Andrew Pickens Miller (December 21, 1932 – July 2, 2021) was an American attorney, politician and member of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

who served as the

Attorney General of Virginia The attorney general of Virginia is an elected constitutional position that holds an executive office in the government of Virginia. Attorneys general are elected for a four-year term in the year following a presidential election. There are no ter ...

from 1970 to 1977.

Early and family life

Miller, the son of Democratic 1949 gubernatorial candidate and 1952 U.S. Senate candidate

Francis Pickens Miller Francis Pickens Miller (June 5, 1895 – August 3, 1978) was an American military and intelligence officer and Virginia politician who served in the Virginia House of Delegates for two terms (from 1938 until 1942), representing Fairfax County, ...

and his wife, journalist and biographer

Helen Hill Miller Helen Hill Miller (July 29, 1899 – December 26, 1995) was a journalist and author of more than 20 books, but may be best known for her politician spouse and son. She would have become the First Lady of Virginia when her husband Francis Picke ...

, had one brother, Robert D. Miller, two years his junior. Miller attended

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

. Upon graduation, he returned to his home state and attended the

University of Virginia School of Law The University of Virginia School of Law (Virginia Law or UVA Law) is the law school of the University of Virginia, a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson as part of his "academical v ...

, where he became Editor-in-Chief of the

Virginia Law Review The ''Virginia Law Review'' is a law review edited and published by students at University of Virginia School of Law. It was established on March 15, 1913, and permanently organized later that year. The stated objective of the ''Virginia Law Revi ...

. Miller also served as a lieutenant in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

during the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

Career

Virginians elected Miller Attorney General of Virginia in 1969 to succeed Democrat

Robert Young Button Robert Young Button (November 2, 1899 – September 1, 1977) served two terms as Attorney General of Virginia, as well as a fifteen years as Virginia State Senator. Button rose through the ranks of the Byrd Organization and became one of its lea ...

. In the Democratic primary, he received 151,833 votes (41.07%) and advanced to a runoff with Guy O. Farley, Sr., who had received 130,042 votes (35.17%). In the runoff, Miller defeated Farley, Sr. by 256,453 votes (63.14%) to 149,699 (36.86%). In the general election, he faced Republican

Richard D. Obenshain Richard Dudley Obenshain (October 31, 1935 – August 2, 1978) was an American politician and attorney. Obenshain had served as the chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia, and was nominated in 1978 to run as the Republican nominee for the U ...

and Virginia Conservative nominee Flavius B. Walker, Jr. Miller won the election with 455,264 votes (52.13%) to Obenshain's 402,382 (46.07%) and Walker, Jr.'s 15,692 (1.80%). He was sworn in as attorney general in January 1970 and re-elected in 1973 by a landslide, taking 662,568 votes (70.56%) to Republican M. Patton Echols, Jr.'s 276,383 (29.43%). In 1973, the Virginia General Assembly requested that he file suit against the

Voting Rights Act The suffrage, Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a landmark piece of Federal government of the United States, federal legislation in the United States that prohibits racial discrimination in voting. It was signed into law by President of the United ...

. Miller duly did so. In 1976, he was awarded the Wyman Memorial Award, given to an "Outstanding American Attorney General." Miller resigned as attorney general in January 1977 to run for governor, as is the convention in Virginia. Thus,

Anthony Francis Troy Anthony or Antony is a masculine given name, derived from the ''Antonii'', a '' gens'' ( Roman family name) to which Mark Antony (''Marcus Antonius'') belonged. According to Plutarch, the Antonii gens were Heracleidae, being descendants of Anton ...

filled the office for one year, although never elected. Miller faced former

Lieutenant Governor of Virginia The lieutenant governor of Virginia is a constitutional officer of the Commonwealth of Virginia. The lieutenant governor is elected every four years along with the governor and attorney general. The office is currently held by Winsome Earle S ...

Henry Howell Henry Evans Howell, Jr. (September 5, 1920 – July 7, 1997), nicknamed "Howlin' Henry" Howell, was an American lawyer and politician from the Commonwealth of Virginia. A progressive populist and a member of the Democratic Party, he served in ...

in the Democratic primary and, despite outspending Howell by a margin of 3-to-1, Miller was defeated by 253,373 votes (51.38%) to 239,735 (48.62%). Howell went on to lose the general election, taking 541,319 votes (43.27%) to Republican Lieutenant Governor

John N. Dalton John Nichols Dalton (July 11, 1931July 30, 1986) was an American politician who served as the 63rd governor of Virginia, from 1978 to 1982. Dalton won the office with 55.9% of the vote, defeating Democrat Henry E. Howell Jr. and Independent Ala ...

's 699,302 (55.90%). Republican J. Marshall Coleman was elected attorney general during the same election and took office in January 1978. Miller's final run for office came later in 1978. He was the Democratic nominee for the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

, and was narrowly defeated by Republican

John Warner John William Warner III (February 18, 1927 – May 25, 2021) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the United States Secretary of the Navy from 1972 to 1974 and as a five-term Republican U.S. Senator from Virginia from 1979 to 200 ...

, the former

United States Secretary of the Navy The secretary of the Navy (or SECNAV) is a statutory officer () and the head (chief executive officer) of the United States Department of the Navy, Department of the Navy, a military department (component organization) within the United States D ...

. Warner had actually lost the Republican nomination to

, whom Miller had defeated in the 1969 Attorney General election. However, Obenshain was killed in a plane crash while returning home from a campaign appearance, and the Republican leadership chose Warner to replace him on the ballot. Miller lost to Warner by 608,511 votes (49.81%) to 613,232 (50.19%). After leaving office, Miller "built a practice representing major energy companies before state attorneys general, including

Southern Company Southern Company is an American gas and electric utility holding company based in the southern United States. It is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, with executive offices also located in Birmingham, Alabama. The company is the second largest ...

and TransCanada, the entity behind the proposed

Keystone XL pipeline The Keystone Pipeline System is an oil pipeline system in Canada and the United States, commissioned in 2010 and owned by TC Energy and as of 31 March 2020 the Government of Alberta. It runs from the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin in Albert ...

." Miller, although a conservative Democrat, served on the transition team for newly elected Republican Attorney General

Ken Cuccinelli Kenneth Thomas Cuccinelli II ( ; born July 30, 1968) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security from 2019 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party, ...

in 2009. He also defended Cuccinelli's handling of the Star Scientific tax case after also receiving gifts from its chief executive. Miller was active in the

National Association of Attorneys General The National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization of state and territory attorneys general in the United States. NAAG is governed by member attorneys general, with a president and executive committee se ...

(NAAG), the

Conference of Western Attorneys General A conference is a meeting of two or more experts to discuss and exchange opinions or new information about a particular topic. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always decisions, are the main pu ...

(CWAG), the

Democratic Attorneys General Association Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

(DAGA), and also the

Republican Attorneys General Association The Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA) is a United States national political advocacy group that focuses on electing Republicans as state attorneys general. Its Democratic counterpart is the Democratic Attorneys General Association. ...

(RAGA). Miller was selected as Chairman of the Southern Conference of Attorneys General, Chairman of NAAG's Antitrust Committee, and a member of NAAG's executive committee. He was the recipient of NAAG's Wyman Memorial Award. He established the John Marshall Foundation and was its first president.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Miller, Andrew P 1932 births 2021 deaths Virginia Attorneys General Virginia Democrats Virginia Republicans People associated with Hunton Andrews Kurth Princeton University alumni University of Virginia School of Law alumni Candidates in the 1978 United States elections