Archibald Cox

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Image:ArchibaldCox.jpg Archibald Cox, Jr., (May 12, 1912 – May 29, 2004), a native of Plainfield, New Jersey, and son of Archibald and Frances Perkins Cox, was an American lawyer who served as U.S. Solicitor General under President John F. Kennedy. He became best known as the first special prosecutor for the Watergate scandal. In a legal career of more than 60 years that began with clerking for the legendary federal court Justice Learned Hand, Paul Douglas award-winner Archibald Cox was often part of the "establishment."

Cox graduated from Harvard Law School in 1937, and joined the Boston law firm of Ropes, Gray, Best, Coolidge and Rugg. During World War II, he was appointed to the National Defense Board, and then to the Office of the Solicitor General.

After the war ended, Cox joined the faculty at Harvard, where he taught courses in torts and in administrative, constitutional, and labor law. During that time, he also became an adviser and speech-writer for John F. Kennedy, who was at that time U.S. senator from Massachusetts. In 1961, Cox joined the new Kennedy administration as solicitor general. At a time when civil rights protesters were routinely chased with dogs and clubbed, he became JFK's point man on pursuing legal remedies to injustice, often appearing before the Supreme Court. Among the cases he was involved in were Baker v. Carr, which set the standards for reapportionment; Heart of Atlanta, which broke grounds on public accommodations for African-Americans under the Civil Rights Act of 1964; South Caroline vs. Katzenbach, which upheld the Voting Rights Act; and Buckley vs. Valeo, which reformed campaign financing. In 1965, he returned to the law school.

In May 1973, Cox took another leave to accept appointment as the first Watergate special prosecutor. Less than two months following his appointment, Cox learned with the rest of America of Nixon's secret tapes. Over the next few months, Cox, the Senate Watergate committee, and Judge John Sirica battled with the White House over those tapes. During the fight, after Sirica ordered Nixon to comply with the committee and Cox's demand, Cox offered the President a compromise. On October 20, 1973, in an event termed the Saturday Night Massacre, U.S. President Richard Nixon ordered Cox fired, due to Cox's insistence on obtaining secret White House tapes. Rather than comply with this order, both Attorney General Elliot Richardson and Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus resigned. The order was ultimately carried out by the Solicitor General, Robert Bork. Upon being fired, Cox stated simply:

Whether ours shall be a government of laws and not of men is now for Congress and ultimately the American people.

The firing of Cox illustrated the need for independent counsels — prosecutors specifically appointed to investigate official misconduct. After Nixon's resignation, Cox became chairman of Common Cause, and was made an honorary member of the Order of the Coif in 1991. Besides the Paul Douglas Ethics in Government Award, Professor Cox was also the recipient of the Thomas "Tip" O'Neill Citizenship Award.

Cox died at his home in Brooksville, Maine of natural causes on the same day as Sam Dash, chief counsel to the House Judiciary Committee during the Watergate scandal.

The New York Times wrote in his obituary:

A gaunt 6-footer who wore three-piece suits, Mr. Cox was often described as 'ramrod straight,' not only because of his bearing but also because of his personality.

Cox was the great-grandson of William M. Evarts who defended President Andrew Johnson during his impeachment hearing and became Secretary of State in the Hayes administration.

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