William Ramsey Clark is an American lawyer, activist and former federal government official. He occupied senior positions in the United States Department of Justice under Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. As attorney general, he was known for his vigorous opposition to the death penalty and his aggressive support of civil liberties and civil rights.
About Ramsey Clark in brief
William Ramsey Clark is an American lawyer, activist and former federal government official. He occupied senior positions in the United States Department of Justice under Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. As attorney general, he was known for his vigorous opposition to the death penalty, his aggressive support of civil liberties and civil rights, and his dedication in enforcing antitrust provisions. Since leaving public office Clark has led many progressive activism campaigns. He has offered legal defense to controversial figures such as Charles Taylor, Slobodan Milošević, Saddam Hussein, and Lyndon LaRouche. Clark is the third oldest living former Cabinet member alive, after George Shultz and Henry Kissinger. Clark attended Woodrow Wilson High School in Washington, D. C., but dropped out at the age of 17 in order to join the U.S. Marine Corps, seeing action in Western Europe in the final months of World War II. He earned a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Texas at Austin in 1949, and obtained a Master of Arts in American history and a Juris Doctor from University of Chicago Law School in 1950 and 1951, respectively. He was admitted to the Texas bar in 1950. Clark practiced law as an associate and partner at his father’s Texas law firm, Clark, Reed and Clark. In 1969 he was associated with the New York law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison. Clark received one nomination for presidential nomination at the 1972 Democratic National Convention. He is the son of prominent jurist Tom C.
Clark and his wife Mary Jane. Clark’s father served as United States Attorney General from 1945 to 1949 under President Harry S. Truman and then became a Supreme Court Justice in August 1949. His maternal grandfather was William Franklin Ramsey, who served on the Supreme Court of Texas, while his paternal grandfather, lawyer William Henry Clark, was president of the Texas Bar Association. In addition to his government work, during this period Clark was also director of the American Judicature Society. In 1973 he was active in the anti-Vietnam War movement and visited North Vietnam in 1972 as a protest against the bombing of Hanoi. He also taught courses at the Howard University School of Law and Brooklyn Law School. Clark was a member of the Yale Chaplain Corps and Yale chaplain William Coffin Jr. was his chaplain. Clark served as the attorney general until Johnson’s term as president ended on January 20, 1969. He served as Deputy Attorney General, overseeing the department’s Lands Division from 1961 to 1965, and then served as Assistant Attorney general from 1965 to 1967. In 1967, President Johnson nominated him to be Attorney General of the United United States. He took the oath of office on March 2, 1967, and was confirmed by the Senate and took his place as attorney general. He oversaw the prosecution of the Boston Five for \”conspiracy to aid abet draft resistance\” Four of the five were convicted, including pediatrician Dr. Benjamin Dr. Sloane Coffin Jr., Benjamin Coffin, and Yale dean William Coffin, Jr.
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