George W. Wickersham
Wickersham in 1929
47thUnited States Attorney General
In office March 4, 1909 – March 4, 1913
President	William Howard Taft
Preceded by	Charles Bonaparte
Succeeded by	James McReynolds
Personal details
Born	George Woodward Wickersham (1858-09-19)September 19, 1858 Pittsburgh,Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died	January 25, 1936(1936-01-25) (aged 77) New York City,New York, U.S.
Party	Republican
Spouse	Mildred Wendell
Education	University of Pennsylvania Law School (LLB)
Signature

George Woodward Wickersham (September 19, 1858 – January 25, 1936) was an American lawyer andAttorney General of the United States in the administration ofPresident William H. Taft. He returned to government to serve in appointed positions under both Republican and Democratic administrations, forWoodrow Wilson andHerbert Hoover. He was President of theCouncil on Foreign Relations for the latter.^[1]

Born inPittsburgh,Pennsylvania, in 1858, Wickersham attended local schools and graduated from theUniversity of Pennsylvania Law School in 1880 but had previously been admitted to practice before the courts as he studied law by "reading," and preparing through an apprenticeship with an established firm.^[2]

He married Mildred Wendell. Their son,Cornelius Wendell Wickersham, was an attorney, author, and military officer who attained the rank ofmajor general in theNew York Army National Guard and was promoted tolieutenant general on the retired list to commend his many years of service to the organization.

After several years of practice, in 1883 Wickersham entered the longtime law firm ofStrong and Cadwalader in New York City. He became a partner four years later, and the firm was eventually named Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft.^{[citation needed]}

He was appointed to the office ofAttorney General of the United States from 1909 to 1913, in the administration ofPresidentWilliam Howard Taft. In 1912 Wickersham supported the membership of U.S. Assistant Attorney GeneralWilliam H. Lewis in theAmerican Bar Association, after Southerners protested the African American's presence and the executive committee voted to oust him. Wickersham sent a letter to all 4,700 members urging their support for Lewis, who refused to resign.^[3][4]

After the election of PresidentWoodrow Wilson in 1912, the Democrat appointed his own people to federal positions. During Wilson's first term, from 1914 to 1916, Wickersham was out of government and served as president of theAssociation of the Bar of the City of New York.^{[citation needed]} In 1916, Wickersham opposedWilson's nomination ofLouis Brandeis for the Supreme Court, describing the Jewish nominee's supporters as "a bunch of Hebrew uplifters."^[5]

Soon after the United States enteredWorld War I in 1917, Wickersham was named by President Wilson to serve on the War Trade Board toCuba.

In 1929, PresidentHerbert Hoover appointed Wickersham to theNational Commission on Law Observance and Enforcement, better known as the "Wickersham Commission." (It was described as the "Wickersham Committee" byWilliam L. Marbury Jr. in a 1935 letter seeking the support of U.S. SenatorGeorge L. P. Radcliffe for appointment ofAlger Hiss to theU.S. Solicitor General's office; Hiss had served on the committee 1929-1930.^[6])

Wickersham did not return to government under Democratic PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt. He was elected president of a private organization theCouncil on Foreign Relations, serving from 1933 to 1936.^[7]

Wickersham married; his son wasCornelius Wendell Wickersham, a lawyer and a U.S. Army Brigadier General.^{[citation needed]}

He lived much of his life inCedarhurst, New York in theTown of Hempstead, now known as the Village ofLawrence.^{[citation needed]}

Wickersham died in New York City in 1936 and was buried inBrookside Cemetery inEnglewood, New Jersey.^[8]

Since 1996, the Friends of the Law Library of the Library of Congress have presented an annual award named for Wickersham.^[9]

• German Jr, James Clifford. "Taft's attorney general: George W. Wickersham" (PhD dissertation, New York University, 1969).  ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 1969. 7016064.
• Bringhurst, Bruce Robert. "ANTITRUST AND THE OIL MONOPOLY: THE STANDARD OIL CASES, 1890-1911" (PhD dissertation, The Claremont Graduate University, 1976) ProQuest Dissertations Publishing,  1976. 7623920..

• George W. Wickersham. "Recent Interpretation of the Sherman Act"Michigan Law Review, Nov., 1911, Vol. 10, No. 1 (Nov., 1911), pp. 1–25online

• Media related toGeorge W. Wickersham at Wikimedia Commons

• Presidents of the Council on Foreign Relations
• 1858 births
• 1936 deaths
• Attorneys general of the United States
• University of Pennsylvania alumni
• Presidents of the New York City Bar Association
• Taft administration cabinet members
• 20th-century American politicians
• New York (state) Republicans
• Pennsylvania Republicans
• Burials at Brookside Cemetery (Englewood, New Jersey)
• People associated with Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft
• University of Pennsylvania Law School alumni

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