Lewis F. Powell, Jr., 1972-1987

LEWIS F. POWELL, JR., was born in Suffolk, Virginia, on September 19, 1907, and lived most of his life in Richmond, Virginia. He was graduated from Washington and Lee University in 1929 and from Washington and Lee University Law School in 1931. In 1932, he received a master’s degree from Harvard Law School. Powell entered practice with a Richmond law firm, where he became a senior partner and continued his association until 1971. During World War II, he served in the United States Army Air Force in Europe and North America. After the War, Powell resumed his law practice. He served as the President of the American Bar Association from 1964 to 1965 and of the American College of Trial Lawyers from 1968 to 1969. In 1966, he served as a member of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s Crime Commission. On October 22, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon nominated Powell to the Supreme Court of the United States. The Senate confirmed the appointment on December 6, 1971. Powell served on the Supreme Court for fifteen years. He retired on June 26, 1987. He died on August 25, 1998 at the age of ninety.