Donald Eugene O'Brien (September 30, 1923 – August 18, 2015) was a

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district. Each district covers one U.S. state or a portion of a state. There is at least one feder ...

of the

United States District Court for the Northern District of Iowa The United States District Court for the Northern District of Iowa (in case citations, N.D. Iowa) has jurisdiction over fifty-two of Iowa's ninety-nine counties. It is subject to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals (except for patent claims and ...

and the

United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa The United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa (in case citations, S.D. Iowa) has jurisdiction over forty-seven of Iowa's ninety-nine counties. It is subject to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals (except for patent claims an ...

. He was an officer in the

United States Army Air Corps The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical ri ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, a Democratic nominee for the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

, a

United States Attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal ...

, and a political organizer.

Education and career

O'Brien was born in Marcus,

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

to Michael J. and Myrtle O'Brien on September 30, 1923. He interrupted his college coursework at Trinity College in

Sioux City Sioux City () is a city in Woodbury and Plymouth counties in the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 85,797 in the 2020 census, making it the fourth-most populous city in Iowa. The county seat of Woodbury County, Sioux City is the primar ...

, Iowa to serve as a lieutenant in the

from 1942 to 1945. He flew 30 bombing missions over Europe and receiving the Distinguished Flying Cross.Biography of Judge Donald E. O'Brien, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Iowa
, accessed 2009-07-05 After completing his undergraduate studies at Trinity College, he entered

Creighton University School of Law Creighton University School of Law, located in Omaha, Nebraska, United States, is part of the Jesuit Creighton University. History The School of Law was founded in 1904 as a joint project with the Omaha Bar Association, with Timothy J. Mahoney ...

, graduating in 1948 with a

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

. He was in private practice in Sioux City from 1948 to 1949, before becoming an assistant city attorney of Sioux City in 1949. He married Ruth Mahon in 1950. In 1952 he chaired the

Adlai Stevenson Adlai Stevenson may refer to: * Adlai Stevenson I Adlai Ewing Stevenson (October 23, 1835 – June 14, 1914) was an American politician and diplomat who served as the 23rd vice president of the United States from 1893 to 1897 under President Gr ...

's presidential campaign in his Iowa congressional district. After serving as the

County Attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, county prosecutor, state attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or solicitor is the chief prosecutor or chief law enforcement officer represen ...

Woodbury County Woodbury County is a county located in the U.S. state of Iowa. As of the 2020 census, the population was 105,941, making it the sixth-most populous county in Iowa. The county seat is Sioux City. Woodbury County is included in the Sioux City m ...

, Iowa from 1955 to 1958, he served as a Sioux City municipal judge from 1959 to 1960. In 1958 and again in 1960 O'Brien was the Democratic nominee to represent Iowa's 8th congressional district in the

, but lost both races to longtime Republican incumbent Charles B. Hoeven. In 1961 President

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), also known as JFK, was the 35th president of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. He was the first Roman Catholic and youngest person elected p ...

appointed him the

for the Northern District of Iowa, a position he held until 1967. Soon after leaving office, he became an advance man in the 1968 presidential campaigns of

Robert F. Kennedy Robert Francis Kennedy (November 20, 1925 – June 6, 1968), also known as RFK, was an American politician and lawyer. He served as the 64th United States attorney general from January 1961 to September 1964, and as a U.S. senator from New Yo ...

, then

George McGovern George Stanley McGovern (July 19, 1922 – October 21, 2012) was an American politician, diplomat, and historian who was a U.S. representative and three-term U.S. senator from South Dakota, and the Democratic Party (United States), Democ ...

, and later Hubert H. Humphrey. He was in private practice in Sioux City from 1967 to 1978. He organized McGovern's general election campaign in Southern California in 1972 and

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (October 1, 1924December 29, 2024) was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...

's general election campaign in Michigan in 1976."Panel to Open Hearings on Meat Marketing," ''Des Moines Register'', October 13, 1977, p. 1 In 1977 he served as special counsel to a subcommittee of the

United States House Committee on Small Business The United States House Committee on Small Business is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. It was established in 1941 as the House Select Committee on Small Business. History On December 4, 1941, the U. S. House o ...

for its investigation of anti-competitive practices in the

meat industry The meat industry are the people and companies engaged in modern industrialized livestock agriculture for the production, packing, preservation and marketing of meat (in contrast to dairy products, wool, etc.). In economics, the meat industry is ...

Federal judicial service

From 1962 to 1979 Iowa had three federal district judges — one in the

, one in the

, and a third serving both Districts. On September 27, 1978 Carter nominated O'Brien to succeed Judge William C. Hanson in the third of those positions. O'Brien was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

on October 4, 1978, and received his commission on October 5, 1978. O'Brien presided in the western and central divisions of both Districts until December 1, 1990, when he began to serve exclusively in the Northern District as a new judgeship was added in the Southern District. He served as Chief Judge of the Northern District from 1985 to 1992. O'Brien assumed senior status on December 30, 1992, and continued to preside over cases from chambers in Sioux City, until his death on August 18, 2015, in Sioux City."Sioux City federal Judge Donald O'Brien dies" Sioux City Journal, August 18, 2015
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References

Sources

* Neil Miller, ''Sex-Crime Panic: A Journey to the Paranoid Heart of the 1950s'' (NY: Alyson Books, 2002) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Obrien, Donald Eugene 1923 births 2015 deaths People from Cherokee County, Iowa People from Iowa City, Iowa Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United States) Iowa lawyers Iowa state court judges Iowa Democrats Judges of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa Judges of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Iowa United States district court judges appointed by Jimmy Carter United States Army Air Forces officers United States Army Air Forces pilots of World War II United States attorneys for the Northern District of Iowa Creighton University School of Law alumni