James Britt Donovan was an American lawyer and Commander in the USNR. A graduate of
Harvard Law SchoolHarvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. HLS typically ranks among the top law...
, he helped draft the legislation setting up the
Central Intelligence AgencyThe Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government.It is an independent agency responsible for providing national security intelligence to senior United States policymakers....
. He earned public attention as a defense lawyer for a Russian spy leader. He worked as an agent for the Kennedy administration, negotiating deals with
Fidel CastroFidel Alejandro Castro Ruz is a Cuban politician, one of the primary leaders of the Cuban Revolution, the Prime Minister of Cuba from February 1959 to December 1976, and then the President of the Council of State of Cuba until his resignation from the office in February 2008...
, and with the Russian government for the release of a captured U-2 spy plane pilot.
Donovan was assistant trial counsel in the
Nuremberg TrialsThe Nuremberg trials were a series of trials, or tribunals, most notable for the prosecution of prominent members of the political, military, and economic leadership of Nazi Germany after its defeat in World War II....
.
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James Britt Donovan was an American lawyer and Commander in the USNR. A graduate of
Harvard Law SchoolHarvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. HLS typically ranks among the top law...
, he helped draft the legislation setting up the
Central Intelligence AgencyThe Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government.It is an independent agency responsible for providing national security intelligence to senior United States policymakers....
. He earned public attention as a defense lawyer for a Russian spy leader. He worked as an agent for the Kennedy administration, negotiating deals with
Fidel CastroFidel Alejandro Castro Ruz is a Cuban politician, one of the primary leaders of the Cuban Revolution, the Prime Minister of Cuba from February 1959 to December 1976, and then the President of the Council of State of Cuba until his resignation from the office in February 2008...
, and with the Russian government for the release of a captured U-2 spy plane pilot.
Donovan was assistant trial counsel in the
Nuremberg TrialsThe Nuremberg trials were a series of trials, or tribunals, most notable for the prosecution of prominent members of the political, military, and economic leadership of Nazi Germany after its defeat in World War II....
. He presented at the trial filmed evidence of Nazi abuses against the Jews.
In 1962, Donovan was the Kennedy-backed Democratic candidate for a Senate seat in the state of New York against Jacob Javits.
For the last two years of his life, Donovan was president of New York art school the
Pratt InstitutePratt Institute is a specialized private college in New York City with campuses in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Utica, New York. Pratt is one of the leading art schools in the United States and offers programs in art, architecture, fashion design, illustration, interior design, digital arts, creative...
. Donovan died in 1970.
1962 New York State Democratic Ticket
- Governor: Robert Morgenthau
- Lieutenant Governor: John J. Burns
- Comptroller: Arthur Levitt, Sr.
Arthur Levitt was an American lawyer and politician.-Life:He served in the U.S...
- Attorney General: Edward R. Dudley
Edward Richard Dudley was the first African-American to hold the rank of Ambassador of the United States, serving as Ambassador to Liberia from 1949 to 1953....
- US Senate: James B. Donovan