Leon Jaworski
Leon Jaworski | |
---|---|
Special Prosecutor for the United States Department of Justice | |
In office November 1, 1973 – October 25, 1974 | |
Appointed by | Robert Bork |
Deputy | Henry S. Ruth Jr. |
Preceded by | Archibald Cox |
Succeeded by | Henry S. Ruth Jr. |
Personal details | |
Born | Leonidas Jaworski September 19, 1905 Waco, Texas, U.S. |
Died | December 9, 1982 Wimberley, Texas, U.S. | (aged 77)
Political party | Democratic |
Education | Baylor University (LLB) George Washington University (LLM) |
Leonidas "Leon" Jaworski (September 19, 1905 – December 9, 1982) was an American attorney and law professor who served as the second
Background
Jaworski was born in
Legal career
In 1925, he became the youngest person ever admitted to the Texas bar.[citation needed] After starting out defending bootleggers during Prohibition, in 1931, he joined the Houston law firm that became Fulbright & Jaworski, one of the largest law firms in the United States. Jaworski served as president of both the Texas Bar Association (1962–1963) and the American Bar Association (1971–1972) prior to his appointment as Special Prosecutor. He was also President of the Houston Chamber of Commerce in 1960 and served on many corporate and civic boards. Jaworski served in the United States Army and served in the judge advocate office. He rose to the rank of colonel.[2]
In 1964, Jaworski attended hearings of the Warren Commission regarding the assassination of President Kennedy as Special Counsel to the Attorney General of Texas.[3]
World War II
During World War II, Jaworski served in the United States Army's judge advocate general's office, reaching the rank of colonel.[4] He led the prosecution in multiple cases, including the Johannes Kunze murder trial, where five German prisoners of war were accused of beating a fellow prisoner to death for being a "traitor".[5][4]
Fort Lawton court-martial
On the night of August 14, 1944, the
War crimes prosecutor
After the war, Jaworski served as a war crimes prosecutor in Germany. He was involved in a case where eleven German civilians were accused of murdering six American airmen forced down over Germany in the
Political connections
A Democrat, Jaworski was a friend of fellow Texan Lyndon B. Johnson, whom he successfully represented in a 1960 lawsuit filed to prevent Johnson from campaigning for the U.S. Senate against Republican John Tower at the same time that Johnson was running for Vice President of the United States on the John F. Kennedy ticket. However, Jaworski did not always support Democratic candidates. He supported Richard Nixon and voted for him twice, contributed to George H. W. Bush in his campaign for the presidency in 1980, and after Bush conceded the nomination he became treasurer of "Democrats for Reagan" during the 1980 general election campaign.
Having been convinced of his integrity, in 1980, Jaworski aided former Nixon staffer
Watergate
On November 1, 1973, Jaworski became the Special Prosecutor in the Watergate scandal, assuming leadership of a protracted contest with President Nixon to secure evidence for the trial of former senior administration officials on charges relating to the Watergate scandal.[8]
Jaworski's predecessor as Special Prosecutor, Archibald Cox, initially believed that only Nixon's aides had committed misconduct. Because of testimony from Nixon's deputy assistant Alexander Butterfield, Cox learned that Nixon had discussed the Watergate cover-up with the accused on numerous occasions and that these conversations had been recorded by the White House taping system. This discovery caused Cox to subpoena tapes of several presidential conversations as evidence for the upcoming criminal trial, but Nixon refused to release them, citing executive privilege.
Nixon offered Cox what became known as the
On November 1, 1973, Bork announced he selected, and Nixon approved, Jaworski to replace Cox.[9] Jaworski subsequently subpoenaed sixty-four taped conversations. Nixon appealed on two grounds: first, that the office of Special Prosecutor did not have the right to sue the office of President; and second, that the requested materials were privileged presidential conversations. Aware that an important constitutional issue was at stake, and unwilling to wait any longer, Jaworski asked the Supreme Court to take the case directly, bypassing the Court of Appeals.
On July 24, 1974, the Supreme Court ruled that the Special Prosecutor did have the right to sue the President; and that the "generalized assertion of [executive] privilege must yield to the demonstrated, specific need for evidence in a pending criminal trial". Nixon was forced to give the unedited tapes to Jaworski, including the so-called Smoking Gun Tape which included a compromising discussion of June 23, 1972. The President's remaining support waned, and he resigned on August 9, 1974.
In the summer of 1982, seven members of the grand jury choose to break their oath of silence because "they [were] convinced justice was not done" and discussed their 30-month service with the ABC news show 20/20. They stated they wanted to bring an indictment against Pres. Nixon after hearing the batch of tapes released the Summer of 1974. One grand juror stated that in a straw vote, "There were 19 people in the grand-jury room that particular day, and we all raised our hands about wanting an indictment—all of us. And some of us raised both hands." However, Jaworski did not favor an indictment, even going so far as saying he would not sign one. In discussions with the grand jury, Jaworski cited "the trauma of the country," and prior to Nixon's resignation, the lack of precedent for indicting a sitting president.[10]
Later years
Jaworski resigned as special prosecutor on October 25, 1974, once the cover-up trial had begun, and a new special prosecutor was appointed. Jaworski was a close friend of Dean Ernest Raba of St. Mary's University School of Law in San Antonio, where he taught as an adjunct professor for several years.
In 1977, Jaworski reluctantly agreed to serve as special counsel to a
Jaworski died on December 9, 1982, while chopping wood at the Circle J Ranch near Wimberley in Hays County, Texas. His wife died in 1999. His son, Joseph Jaworski, is a former lawyer turned best-selling author and leadership expert. His grandson is political journalist and author Robert Draper.[11] His other grandson is Joe Jaworski, a former mayor of Galveston who ran in 2022 for Texas Attorney General.[12]
Awards and honors
In 1971, Jaworski received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement.[13][14]
In 1988, the HBAA Leon Jaworski Award was initiated to honor a lawyer for a lifetime of volunteer service. State and national bar associations reward professional achievement; the granting of the Jaworski Award is based solely on service to the greater Houston community. The award is named for Leon Jaworski whose life and achievements reflected a deep commitment to public service.[15]
Publications
- Jaworski, Leon, After Fifteen Years, Houston: Gulf Publishing Company, 1961.
- Jaworski, Leon, The Right and the Power, New York: Reader's Digest Press, 1976.
- Jaworski, Leon and Herskowitz, Mickey, Confession and Avoidance: A Memoir, Garden City, N.Y.: Anchor Press, 1979.
- Jaworski, Leon, Crossroads, Elgin, Ill.: Cook Press, 1981.
References
- ISBN 978-0-8078-3205-9. Retrieved 15 June 2017.
- ^ GRESHAM, NEWTON and TINSLEY (June 15, 2010). "JAWORSKI, LEON". tshaonline.org.
- ^ "Hearings before the President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy" (PDF). Retrieved March 22, 2024.
- ^ a b Newton Gresham and James A. Tinsley (June 15, 2010). "JAWORSKI, LEON". Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved August 8, 2022.
- ^ *Tulsa World Centential
- ^ Andrea Seabrook (December 2, 2007). "Black Soldiers Exonerated in WWII Lynching Incident". NPR. Retrieved August 8, 2022.
- ^ Jaworski, Leon. Confession and Avoidance: A Memoir. with Mickey Herskowitz. Garden City, New York: Anchor Press/Doubleday, 1979, pp. 112-116.
- ^ John Herbers (November 2, 1973). "Nixon Names Saxbe Attorney General; Jaworski Appointed Special Prosecutor". The New York Times. Retrieved August 2, 2022.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-12-29.
- ^ The Watergate grand jury tried relentlessly to indict Richard..., UPI Archives, June 17, 1982 [This date is the tenth anniversary of Watergate burglary].
- ^ "Colonel of Truth". November 2003.
- ^ Grieder, Erica (September 16, 2020). "Grieder: Texas AG Paxton draws 2022 challenger who vows to work across the aisle". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved October 6, 2020.
- American Academy of Achievement.
- American Academy of Achievement.
- ^ "Leon Jaworski Award". Houston Bar Association Auxiliary.
Further reading
- Doyle, James (1977). Not Above the Law: the Battles of Watergate Prosecutors Cox and Jaworski. New York: William Morrow and Company. ISBN 0-688-03192-7.
- Hamann, Jack (2005). On American Soil. Chapel Hill/New York: Algonquin Books. ISBN 0-295-98705-7.