William D. Mitchell

William D. Mitchell
54th United States Attorney General
In office March 4, 1929 – March 4, 1933
President	Herbert Hoover
Preceded by	John G. Sargent
Succeeded by	Homer S. Cummings
18th Solicitor General of the United States
In office June 4, 1925 – March 4, 1929
President	Calvin Coolidge
Preceded by	James M. Beck
Succeeded by	Charles Evans Hughes, Jr.
Personal details
Born	William DeWitt Mitchell (1874-09-09)September 9, 1874 Winona, Minnesota, United States
Died	August 24, 1955(1955-08-24) (aged 80) Syosset, New York, United States
Resting place	None
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Gertrude Bancroft Mitchell
Children	William Bancroft
Alma mater	Yale University University of Minnesota University of Minnesota Law School
Profession	Attorney at law
Religion	Presbyterian

William DeWitt Mitchell (September 9, 1874 – August 24, 1955) was appointed to the position of U.S. Solicitor General by Calvin Coolidge on June 4, 1925, which he held until he was appointed to the position of U.S. Attorney General for the entirety of Herbert Hoover's Presidency.

Biography

Mitchell was born in Winona, Minnesota, to William B. Mitchell, a future Minnesota Supreme Court Justice, and the former Frances Merritt. He spent two years studying electrical engineering at Yale University before becoming interested in law.

Time magazine cover of William D. Mitchell, (January 27, 1930).

At that point he transferred to the University of Minnesota, where he received his A.B. degree in 1895 and was a brother of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity (Phi Epsilon chapter). He received his LL.B. degree from the University of Minnesota Law School in 1896, and was admitted to the Minnesota bar to begin practicing law in St. Paul, Minnesota. He married the former Gertrude Bancroft on June 27, 1901. They had two sons: William and Bancroft Mitchell.

He formed the law firm of How, Taylor & Mitchell, which became prominent in the Midwest. This prestige allowed Mitchell access to both the regional council of the U.S. Railroad Administration in 1919, and then he served as chairman of the Citizens Charter Committee of St. Paul in 1922.

Combined with Mitchell's service as an infantry officer during the Spanish–American War and World War I, this placed him in position to be appointed to the position of Solicitor General of the United States. Having served well in his position, President Hoover was to appointed him Attorney General of the United States from March 4, 1929, and he held that office until March 4, 1933, one of his principal acts having been to order the Bonus Army dispersed and their camp destroyed.

Mitchell then settled in New York City where he practiced law. He was named chairman of the Committee on Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, and chief counsel of the joint congressional committee investigating the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Mitchell died there in Syosset, New York on August 24, 1955, at the age of 80.

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to William D. Mitchell.

External links

• Media related to William D. Mitchell at Wikimedia Commons
• Profile from the Department of Justice

United States Attorneys General
18th century	Randolph Bradford Lee
19th century	Lincoln Breckinridge Rodney Pinkney Rush Wirt Berrien Taney Butler Grundy Gilpin Crittenden Legaré Nelson Mason Clifford Toucey Johnson Crittenden Cushing Black Stanton Bates Speed Stanbery Evarts Hoar Akerman Williams Pierrepont Taft Devens MacVeagh Brewster Garland Miller Olney Harmon McKenna Griggs
20th century	Knox Moody Bonaparte Wickersham McReynolds Gregory Palmer Daugherty Stone Sargent W. D. Mitchell Cummings Murphy Jackson Biddle T. C. Clark McGrath McGranery Brownell Rogers Kennedy Katzenbach R. Clark J. N. Mitchell Kleindienst Richardson Saxbe Levi Bell Civiletti Smith Meese Thornburgh Barr Reno
21st century	Ashcroft Gonzales Mukasey Holder Lynch Sessions (nominee)

United States Solicitors General
Bristow Phillips Goode Jenks Chapman Taft Aldrich Maxwell Conrad Richards Hoyt Bowers Lehmann Bullitt Davis King Frierson Beck Mitchell Hughes Thacher Biggs Reed Jackson Biddle Fahy McGrath Perlman Cummings Sobeloff Rankin Cox Marshall Griswold Bork McCree Lee Fried Starr Days Dellinger Waxman Underwood Olson Clement Garre Kneedler Kagan Katyal Verrilli Gershengorn
Acting officeholders shown in italics

Cabinet of President Herbert Hoover (1929–33)
Vice President	Charles Curtis (1929–33)
Secretary of State	Frank B. Kellogg (1929) Henry L. Stimson (1929–33)
Secretary of the Treasury	Andrew W. Mellon (1929–32) Ogden L. Mills (1932–33)
Secretary of War	James W. Good (1929) Patrick J. Hurley (1929–33)
Attorney General	William DeWitt Mitchell (1929–33)
Postmaster General	Walter F. Brown (1929–33)
Secretary of the Navy	Charles F. Adams, III (1929–33)
Secretary of the Interior	Ray Lyman Wilbur (1929–33)
Secretary of Agriculture	Arthur M. Hyde (1929–33)
Secretary of Commerce	Robert P. Lamont (1929–32) Roy D. Chapin (1932–33)
Secretary of Labor	James J. Davis (1929–30) William N. Doak (1930–33)