Leonidas "Leon" Jaworski (September 19, 1905 – December 9, 1982) was an American attorney and law professor who served as the second special prosecutor during the
Watergate Scandal
The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the administration of President Richard Nixon from 1972 to 1974 that led to Nixon's resignation. The scandal stemmed from the Nixon administration's contin ...
. He was appointed to that position on November 1, 1973, soon after the Saturday Night Massacre of October 19–20, 1973, which included the dismissal of his predecessor Archibald Cox.
Background
Jaworski was born in
Waco
Waco ( ) is the county seat of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is situated along the Brazos River and I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin. The city had a 2020 population of 138,486, making it the 22nd-most populous city in the s ...
in central
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
. His mother, Marie (Mira), was an Austrian immigrant, and his father, Joseph Jaworski, was a Polish immigrant who was an evangelical minister. He was named after ancient Spartan king Leonidas, and had a brother named Hannibal. An earnest student who studied at night by the light of oil lamps, he was a champion debater at Waco High School, graduated from Baylor Law School and received his master's degree in law at the
George Washington University Law School
The George Washington University Law School (GW Law) is the law school of George Washington University, in Washington, D.C. Established in 1865, GW Law is the oldest top law school in the national capital. GW Law offers the largest range of co ...
In 1925, he became the youngest person ever admitted to the Texas bar. After starting out defending
bootleggers
Bootleg or bootlegging most often refers to:
* Bootleg recording, an audio or video recording released unofficially
* Rum-running, the illegal business of transporting and trading in alcoholic beverages, hence:
** Moonshine, or illicitly made an ...
during
Prohibition
Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholi ...
, in 1931, he joined the
Houston
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 ...
law firm that became Fulbright & Jaworski, one of the largest law firms in the United States. Jaworski served as President of both the Texas Bar Association (1962–1963) and the American Bar Association (1971–1972) prior to his appointment as Special Prosecutor. He was also President of the Houston Chamber of Commerce in 1960 and served on many corporate and civic boards. Jaworski served 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, ...
and served in the judge advocate office. He was commissioned a colonel.
World War II
During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
, Jaworski served 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, ...
's judge advocate general's office, reaching the rank of colonel. He led the prosecution in multiple cases, including the
Johannes Kunze
Wilhelm Reinhold Johannes Kunze (March 5, 1904 – November 4, 1943) was a German World War II prisoner of war (POW) held at Camp Tonkawa, Oklahoma.
Fort Lawton court-martial
On the night of August 14, 1944, the Fort Lawton Riot between African-American U.S. soldiers and Italian
prisoners of war
A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610.
Belligerents hold prisoners of w ...
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region o ...
resulted in the lynching of Italian prisoner of war Guglielmo Olivotto. Thereafter, Jaworski prosecuted forty-three African-American soldiers, of whom twenty-eight were convicted, in what was the longest U.S. Army court-martial of World War II. In 2007 the U.S. Army Board for Correction of Military Records ordered all those convictions reversed on the grounds that Jaworski had committed "egregious error".
War crimes prosecutor
After the war, Jaworski served as a war crimes prosecutor in Germany. He was involved in a case where eleven German civilians were accused of murdering six American airmen forced down over Germany in the Rüsselsheim massacre, and a case involving people who were complicit in mass murder at the Hadamar Euthanasia Centre. However, Jaworski declined to participate in the
Nuremberg Trials
The Nuremberg trials were held by the Allies of World War II, Allies against representatives of the defeated Nazi Germany, for plotting and carrying out invasions of other countries, and other crimes, in World War II.
Between 1939 and 1945 ...
on the grounds that the prosecution there was based on laws that did not exist at the time of the culpable acts.
Political connections
He was a friend of fellow Texan Lyndon Baines Johnson, whom he successfully represented in a 1960 lawsuit filed to prevent Johnson from campaigning for the U.S. Senate against Republican
John Tower
John Goodwin Tower (September 29, 1925 – April 5, 1991) was an American politician, serving as a Republican United States Senator from Texas from 1961 to 1985. He was the first Republican Senator elected from Texas since Reconstruction. Towe ...
at the same time that Johnson was running for
Vice President of the United States
The vice president of the United States (VPOTUS) is the second-highest officer in the executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president of the United States, and ranks first in the presidential line of succession. The vice p ...
on the John F. Kennedy ticket. However, Jaworski did not always support Democratic candidates. He supported
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...
and voted for him twice, contributed to George H. W. Bush in his campaign for the presidency in 1980, and after Bush conceded the nomination he became treasurer of "Democrats for
Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...
" during the 1980 general election campaign.
Having been convinced of his integrity, in 1980, Jaworski aided former Nixon staffer Egil "Bud" Krogh, whom he had sent to prison in 1973, in Krogh's request to be reinstated to the bar in
Washington state
Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a U.S. state, state in the Northwestern United States, Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first President of the United States, U.S. p ...
.
Watergate
On November 1, 1973, Jaworski became the Special Prosecutor in the Watergate scandal, assuming leadership of a protracted contest with President Nixon to secure evidence for the trial of former senior administration officials on charges relating to the
Watergate scandal
The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the administration of President Richard Nixon from 1972 to 1974 that led to Nixon's resignation. The scandal stemmed from the Nixon administration's contin ...
.
Jaworski's predecessor as Special Prosecutor, Archibald Cox, initially believed that only Nixon's aides had committed misconduct. Because of testimony from Nixon's deputy assistant Alexander Butterfield, Cox learned that Nixon had discussed the Watergate cover-up with the accused on numerous occasions and that these conversations had been recorded by the White House taping system. This discovery caused Cox to subpoena tapes of several presidential conversations as evidence for the upcoming criminal trial, but Nixon refused to release them, citing executive privilege.
Nixon offered Cox what became known as the Stennis Compromise: instead of supplying the tapes, he would supply Cox with transcripts of the recordings, subject to Nixon's discretion, and allow one senator to listen to the recordings and verify the transcripts' accuracy. Cox rejected the compromise, whereupon Nixon fired Cox in the (widely-called, but informally named) Saturday Night Massacre.
Under extreme criticism for the firing, Nixon appointed Jaworski to replace Cox. Jaworski subsequently subpoenaed sixty-four taped conversations. Nixon appealed on two grounds: first, that the office of Special Prosecutor did not have the right to sue the office of President; and second, that the requested materials were privileged presidential conversations. Aware that an important constitutional issue was at stake, and unwilling to wait any longer, Jaworski asked the Supreme Court to take the case directly, bypassing the Court of Appeals.
]
On July 24, 1974, the Supreme Court ruled that the Special Prosecutor did have the right to sue the President; and that the "generalized assertion of xecutiveprivilege must yield to the demonstrated, specific need for evidence in a pending criminal trial". Nixon was forced to give the unedited tapes to Jaworski, including the so-called Smoking Gun Tape which included a compromising discussion of June 23, 1972. The President's remaining support waned, and he resigned on August 9, 1974.
In the summer of 1982, seven members of the grand jury choose to break their oath of silence because "they ereconvinced justice was not done" and discussed their 30-month service with the ABC news show ''20/20''. They stated they wanted to bring an indictment against Pres. Nixon after hearing the batch of tapes released the Summer of 1974. One grand juror stated that in a straw vote, "There were 19 people in the grand-jury room that particular day, and we all raised our hands about wanting an indictment—all of us. And some of us raised both hands." However, Jaworski did not favor an indictment, even going so far as saying he would not sign one. In discussions with the grand jury, Jaworski cited "the trauma of the country," and prior to Nixon's resignation, the lack of precedent for indicting a sitting president.The Watergate grand jury tried relentlessly to indict Richard... UPI Archives, June 17, 1982 his date is the tenth anniversary of Watergate burglary
Later years
Jaworski resigned as special prosecutor on October 25, 1974, once the cover-up trial had begun, and a new special prosecutor was appointed. Jaworski was a close friend of Dean Ernest Raba of St. Mary's University School of Law in
San Antonio
("Cradle of Freedom")
, image_map =
, mapsize = 220px
, map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = United States
, subdivision_type1= State
, subdivision_name1 = Texas
, subdivision_ ...
, where he taught as an adjunct professor for several years.
In 1977, Jaworski reluctantly agreed to serve as special counsel to a House Ethics Committee investigation to determine whether members had indirectly or directly accepted anything of value from the government of the
Republic of Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its ea ...
. The investigation, known as
Koreagate
"Koreagate" was an American political scandal in 1976 involving South Korean political figures seeking influence from 10 Democratic members of Congress. The scandal involved the uncovering of evidence that the Korea Central Intelligence Agency (K ...
or the
Tongsun Park
Tongsun Park (born in 1935 Sunch'ŏn, Korea) is a former South Korean lobbyist. He was involved in two political money-related scandals: Koreagate scandal in the 1970s, and the Oil-for-Food Program scandal of the 2000s. Park had a reputation a ...
investigation, potentially involved hundreds of members of Congress and their families and associates, and included charges of bribery and influence-peddling via envelopes stuffed with $100 bills.
Jaworski died on December 9, 1982, while chopping wood at the Circle J Ranch near Wimberley in Hays County, Texas. His wife died in 1999. His son, Joseph Jaworski, is a former lawyer turned best-selling author and leadership expert. His grandson is political journalist and author
Robert Draper
Robert Draper (born November 15, 1959) is an American journalist, and author of '' Do Not Ask What Good We Do: Inside the U.S. House of Representatives''. He is a correspondent for '' GQ'' and a contributor to '' The New York Times Magazine''. P ...
. His other grandson is Joe Jaworski, a former mayor of Galveston who ran in 2022 for
In 1971, Jaworski received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement.
In 1988, the HBAA Leon Jaworski Award was initiated to honor a lawyer for a lifetime of volunteer service. State and national bar associations reward professional achievement; the granting of the Jaworski Award is based solely on service to the greater Houston community. The award is named for Leon Jaworski whose life and achievements reflected a deep commitment to public service.
Publications
*Jaworski, Leon, After Fifteen Years, Houston: Gulf Publishing Company, 1961.
*Jaworski, Leon, '' The Right and the Power'', New York: Reader's Digest Press, 1976.
*Jaworski, Leon and Herskowitz, Mickey, '' Confession and Avoidance: A Memoir'', Garden City, N.Y.: Anchor Press, 1979.
*Jaworski, Leon, ''
Crossroads
Crossroads, crossroad, cross road or similar may refer to:
* Crossroads (junction), where four roads meet
Film and television Films
* ''Crossroads'' (1928 film), a 1928 Japanese film by Teinosuke Kinugasa
* ''Cross Roads'' (film), a 1930 Brit ...