# Lewis F. Powell Jr. *American lawyer and jurist; associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, 1972–1987* Lewis Franklin Powell Jr. (September 19, 1907 – August 25, 1998) was a Virginia lawyer and jurist. He sat as an associate justice of the [[Supreme Court of the United States]] from 1972 until 1987.[^1] President Richard Nixon appointed him in 1971 to the seat left vacant by the death of Associate Justice [[Hugo Black]]. Powell retired during the administration of President Ronald Reagan, and [[Anthony Kennedy]] eventually succeeded him.[^2] Warren Burger was Chief Justice for most of Powell's years on the bench, and on the Burger Court Powell frequently cast a deciding swing vote.[^3] Before joining the Court, Powell practiced corporate law at Hunton & Williams in Richmond. The firm's clients included the Tobacco Institute.[^4] The Wikipedia article on Powell describes his 1971 Powell Memorandum as the blueprint for the rise of the American conservative movement. It also links the memorandum to a network of right-wing think tanks and lobbying organizations, among them The Heritage Foundation and the American Legislative Exchange Council. The record assembled here does not include the memorandum's text.[^5] ## Early life and education Powell was born in 1907 in Suffolk, Virginia, to Mary Lewis (Gwathmey) and Louis Franklin Powell.[^6] At Washington and Lee University he majored in commerce while also studying law. He headed his fraternity, was managing editor of the student newspaper, and worked on the yearbook staff. With the help of Mosby Perrow Jr., he won election as student-body president.[^6] He took his B.A. in 1929, magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, and received the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award for "generous service to others".[^7] Powell graduated first in his class from Washington and Lee University School of Law in 1931. The following year he earned an LL.M. at Harvard Law School with a thesis on relations between the Virginia Court of Appeals and the State Corporation Commission. Only one other U.S. Supreme Court justice has held that degree.[^7] In the 1960s Powell and Perrow served together on the Virginia State Board of Education. Powell met Edward R. Murrow at a leadership conference, and the two became close friends.[^8] Powell married Josephine Pierce Rucker in 1936. They had three daughters and a son, and she died in 1996.[^8] ## Career ### Military service (1939–1945) The United States Navy turned Powell down because of poor eyesight. During World War II he instead entered the US Army Air Forces as an intelligence officer.[^9] He was commissioned a first lieutenant in 1942 and trained at bases near Miami, Florida, and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He then joined the 319th Bombardment Group, which relocated to England that year.[^9] His service took him to North Africa for Operation Torch. Assigned to the Headquarters of the Northwest African Air Forces, he went on to Sicily during the Allied invasion.[^9] From August 1943 Powell was on the Army Air Forces intelligence staff in Washington, D.C. He had been slated to become an instructor near Harrisburg, but he worked on special projects for AAF headquarters until February 1944 instead.[^10] He was next posted to the intelligence staff of the Department of War, and then to that of the United States Strategic Air Forces in Europe.[^10] As one of the officers on the Ultra project, Powell monitored how intercepted Axis communications were used, in England and in the Mediterranean Theater. He checked that this use complied with the laws of war and did not reveal that the code had been broken.[^11] He rose to the rank of colonel.[^11] After the February 1945 bombing of Dresden, he wrote: "personally, I consider this very fortunate indeed as the German people are being taught for the first time in modern history what it means to have war on their own soil."[^11] ### Supreme Court Nixon's 1971 appointment placed Powell in Black's former seat.[^2] The Wikipedia article lists his majority opinions as including *United States v. Brignoni-Ponce* (1975), *Gregg v. Georgia* (1976), *First National Bank of Boston v. Bellotti* (1978), *Solem v. Helm* (1983) and *McCleskey v. Kemp* (1987). He also wrote an opinion in *Regents of the University of California v. Bakke* (1978).[^12] Powell was in the majority in *United States v. United States District Court* (1972), *Roe v. Wade* (1973), *Milliken v. Bradley* (1974), *Harris v. McRae* (1980), *Plyler v. Doe* (1982) and *Bowers v. Hardwick* (1986).[^12] ## Retirement and death Powell left the Court in June 1987, when he was nearly 80. Gerald Gunther, a constitutional law professor at Stanford Law School, called his judicial career "truly distinguished." Gunther credited Powell's "qualities of temperament and character".[^13] Kennedy was the third person put forward for the vacancy. The [[United States Senate]] rejected Robert Bork after a confirmation fight. Douglas H. Ginsburg then withdrew after admitting to marijuana use.[^14] In retirement Powell regularly heard cases on United States Courts of Appeals around the country.[^14] In 1990, at Douglas Wilder's request, Powell administered Wilder's oath as [[governor]] of Virginia.[^15] Powell died of pneumonia on August 25, 1998, at age 90, at his home in the Windsor Farms area of Richmond. He is buried in the city's Hollywood Cemetery.[^15] ## Legacy In her 2002 book *The Majesty of the Law*, Justice [[Sandra Day O'Connor]] wrote of Powell that "for those who seek a model of human kindness, decency, exemplary behavior, and integrity, there will never be a better man."[^16] Powell's personal and official papers went to Washington and Lee University School of Law. They are open to researchers under certain restrictions and are housed in a wing of Sydney Lewis Hall that bears his name.[^16] J. Harvie Wilkinson, a Fourth Circuit judge and former Powell law clerk, described the clerkship in *Serving Justice: A Supreme Court Clerk's View*.[^16] In 1993 President Bill Clinton signed an act of Congress that gave the federal courthouse in Richmond its present name, the Lewis F. Powell Jr. United States Courthouse.[^17] ## Notes [^1]: Wikipedia contributors, *Lewis F. Powell Jr.* (revision 1369477262, retrieved 2026-10-26), lead — full name, birth and death dates, Supreme Court tenure 1972–1987. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_F._Powell_Jr.> [^2]: Wikipedia contributors, *Lewis F. Powell Jr.* (revision 1369477262, retrieved 2026-10-26), lead — 1971 Nixon appointment to succeed Hugo Black; retirement under Reagan; succession by Anthony Kennedy. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_F._Powell_Jr.> [^3]: Wikipedia contributors, *Lewis F. Powell Jr.* (revision 1369477262, retrieved 2026-10-26), lead — overlap with Chief Justice Burger; swing vote on the Burger Court. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_F._Powell_Jr.> [^4]: Wikipedia contributors, *Lewis F. Powell Jr.* (revision 1369477262, retrieved 2026-10-26), lead — Hunton & Williams, corporate law, Tobacco Institute as client. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_F._Powell_Jr.> [^5]: Wikipedia contributors, *Lewis F. Powell Jr.* (revision 1369477262, retrieved 2026-10-26), lead — the article's characterization of the 1971 Powell Memorandum and the organizations it names. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_F._Powell_Jr.> [^6]: Wikipedia contributors, *Lewis F. Powell Jr.* (revision 1369477262, retrieved 2026-10-26), section "Early life and education" — birthplace, parents, undergraduate activities, student-body election. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_F._Powell_Jr.> [^7]: Wikipedia contributors, *Lewis F. Powell Jr.* (revision 1369477262, retrieved 2026-10-26), section "Early life and education" — 1929 B.A., Sullivan Award, 1931 law degree, 1932 Harvard LL.M. and thesis. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_F._Powell_Jr.> [^8]: Wikipedia contributors, *Lewis F. Powell Jr.* (revision 1369477262, retrieved 2026-10-26), section "Early life and education" — State Board of Education service, Murrow friendship, 1936 marriage, children, wife's death in 1996. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_F._Powell_Jr.> [^9]: Wikipedia contributors, *Lewis F. Powell Jr.* (revision 1369477262, retrieved 2026-10-26), section "Career" (military service) — Navy rejection, 1942 commission, training bases, 319th Bombardment Group, North Africa and Sicily. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_F._Powell_Jr.> [^10]: Wikipedia contributors, *Lewis F. Powell Jr.* (revision 1369477262, retrieved 2026-10-26), section "Career" (military service) — August 1943 to February 1944 Washington posting; later War Department and USSTAF intelligence staffs. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_F._Powell_Jr.> [^11]: Wikipedia contributors, *Lewis F. Powell Jr.* (revision 1369477262, retrieved 2026-10-26), section "Career" (military service) — Ultra duties, rank of colonel, Dresden remark. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_F._Powell_Jr.> [^12]: Wikipedia contributors, *Lewis F. Powell Jr.* (revision 1369477262, retrieved 2026-10-26), lead — majority opinions, *Bakke* opinion, majorities joined. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_F._Powell_Jr.> [^13]: Wikipedia contributors, *Lewis F. Powell Jr.* (revision 1369477262, retrieved 2026-10-26), section "Retirement and death" — June 1987 retirement, Gunther assessment. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_F._Powell_Jr.> [^14]: Wikipedia contributors, *Lewis F. Powell Jr.* (revision 1369477262, retrieved 2026-10-26), section "Retirement and death" — Bork and Ginsburg nominations, Kennedy as third nominee, service on Courts of Appeals. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_F._Powell_Jr.> [^15]: Wikipedia contributors, *Lewis F. Powell Jr.* (revision 1369477262, retrieved 2026-10-26), section "Retirement and death" — 1990 Wilder swearing-in, death on August 25, 1998, burial. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_F._Powell_Jr.> [^16]: Wikipedia contributors, *Lewis F. Powell Jr.* (revision 1369477262, retrieved 2026-10-26), section "Legacy" — O'Connor quotation, papers at W&L Law, Sydney Lewis Hall wing, Wilkinson's book. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_F._Powell_Jr.> [^17]: Wikipedia contributors, *Lewis F. Powell Jr.* (revision 1369477262, retrieved 2026-10-26), section "Legacy" — 1993 act renaming the Richmond federal courthouse. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_F._Powell_Jr.>