

Nicholas deBelleville Katzenbach was born in Philadelphia to a prominent family; his father, Edward L. Katzenbach, was New Jersey Attorney General. He attended the elite Phillips Exeter Academy before enrolling at Princeton University, where he graduated in 1945. His education was interrupted by service as a bomber navigator in the United States Army Air Forces during World War II; he was shot down and spent two years as a prisoner of war in Germany. After the war, he earned a law degree from Yale Law School and later studied as a Rhodes Scholar at Balliol College, University of Oxford.

Legal Career and Early Government Service

After completing his education, Katzenbach taught law at the University of Chicago Law School and later at Yale Law School. He entered government service in 1961 when he was appointed as an Assistant Attorney General in the Office of Legal Counsel at the United States Department of Justice by Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy. In this role, he quickly became a trusted legal advisor, providing critical opinions on executive power and federal authority.

Role in the Kennedy Administration

In 1962, Katzenbach was promoted to United States Deputy Attorney General, serving directly under Robert F. Kennedy. He played a central operational role in the federal government's response to the civil rights crises of the early 1960s. He was deeply involved in managing the legal and logistical challenges of the Freedom Riders and the integration of the University of Mississippi in 1962. His most famous moment came on June 11, 1963, when he was dispatched by President John F. Kennedy and Attorney General Kennedy to confront Alabama Governor George Wallace at the University of Alabama. Wallace had vowed to "stand in the schoolhouse door" to block the enrollment of two Black students, Vivian Malone and James Hood. Katzenbach, representing the federal government, read a presidential proclamation ordering Wallace to step aside, and later that day, the Alabama National Guard was federalized to ensure the students' peaceful enrollment.

Key Actions in the Johnson Administration

After the assassination of President Kennedy, Katzenbach continued as Deputy Attorney General under President Lyndon B. Johnson. When Robert F. Kennedy resigned in 1964 to run for the United States Senate, Katzenbach succeeded him as the 66th United States Attorney General. In this role, he oversaw the Federal Bureau of Investigation following the death of J. Edgar Hoover's longtime deputy, Clyde Tolson, and managed the federal response to civil unrest, including the Watts riots in 1965. He also served on the Warren Commission, which investigated President Kennedy's assassination.

Involvement in Landmark Civil Rights Legislation

Katzenbach was a principal architect and legislative strategist for the Johnson administration's historic civil rights agenda. He worked closely with President Johnson, White House Counsel Lee C. White, and leaders in the United States Congress like Senator Everett Dirksen to secure passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. He provided crucial testimony before the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary and the Senate Commerce Committee, forcefully arguing for the act's constitutionality and necessity. He played a similarly vital role in the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, helping to draft the legislation and advocating for its powerful enforcement provisions, which included the deployment of federal registrations and the authority to oversee elections in states with a history of racial discrimination.

Later Career and International Legacy

In 1966, Katzenbach was appointed United States Under Secretary of State, where he dealt with major foreign policy issues, including the Vietnam War and the Six-Day War. He later served as general counsel for IBM and as a partner at the law firm of Riker, Danzig, Scherer, & Hyland. He remained a respected figure in legal and political circles, often reflecting on the transformative period of the 1960s. He was a recipient of the prestigious Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2012, awarded posthumously. His legacy is inextricably linked to the federal government's decisive use of the law as a tool for social justice and the dismantling of Jim Crow-era segregation.