Herbert Brownell | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 62ndUnited States Attorney General | |
| In office January 21, 1953 – October 23, 1957 | |
| President | Dwight D. Eisenhower |
| Deputy | William P. Rogers |
| Preceded by | James P. McGranery |
| Succeeded by | William P. Rogers |
| Chair of theRepublican National Committee | |
| In office June 30, 1944 – April 1, 1946 | |
| Preceded by | Harrison E. Spangler |
| Succeeded by | B. Carroll Reece |
| Member of theNew York State Assembly from the 10thNew York district | |
| In office January 1, 1933 – December 31, 1937 | |
| Preceded by | Langdon W. Post |
| Succeeded by | MacNeil Mitchell |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1904-02-20)February 20, 1904 Nemaha County, Nebraska, U.S. |
| Died | May 1, 1996(1996-05-01) (aged 92) New York City,New York, U.S. |
| Party | Republican |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 4 |
| Education | University of Nebraska (BA) Yale University (LLB) |
Herbert Brownell Jr. (February 20, 1904 – May 1, 1996) was an American lawyer andRepublican politician. From 1953 to 1957, he served asUnited States Attorney General in the administration of PresidentDwight D. Eisenhower.[1]
Brownell, one of the seven children of Herbert and May Miller Brownell, was born inNemaha County, Nebraska, near the town ofPeru. His father, Herbert Brownell, was a professor and author at thePeru State Normal School in education and physical sciences. After graduatingPhi Beta Kappa from theUniversity of Nebraska in 1924, and, in his senior year, being a member of theSociety of Innocents, Brownell attendedYale Law School, where he was president of theYale Law Journal, earning his law degree in 1927. While at the University of Nebraska, he joined theDelta Upsilon fraternity.
Brownell's brother, Samuel Brownell, served asU.S. Commissioner of Education from 1953 through 1956.
Brownell was admitted to the bar inNew York and began his practice inNew York City. In February 1929, he joined the law firm ofLord Day & Lord in New York, and except for periods of government service, he remained with them until his retirement in 1989. He married Doris McCarter on June 16, 1934. They had four children (Joan Brownell, Ann Brownell, Thomas McCarter Brownell, and James Barker Brownell) and remained together until McCarter's death on June 12, 1979. He married his second wife Marion Taylor in 1987, but the couple separated and divorced in December 1989.
His most important client was the famous Greek shipping billionaireAristotle Onassis; immediately after the end ofWorld War II, Onassis was eager to get his hands on theT2 tankers originally built for the wartime needs of theU.S. Navy. The tankers were eventually made available for sale, but because they were considered to have a militarily strategic value in the event of another war, they were being offered to American citizens only.
Brownell helped Onassis work out a scheme of dummy American corporations, thus allowing him to bypass the regulations and purchase the tankers through thesedummy corporations.[2] Later, as Attorney General, Brownell would be forced to switch sides under pressure from FBI DirectorJ. Edgar Hoover, and his Justice Department wouldindict Onassis (eventually Onassis and the U.S. government reached a settlement).[2]
Besides his law practice, Brownell had a long and active political career as aRepublican. He was a member of theNew York State Assembly (New York Co., 10th district) in1933,1934,1935,1936 and1937.
In 1942, he was the campaign manager forThomas Dewey's election asgovernor of New York. He also managed Dewey's 1944 and 1948 campaigns for president. From 1944 to 1946, he was the chairman of theRepublican National Committee, where he focused on modernizing it with advancedpolling methods and fundraising techniques. He was credited by many as being instrumental in helping the Republicans to gain control of theUS Congress in the1946 midterm elections.
In 1952, Brownell played an important role in convincing GeneralDwight Eisenhower, then supreme allied commander in Europe, to run forPresident of the United States and worked in the Eisenhower campaign. Along with Dewey, Brownell was instrumental in Eisenhower's selection ofRichard Nixon as the vice-presidential running mate.[3]
Brownell was appointed by Eisenhower as Attorney General and served from January 21, 1953, to October 23, 1957. On November 6, 1953, Brownell told members of the Chicago Executives Club, "Harry Dexter White was aRussian spy.... He smuggled secret documents to Russian agents for transmission toMoscow."[4] At the same time, he helped the Eisenhower administration cover up the Soviet Union's involvement in theKorean War to preventMcCarthyist politicians from using it to raise popular support for afull-scale world war against theSoviet Union.[5]
Early in his term, Brownell was involved in several landmarkcivil rights cases, includingBrown v. Board of Education.
Although it was weakened by theUS Senate, he drafted the legislative proposal that ultimately became theCivil Rights Act of 1957, the first civil rights law that was enacted since 1875. Because of his strong stance in favor of civil rights, Brownell became very unpopular in theSouth.
Eisenhower reluctantly decided not to nominate Brownell to theSupreme Court when vacancies occurred in 1957 and 1958, as he feared thatsegregationists in the Senate would fight and defeat the nomination.
Brownell stepped down as an Attorney General only after his advice had been followed in theLittle Rock desegregation case.Osro Cobb, theUnited States Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, reflects on Brownell's tenure:
...Brownell had stuck by his guns for the hard line on theintegration dispute. His advice had been followed. The government was committed with no easy way to extricate itself. Many people on both sides of the controversy were becoming increasingly unhappy. I am inclined to believe that while Mr. Brownell was genuinely pleased with the policy, he was grievously disappointed that it had not achieved better results. The impasse with GovernorOrval Faubus may have contributed substantially to his decision to retire. We may not get the answer until and if he writes his memoirs, but I doubt it even then because the Herbert Brownell I grew to know would not write about his personal secrets. Mr. Brownell was both praised and condemned as he departed from office....[6]
In 1965, Brownell chaired a committee to find civilians, who would serve on the first impartialCivilian Complaint Review Board of theNew York City Police Department, the first such citizen oversight of police in the country.
Brownell took himself out of consideration for appointment by PresidentRichard Nixon asChief Justice of the United States to replaceEarl Warren in 1969, the eventual replacement beingWarren E. Burger.[7]
Brownell later served as the United States representative to thePermanent Court of Arbitration inThe Hague and from 1972 to 1974, he was special U.S. envoy toMexico for negotiations over theColorado River.
In addition to many honors and other civic roles, Brownell was also President of theNew York City Bar Association in 1982. From 1986 to 1989 he served on the Commission for the Bicentennial of theUnited States Constitution. He died of cancer at theNew York Hospital Cornell-Medical Center inManhattan, New York, at 92.
| New York State Assembly | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of theNew York Assembly from the 10th district 1933–1937 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Chair of theRepublican National Committee 1944–1946 | Succeeded by |
| Legal offices | ||
| Preceded by | United States Attorney General 1953–1957 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
