Nicholas deBelleville Katzenbach (born January 17, 1922) is an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
lawyer who served as
United States Attorney GeneralThe United States Attorney General is the head of the United States Department of Justice concerned with legal affairs and is the chief law enforcement officer of the United States government. The attorney general is considered to be the chief lawyer of the U.S. government...
during the
Lyndon B. JohnsonLyndon Baines Johnson , often referred to as LBJ, was the 36th President of the United States after his service as the 37th Vice President of the United States...
administration.
Early life
Katzenbach was born in
Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaPhiladelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
and raised in
Trenton, New JerseyTrenton is the capital of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Trenton had a population of 84,913...
. His parents were
Edward L. KatzenbachEdward Lawrence Katzenbach was the Attorney General of New Jersey from 1924 to 1929. He was the brother of New Jersey Supreme Court Justice Frank S. Katzenbach and the father of United States Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach.Katzenbach was born in Trenton, New Jersey in 1878 to Frank Snowden...
, who served as Attorney General of New Jersey, and
Marie Hilson KatzenbachMarie Louise Hilson Katzenbach was an American educator who was the first female president of the New Jersey State Board of Education....
, who was the first female president of the
New JerseyNew Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
State Board of Education. His uncle,
Frank S. KatzenbachFrank Snowden Katzenbach, Jr. was an American jurist and Democratic party politician from New Jersey. He was an Associate Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court and was the Democratic nominee for Governor of New Jersey in 1907. He was the brother of New Jersey Attorney General Edward L...
, served as
mayorIn many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
of Trenton and as a Justice of the
New Jersey Supreme CourtThe New Jersey Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It has existed in three different forms under the three different state constitutions since the independence of the state in 1776...
. He was named after his mother's great-great-grandfather, Nicholas de Belleville (1753–1831), a French
physicianA physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
who accompanied Kazimierz Pułaski to America and settled in Trenton in 1778.
Katzenbach served in the
United States Army Air CorpsThe United States Army Air Corps was a forerunner of the United States Air Force. Renamed from the Air Service on 2 July 1926, it was part of the United States Army and the predecessor of the United States Army Air Forces , established in 1941...
in
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Assigned as a
navigatorA navigator is the person on board a ship or aircraft responsible for its navigation. The navigator's primary responsibility is to be aware of ship or aircraft position at all times. Responsibilities include planning the journey, advising the Captain or aircraft Commander of estimated timing to...
in the 381st Bomb Squadron, 310th Bomb Group in North Africa. His B-25 Mitchell Bomber was shot down February 23, 1943 over the Mediterranean Sea off North Africa . He spent over two years as a
prisoner of warA prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
in Italian and German POW camps.
Katzenbach attended
Phillips Exeter AcademyPhillips Exeter Academy is a private secondary school located in Exeter, New Hampshire, in the United States.Exeter is noted for its application of Harkness education, a system based on a conference format of teacher and student interaction, similar to the Socratic method of learning through asking...
, received his
B.A.A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
cum laude from
Princeton UniversityPrinceton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
in 1945 and his LL.B. cum laude from
Yale Law SchoolYale Law School, or YLS, is the law school of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Established in 1824, it offers the J.D., LL.M., J.S.D. and M.S.L. degrees in law. It also hosts visiting scholars, visiting researchers and a number of legal research centers...
in 1947, where he served as Articles Editor of the
Yale Law JournalThe Yale Law Journal is a student-run law review affiliated with the Yale Law School. Published continuously since 1891, it is the most widely known of the eight law reviews published by students at Yale Law School...
. From 1947 to 1949, he was a
Rhodes ScholarThe Rhodes Scholarship, named after Cecil Rhodes, is an international postgraduate award for study at the University of Oxford. It was the first large-scale programme of international scholarships, and is widely considered the "world's most prestigious scholarship" by many public sources such as...
at
Balliol College, OxfordBalliol College , founded in 1263, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England but founded by a family with strong Scottish connections....
.
On June 8, 1946, Katzenbach married Lydia King Phelps Stokes, in a ceremony officiated by her uncle,
Anson Phelps StokesAnson Phelps Stokes , was an American educator, clergyman, author, philanthropist and civil rights activist.Stokes was one of three men of the same name; his father was multimillionaire banker Anson Phelps Stokes, and his son was the Bishop Anson Phelps Stokes, III, an Episcopal bishop.He was born...
, former
canonA canon is a priest or minister who is a member of certain bodies of the Christian clergy subject to an ecclesiastical rule ....
of the
Washington National CathedralThe Washington National Cathedral, officially named the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, is a cathedral of the Episcopal Church located in Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. Of neogothic design, it is the sixth-largest cathedral in the world, the second-largest in...
. Her father was Harold Phelps Stokes, a
newspaperA newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
correspondentA correspondent or on-the-scene reporter is a journalist or commentator, or more general speaking, an agent who contributes reports to a newspaper, or radio or television news, or another type of company, from a remote, often distant, location. A foreign correspondent is stationed in a foreign...
and secretary to
Herbert HooverHerbert Clark Hoover was the 31st President of the United States . Hoover was originally a professional mining engineer and author. As the United States Secretary of Commerce in the 1920s under Presidents Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge, he promoted partnerships between government and business...
.
Katzenbach was
admittedIn the United States, admission to the bar is the granting of permission by a particular court system to a lawyer to practice law in that system. Each U.S. state and similar jurisdiction has its own court system and sets its own rules for bar admission , which can lead to different admission...
to the
New JerseyNew Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
bar in 1950 and the
ConnecticutConnecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
bar in 1955. He was an associate in the law firm of Katzenbach, Gildea and Rudner in 1950.
Government service
From 1950 to 1952 he was attorney-advisor in the Office of General Counsel to the Secretary of the Air Force. Katzenbach was on the faculty of
Rutgers School of Law—NewarkRutgers School of Law–Newark is the oldest of three law schools in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is located at the S.I. Newhouse Center for Law and Justice, at 123 Washington Street, in downtown Newark...
from 1950 to 1951; was an associate professor of law at Yale from 1952 to 1956; and was a professor of law at the
University of ChicagoThe University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
from 1956 to 1960.
He served in the U.S. Department of Justice as
Assistant Attorney GeneralMany of the divisions and offices of the United States Department of Justice are headed by an Assistant Attorney General.The President of the United States appoints individuals to the position of Assistant Attorney General with the advice and consent of the Senate...
of the
Office of Legal CounselThe Office of Legal Counsel is an office in the United States Department of Justice that assists the Attorney General in his function as legal adviser to the President and all executive branch agencies.-History:...
in 1961-1962 and as
Deputy Attorney GeneralUnited States Deputy Attorney General is the second-highest-ranking official in the United States Department of Justice. In the United States federal government, the Deputy Attorney General oversees the day-to-day operation of the Department of Justice, and may act as Attorney General during the...
from 1962 to 1965.
President JohnsonLyndon Baines Johnson , often referred to as LBJ, was the 36th President of the United States after his service as the 37th Vice President of the United States...
appointed Katzenbach the 65th Attorney General of the United States on February 11, 1965, and he held the office until October 2, 1966. He then served as
Under Secretary of StateThe Under Secretary of State, from 1919 to 1972, was the second-ranking official at the United States Department of State , serving as the Secretary's principal deputy, chief assistant, and Acting Secretary in the event of the Secretary's absence...
from 1966 to 1969.
In September 2008, Katzenbach published
Some of It Was Fun: Working with RFK and LBJ (W. W. Norton), a memoir of his years in Government service.
The "Stand in the Schoolhouse Door"
On June 11, 1963, Katzenbach was a primary participant in one of the most famous incidents of the Civil Rights struggle.
AlabamaAlabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
Governor
George WallaceGeorge Corley Wallace, Jr. was the 45th Governor of Alabama, serving four terms: 1963–1967, 1971–1979 and 1983–1987. "The most influential loser" in 20th-century U.S. politics, according to biographers Dan T. Carter and Stephan Lesher, he ran for U.S...
stood in front of
Foster AuditoriumFoster Auditorium is a multi-purpose facility at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. It was built in 1939 and has been used for Alabama basketball, women's sports , graduations, lectures, concerts, and other large gatherings, including registration...
at the
University of AlabamaThe University of Alabama is a public coeducational university located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States....
in an attempt to stop desegregation of that institution by the enrollment of two black students, Vivian Malone and
James HoodJames Hood was one of the first African Americans to enroll at the University of Alabama in 1963 and was made famous when Alabama Governor George Wallace blocked him from enrolling at the all-white university....
. This became known as the "Stand in the Schoolhouse Door." Wallace stood aside only after being confronted by Katzenbach, accompanied by federal marshals and the Alabama National Guard.
Role in JFK assassination investigation
A 1979 account of the House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA), reported that on November 25, 1963, only 3 days after the
John F. Kennedy assassinationJohn Fitzgerald Kennedy, the thirty-fifth President of the United States, was assassinated at 12:30 p.m. Central Standard Time on Friday, November 22, 1963, in Dealey Plaza, Dallas, Texas...
and before any formal federal investigation had been conducted, Nicholas Katzenbach, then deputy
attorney generalThe United States Attorney General is the head of the United States Department of Justice concerned with legal affairs and is the chief law enforcement officer of the United States government. The attorney general is considered to be the chief lawyer of the U.S. government...
, had written a memo to presidential assistant
Bill MoyersBill Moyers is an American journalist and public commentator. He served as White House Press Secretary in the United States President Lyndon B. Johnson Administration from 1965 to 1967. He worked as a news commentator on television for ten years. Moyers has had an extensive involvement with public...
at the
White HouseThe White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
. Katzenbach's
memo comes the closest of any known official document
(Katzenbach's memo) to discussing a government coverup:
- "The public must be satisfied that Oswald was the assassin; that he had no confederates who are still at large; and that evidence was such that he would have been convicted at trial...Speculation about Oswald's motivation ought to be cut off...Unfortunately the facts on Oswald seem about too pat—too obvious (Marxist, Cuba, Russian wife, etc.)...We need something to head off public speculation or Congressional hearings of the wrong sort."
The Committee's final report implies that Katzenbach, FBI Director
J. Edgar HooverJohn Edgar Hoover was the first Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation of the United States. Appointed director of the Bureau of Investigation—predecessor to the FBI—in 1924, he was instrumental in founding the FBI in 1935, where he remained director until his death in 1972...
, and others were the key actors behind the creation of the
Warren CommissionThe President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy, known unofficially as the Warren Commission, was established on November 27, 1963, by Lyndon B. Johnson to investigate the assassination of United States President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963...
. According to the
report,
HooverJohn Edgar Hoover was the first Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation of the United States. Appointed director of the Bureau of Investigation—predecessor to the FBI—in 1924, he was instrumental in founding the FBI in 1935, where he remained director until his death in 1972...
told staff members on November 24, 1963 that he and Katzenbach were anxious to have "something issued so we can convince the public that
OswaldLee Harvey Oswald was, according to four government investigations,These were investigations by: the Federal Bureau of Investigation , the Warren Commission , the House Select Committee on Assassinations , and the Dallas Police Department. the sniper who assassinated John F...
is the real assassin," though the idea of a commission was initially opposed by
President JohnsonLyndon Baines Johnson , often referred to as LBJ, was the 36th President of the United States after his service as the 37th Vice President of the United States...
.
Later years
Katzenbach left government service to work for
IBMInternational Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
in 1969, where he served as general counsel during the lengthy antitrust case filed filed by the Department of Justice seeking the break-up of IBM. He and Cravath's top lawyer
Thomas BarrThomas Delbert Barr was a prominent lawyer at the law firm of Cravath, Swaine & Moore. He was born in Kansas City, Missouri. He graduated from the University of Missouri–Kansas City in 1953 and Yale Law School, and served as an officer in the Marine Corps...
led the case for 13 years until the government dropped it in 1982. Later Katzenbach led the case filed by the
European Economic CommunityThe European Economic Community The European Economic Community (EEC) The European Economic Community (EEC) (also known as the Common Market in the English-speaking world, renamed the European Community (EC) in 1993The information in this article primarily covers the EEC's time as an independent...
. He retired from IBM in 1986 and became a partner at the firm of
Riker, Danzig, Scherer, Hyland & PerrettiRiker Danzig Scherer Hyland & Perretti LLP , is a law firm based in Morristown, New Jersey. Founded in 1882, it is one of the oldest and most prestigious firms in the state of New Jersey...
in New Jersey. He was named chairman of the failing
Bank of Credit and Commerce InternationalThe Bank of Credit and Commerce International was a major international bank founded in 1972 by Agha Hasan Abedi, a Pakistani financier. The Bank was registered in Luxembourg with head offices in Karachi and London. Within a decade BCCI touched its peak...
(BCCI) in 1991.
In 1980, Nicholas Katzenbach testified in the
United States District Court for the District of ColumbiaThe United States District Court for the District of Columbia is a federal district court. Appeals from the District are taken to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit The United States District Court for the District of Columbia (in case citations, D.D.C.) is a...
for the defense of
W. Mark FeltWilliam Mark Felt, Sr. was an agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation , who retired in 1973 as the Bureau's Associate Director...
, later revealed to be the "
Deep ThroatDeep Throat is the pseudonym given to the secret informant who provided information to Bob Woodward of The Washington Post in 1972 about the involvement of United States President Richard Nixon's administration in what came to be known as the Watergate scandal...
" of the Watergate scandal and later Deputy Director of the FBI; accused and later found guilty of ordering illegal wiretaps on American citizens.
In December 1996, Katzenbach was one of New Jersey's fifteen members of the
Electoral CollegeThe Electoral College consists of the electors appointed by each state who formally elect the President and Vice President of the United States. Since 1964, there have been 538 electors in each presidential election...
, who cast their votes for the Clinton/Gore ticket.
Mr. Katzenbach also testified on behalf of President Clinton on December 8, 1998, before the House Judiciary Committee hearing, considering whether to impeach President Clinton.
On March 16, 2004,
MCI CommunicationsMCI, Inc. is an American telecommunications subsidiary of Verizon Communications that is headquartered in Ashburn, Virginia...
in a
press release announced "its Board of Directors has elected former U.S. Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach as non-executive Chairman of the Board, effective upon MCI's emergence from Chapter 11 protection. Katzenbach has been an MCI Board member since July 2002." MCI later merged with Verizon.
Katzenbach and his wife Lydia reside in
Princeton, New JerseyPrinceton is a community located in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. It is best known as the location of Princeton University, which has been sited in the community since 1756...
, with a summer home on
Martha's VineyardMartha's Vineyard is an island located south of Cape Cod in Massachusetts, known for being an affluent summer colony....
in
West Tisbury, MassachusettsWest Tisbury is a town located on Martha's Vineyard in Dukes County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 2,467 at the 2000 census. Along with Chilmark and Aquinnah, West Tisbury forms "Up-Island" Martha's Vineyard.- History :...
. His son is writer
John KatzenbachJohn Katzenbach is a U.S. author of popular fiction. Son of Nicholas Katzenbach, former United States Attorney General, John worked as a criminal court reporter for the Miami Herald and Miami News , and a featured writer for the Herald’s Tropic magazine...
. His daughter Maria Katzenbach is also a published novelist.
See also
External links