List of presidents of the American Bar Association

This list of the presidents of the American Bar Association includes all presidents of the association, which was formed in 1878 to represent the interests of lawyers, and create and maintain a code of ethics. Since 1923, the ABA has accredited law schools. The American Bar Association is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States.

The association comprises 410,000 members, who are represented by a House of Delegates, the organization's primary body, which acts to create and adopt new policies and recommendations pertaining to the practice of law. The House of Delegates and the association itself are headed by the President, who generally serves a one-year term.

Presidents

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The organization's seventh president, John W. Stevenson, served from 1884 to 1885.
 
One of its co-founders, Henry Hitchcock, was also the A.B.A.'s twelfth president, serving from 1889 to 1890.
 
Charles F. Manderson was the association's president in 1900.
 
William Howard Taft is better known as President of the United States and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.
 
Chester Isaiah Long was formerly a member of both the US House of Representatives and Senate from the state of Kansas.
 
After serving as president from 1964 to 1965, Lewis Powell, Jr. became a Supreme Court Justice.
# Name Term State Comments Ref.
1 James O. Broadhead 1878–1879 Missouri American Bar Association co-founder [1]
2 Benjamin H. Bristow 1879–1880 New York [2]
3 Edward John Phelps 1880–1881 Vermont
4 Clarkson Nott Potter 1881–1882 New York Former Congressman
5 Alexander Lawton 1882–1883 Georgia
6 Cortlandt Parker 1883–1884 New Jersey
7 John W. Stevenson 1884–1885 Kentucky Governor/Senator
8 William Allen Butler 1885–1886 New York
9 Thomas J. Semmes 1886–1887 Louisiana
10 George G. Wright 1887–1888 Iowa former Senator
11 David Dudley Field 1888–1889 New York
12 Henry Hitchcock 1889–1890 Missouri American Bar Association co-founder [3]
13 Simeon E. Baldwin 1890–1891 Connecticut
14 John Forrest Dillon 1891–1892 New York
15 John Randolph Tucker 1892–1893 Virginia [4]
16 Thomas Cooley 1893–1894 Michigan
17 James C. Carter 1894–1895 New York
18 Moorfield Storey 1895–1896 Massachusetts
19 James M. Woolworth 1896–1897 Nebraska
20 William Wirt Howe 1897–1898 Louisiana
21 Joseph H. Choate 1898–1899 New York|
22 Charles F. Manderson 1899–1900 Nebraska former Senator [5]
23 Edmund Wetmore 1900–1901 New York [6]
24 U.M. Rose 1901–1902 Arkansas
25 Francis Rawle 1902-1903 Pennsylvania
26 James Hagerman 1902–1903 Missouri [3]
27 Henry St. George Tucker, III 1904–1905 Virginia [7]
28 George R. Peck 1905–1906 Illinois [8]
29 Alton B. Parker 1906–1907 New York [9]
30 Jacob M. Dickinson 1907–1908 Illinois future United States Secretary of War
31 Frederick William Lehmann 1908–1910 Missouri Future US Solicitor General [3]
32 Charles F. Libby 1909-1910 Maine
33 Edgar Howard Farrar 1910–1911 Louisiana [10]
34 Stephen S. Gregory 1911-1912 Illinois
35 Frank B. Kellogg 1912–1913 Minnesota Future US Secretary of State
36 William Howard Taft 1913–1914 District of Columbia Former US President
Future US Supreme Court Chief Justice
37 Peter W. Meldrim 1914-1915 Georgia
38 Elihu Root 1915-1916 New York
39 George Sutherland 1916–1917 Utah Future US Supreme Court Justice
40 Walter George Smith 1917–1918 Pennsylvania
41 GeorgeT.Page 1918-1919 Illinois
42 Hampton L. Carson 1919–1921 Pennsylvania [11]
43 William A. Biount 1920-1921 Florida
44 Cordenio A. Severance 1921–1922 Minnesota
45 John W. Davis 1922-1923 New York
46 R. E. L. Saner 1923-1924 Texas
47 Charles E. Hughes 1925–1926 New York Future US Supreme Court Chief Justice
48 Chester Isaiah Long 1926-1927 Kansas
49 Charles S. Whitman 1926-1927 New York
50 Silas H. Strawn 1927-1928 Illinois
51 Gurney E. Newlin 1928-1929 California
52 Henry Upson Sims 1929-1930 Alabama
53 Josiah Marvel 1930-1931 Delaware
54 Charles A. Boston 1930-1931 New York
55 Guy A. Thompson 1931-1932 Missouri
56 Clarence E. Martin 1932-1933 West Virginia
57 Earle W. Evans 1933-1934 Kansas
58 Scott M. Loftin 1934–1935 Florida
59 William L. Ransom 1935–1936 New York
60 Frederick Harold Stinchfield 1936–1937 Minnesota [12]
61 Arthur T. Vanderbilt 1937–1938 New Jersey
62 Frank J. Hogan 1938–1939 District of Columbia
63 Charles A. Beardsley 1939–1940 California
64 Jacob M. Lashley 1940–1941 Missouri
65 Walter P. Armstrong 1941–1942 Tennessee
66 George Maurice Morris 1942–1943 District of Columbia
67 Joseph W. Henderson 1943–1944 Pennsylvania
68 David A. Simmons 1944–1945 Texas
69 Willis Smith 1945–1946 North Carolina
70 Carl B. Rix 1946–1947 Wisconsin
71 Tappan Gregory 1947–1948 Illinois
72 Frank E. Holman 1948–1949 District of Columbia
73 Harold J. Gallagher 1949–1950 New York
74 Cody Fowler 1950–1951 Florida
75 Howard L. Barkdull 1951–1952 Ohio
76 Robert G. Storey 1952–1953 Texas
77 William James Jameson 1953–1954 Montana
78 Loyd Wright 1954–1955 California
79 E. Smythe Gambrell 1955–1956 Georgia
80 David Farrow Maxwell 1956–1957 Pennsylvania
81 Charles S. Rhyne 1957–1958 District of Columbia
82 Ross L. Malone, Jr. 1958–1959 New Mexico Former Deputy Attorney General, 1952–53
83 John D. Randall 1959–1960 Iowa
84 Whitney N. Seymour, Sr. 1960–1961 New York Former Assistant Solicitor General, 1931–33
85 John C. Satterfield 1961–1962 Mississippi
86 Sylvester C. Smith, Jr. 1962–1963 New Jersey
87 Walter E. Craig 1963–1964 Arizona
88 Lewis Franklin Powell, Jr. 1964–1965 Virginia Future US Supreme Court Justice [13]
89 Edward W. Kuhn 1965–1966 Tennessee
90 Orison S. Marden 1966–1967 New York
91 Earl F. Morris 1967–1968 Ohio
92 William T. Gossett 1968–1969 Michigan
93 Bernard Segal 1969–1970 Pennsylvania First Jewish American president [14]
94 Edward L. Wright 1970–1971 Arkansas
95 Leon Jaworski 1971–1972 Texas
96 Robert W. Meserve 1972–1973 Massachusetts [15]
97 Chesterfield Smith 1973–1974 Florida [16]
98 James D. Fellers 1974–1975 Oklahoma
99 Lawrence E. Walsh 1975–1976 New York
100 Justin A. Stanley 1976–1977 Illinois
101 William B. Spann, Jr. 1977–1978 Georgia
102 S. Shepherd Tate 1978–1979 Tennessee
103 Leonard S. Janofsky 1979–1980 California
104 William Reece Smith, Jr. 1980–1981 Florida [16]
105 David R. Brink 1981–1982 Minnesota
106 Morris Harrell 1982–1983 Texas [17]
107 Wallace D. Riley 1983-1984 Michigan
108 John C. Shepherd 1984-1985 Missouri
109 William W. Falsgraf 1983–1985 Ohio [18]
110 Eugene C. Thomas 1986–1987 Idaho
111 Robert MacCrate 1987–1988 New York
112 Robert D. Raven 1988-1989 California
113 L. Stanley Chauvin, Jr. 1988–1989 Kentucky
114 John J. Curtin, Jr. 1990–1991 Massachusetts [19]
115 Sandy D'Alemberte 1991–1992 Florida Future president of FSU [16]
116 J. Michael McWilliams 1992-1993 Maryland
117 R. William Ide, III 1994–1995 Georgia [20]
118 George Edward Bushnell Jr. 1994–1995 Michigan [21]
119 Roberta Cooper Ramo 1995–1996 New Mexico First female president
[22]
120 N. Lee Cooper 1996–1997 Alabama [23]
121 Jerome J. Shestack 1997–1998 Pennsylvania [24]
122 Philip S. Anderson 1998-1999 Arkansas
123 William G. Paul 1999–2000 Oklahoma [25]
124 Martha W. Barnett 2000–2001 Florida [16]
125 Robert Edward Hirshon 2001–2002 Michigan
126 Alfred P. Carlton Jr. 2002–2003 North Carolina
127 Dennis W. Archer 2003–2004 Michigan First African-American president [25]
128 Robert J. Grey, Jr. 2004–2005 Virginia
129 Michael S. Greco 2005–2006 Massachusetts First foreign-born president [26]
130 Karen J. Mathis 2006–2007 Pennsylvania [27]
131 William H. Neukom 2007–2008 California [28]
132 H. Thomas Wells Jr. 2008–2009 Alabama [29]
133 Carolyn B. Lamm 2009–2010 District of Columbia [30]
134 Stephen N. Zack 2010–2011 Florida First Hispanic American president [31]
135 William T. Robinson III 2011–2012 Kentucky [32]
136 Laurel G. Bellows 2012–2013 Illinois [33]
137 James R. Silkenat 2013–2014 New York [34]
138 William C. Hubbard 2014–2015 South Carolina
139 Paulette Brown 2015–2016 New Jersey First woman of color [35]
140 Linda Klein 2016–2017 Georgia
141 Hilarie Bass 2017–2018 Florida
142 Bob Carlson 2018-2019 Montana
143 Judy Perry Martinez 2019-2020 Louisiana
144 Patricia Lee Refo 2020-2021 Arizona
145 Reginald M. Turner 2021-2022 Michigan
146 Deborah Enix-Ross 2022-2023 New York
147 Mary L. Smith 2023-2024 Illinois First Native American (Cherokee) woman president.
148 William R. Bay 2024-2025 Missouri [36]

References

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  • Sobel, Robert. Biographical Directory of the United States Executive Branch, 1774-1889. Greenwood Press (1990). ISBN 0-313-26593-3.

Notes and references

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  1. ^ Johnson, Rossiter. Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, - Vol. I-X (10). The Biographical Society (1904).
  2. ^ Sobel, 1990. p. 44
  3. ^ a b c "BAMSL Members". Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis. Archived from the original on 2000-10-01. Retrieved 2007-12-30.
  4. ^ "Tucker, John Randolph". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved 2008-03-07.
  5. ^ "Manderson, Charles Frederick". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved 2007-12-30.
  6. ^ "Edmund Whetmore, Noted Lawyer, Dies" (PDF). New York Times. 1918-07-09. Retrieved 2007-12-30.
  7. ^ "Tucker, Henry St. George, (1853 - 1932)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved 2024-04-05.
  8. ^ "History of the United States Attorney District of Kansas". United States Department of Justice. Retrieved 2007-12-30.
  9. ^ "Alton B. Parker" (PDF). Klyne Esopus Museum. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2004-11-06. Retrieved 2007-12-30.
  10. ^ Frank Moore Colby; Talcott Williams, eds. (1918). The New international encyclopædia. Vol. 8 (2nd ed.). Dodd, Mead and company. p. 384. Retrieved 2011-04-28.
  11. ^ The Letters of Sir William Blackstone (1723-1780) in the Hampton L. Carson Collection of the Free Library of Philadelphia
  12. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-19. Retrieved 2009-02-08.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  13. ^ Lewis F. Powell Jr., Who Became the Quiet Centrist of the Supreme Court, Is Dead at 90 Archived 2007-10-21 at the Wayback Machine
  14. ^ "Bernard G. Segal Dies at 89; Lawyer for Rich and Poor". The New York Times. 1997-06-05. Retrieved 2010-05-08.
  15. ^ New York Times
  16. ^ a b c d UFLaw Leadership Examples Archived August 26, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  17. ^ High-Profile Attorneys Positively Impact Dallas Community
  18. ^ Shipp, E. R. (1987-02-17). "A.B.A. Rejects Plan On Tobacco Ad Ban". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-05-08.
  19. ^ Curtin Center for Public Interest Law Dedicated
  20. ^ Rule of Law Initiative Home / Europe & Eurasia (CEELI) 2007-2008 Board Members
  21. ^ PRDI Advisers, Directors & Staff
  22. ^ Rice Makes Personal Donation For Katrina Relief in Mississippi
  23. ^ Members Named to Commission Archived 2008-01-24 at the Wayback Machine
  24. ^ WolfBlock Lawyer to Receive ABA’s Highest Award Archived 2006-11-11 at the Wayback Machine
  25. ^ a b Archer elected as first African-American ABA president
  26. ^ "Michael S. Greco". 2006-02-14. Archived from the original on 2006-02-14. Retrieved 2019-01-03.
  27. ^ Karen J. Mathis bio Archived May 14, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  28. ^ William H. Neukombio Archived August 19, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  29. ^ H. Thomas Wells, Jr. bio Archived July 22, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  30. ^ Carolyn B. Lamm bio Archived July 21, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  31. ^ Stephen N. Zack bio Archived September 3, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  32. ^ Wm. T. (Bill) Robinson III bio Archived May 14, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  33. ^ "Laurel G. Bellows bio". Archived from the original on 2013-08-05. Retrieved 2013-08-02.
  34. ^ James R. Silkenat Nomination Announcement
  35. ^ "ABA nominates Paulette Brown as first woman of color president". www.americanbar.org. Retrieved 2018-12-31.
  36. ^ "Bill Bay asks ABA to meet lawyers where they are". www.americanbar.org. Retrieved 2022-04-06.