John Marshall Harlan II, 1955-1971

JOHN MARSHALL HARLAN, II was born in Chicago, Illinois, on May 20, 1899, and named after his grandfather, who served as an Associate Justice from 1877 to 1911. Harlan was graduated from Princeton University in 1920 and studied law for three years at Balliol College, Oxford. He received his law degree from New York Law School in 1925. Harlan entered private practice with a New York law firm. He remained a member for twenty-five years but took periodic leaves of absence to serve in public office. In 1925, he was appointed an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and from 1928 to 1930 he served as a Special Assistant Attorney General for New York. In World War II, Harlan served as an officer in the United States Air Force. After the War, he returned to his law practice and served as chief counsel to the New York State Crime Commission from 1951 to 1953. In 1954, President Dwight D. Eisenhower appointed Harlan to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. On January 10, 1955, President Eisenhower nominated him to the Supreme Court of the United States. The Senate confirmed the appointment on March 16, 1955. Harlan retired from the Supreme Court on September 23, 1971. He died on December 29, 1971, at the age of seventy-two.