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John Doar – The Legacy of a Legend

On November 11, 2014, acclaimed civil rights attorney John Doar died of congestive heart failure at the age of 92.

Born and raised in New Richmond, Wisconsin, Doar possessed small-town values but big-town aspirations. Following his graduation from law school, he spent ten years at his father’s practice of Doar and Knowles before setting his sights on public law. He was once described as “fearless” and a “great respecter of the truth”.  These qualities suited him well throughout his career.

Despite having quiet humility, he was driven like few others have been and charged through his career with great purpose.  A former colleague called him a “one-man traveling bridge over troubled waters—mediating, fact-finding and trouble-shooting successively as a Justice Department lawyer, president of the always-turbulent New York City school board, and director of a controversial self-help program in a black community in Brooklyn”.

His career was lined with monumental achievements few others can boast. In 1962, he escorted former Air Force veteran James Meredith to enroll as the first black student at the University of Mississippi.

In 1963, following the death of Medgar Evers, a national field secretary of the Mississippi NAACP, Doar helped calm a demonstration that broke out as several hundred young blacks marched toward police barricades, demanding the police give them Evers’ murderer. When ordered to leave, the demonstrators began to shout, “We want the killers!” Others began throwing bottles, bricks, and stones in the direction of the police.

Doar calmly strode through the angry crowd and shouted, “You’re not going to win anything with bottles and bricks. My name is John Doar—D-O-A-R. I’m from the Justice Department, and anyone around here knows I stand for what is right.” Undoubtedly shaken, he continued, “Medgar Evers wouldn’t want it this way. Hold hands with me and help us move these people along.”  Eventually, the crowd moved back from the police line and dispersed. The barricades were removed and a sense of calm settled over the street.

“John Doar had a clear vision of what was unjust and intolerable, and he kept focused on that,” said prominent civil rights lawyer William L. Taylor. In 1964, he was awarded the President’s Award for Distinguished Civilian Service by President Lyndon B. Johnson.

Doar’s commitment to defending civil rights was well-known throughout Washington and the South. He was concise, thorough, and seemingly without reserve. “I was the first Justice Department lawyer who went down South to see what the facts were for myself,” he said.  “I spent a great deal of each year on the road.” His frequent traveling was legendary.  “John Doar’s in Birmingham,” a reporter once announced at dinner.  “No, he’s in New Orleans,” another reporter said.  “No,” chimed in a third, “I saw him here in Jackson.”  “You’re all right,” said a fourth reporter.  “He was in Birmingham this morning, argued a case in New Orleans this afternoon, and arrived in Jackson tonight.” It is said that John’s fourth child went unnamed for six weeks while he traveled throughout the South, handling civil rights emergencies.

In 1967, he secured the conviction of nine defendants in the death of three civil rights workers. A paramount victory for the progression of civil rights, this was the first case in which a white defendant was convicted for violence against a black.

Several months later, Doar left the Justice Department and returned to practice. However, his public career was far from over.

In 1974, he acted as Chief Counsel for the House Judiciary Committee’s investigation of the Watergate Affair and helped prepare the articles of impeachment against then-President Richard Nixon. His objectivity and ability to investigate and review the case fairly earned him great praise from both Republicans and Democrats alike. He valued facts and worked relentlessly to present them in their entirety. “To me, success is seeing that justice is done,” John said. Setting aside his personal feelings on the matter, he demanded that his staff maintain the utmost secrecy and grant the president their absolute respect throughout the investigation. It was during this time that he had the opportunity to work with newly licensed attorneys Bill and Hillary Clinton.

In addition to his public legal career, he represented a host of clients in the private sector. At the end of his career, he occupied the role of senior partner at the New York-based law firm of Doar, Rieck, Kaley & Mack.

In 2012, John Doar was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his legal work on civil rights.   Of all of his achievements, he cites his work on civil rights as being his proudest. In addition to valuing justice above almost everything else, Doar believed in his cause. In 1997, he met with a group of Minnesota 7th graders when a common question was presented by one of the students, “Did you ever agree that white people are better than black people?”  “No, do you?” Doar asked.  The boy quickly said “No.” Doar nodded.

When called a hero, Doar is quick to dismiss it. “I don’t think it’s quite the right word. We just knew viscerally that we were doing something that was awfully important.  We weren’t trying to be heroes.  At the same time, all of us realized that when our lives were almost over we wanted to be able to look back and say, ‘We did our best: we worked as hard and as long as we could.”

And that is the legacy John Doar leaves behind. A loving father, a brilliant lawyer, and forever a legend.

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