George W. Wickersham, U.S. Attorney General

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_W._Wickersham

George Woodward Wickersham (September 19, 1858 – January 25, 1936) was an American lawyer and Presidential Cabinet Secretary. He was the father of Cornelius Wendell Wickersham, US Army Brigadier General and Lawyer.

Biography

Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he graduated from the University of Pennsylvania. In 1883 Wickersham entered the old established law firm of Strong and Cadwalader, and became a partner four years later.

He held the office of Attorney General of the United States from 1909 to 1913, in the administration of President William Howard Taft. From 1914 to 1916, Wickersham served as president of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York.

Wickersham was named by Woodrow Wilson to serve on the War Trade Board to Cuba soon after the United States entered World War I. In 1929, Herbert Hoover named him to the National Commission on Law Observance and Enforcement, the so- called Wickersham Commission.

Wickersham was President of the Council on Foreign Relations from 1933-1936.

Wickersham died in New York City in 1936, and was interred in Brookside Cemetery in Englewood, New Jersey.

Legacy

Since 1996, the Friends of the Law Library of the Library of Congress have presented an annual award named for Wickersham.