William Mitchell Biography

William Mitchell served as U.S. attorney general from 1929 to 1933 under President Herbert Hoover. A distinguished private attorney, Mitchell also served as U.S. solicitor general. Unlike many other attorneys general, Mitchell never ran for political office nor was he of the same political party as Hoover.

Mitchell was born on September 9, 1874 in Winona, Minnesota. He attended Yale University for two years before transferring to the University of Minnesota, from which he graduated in 1895. The following year he earned his bachelor of laws degree from the university and then was admitted to the Minnesota bar. Mitchell then joined a St. Paul, Minnesota law firm.

In 1898 Mitchell enlisted in the Army, serving as a military lawyer during the Spanish-American War. Upon his return to Minnesota, Mitchell started a small law firm with his father, a distinguished judge who had just lost his seat on the Minnesota Supreme Court in an election. Though his father died in 1900, Mitchell continued to practice with the firm until World War I intervened. He rejoined the Army as an infantry officer and served until 1919.

After the war he returned to his law firm, but in 1925 President Calvin Coolidge appointed Mitchell U.S. solicitor general. The solicitor general appears before the U.S. Supreme Court to argue on behalf of the federal government. The appointment was unusual because Mitchell was a Democrat while Coolidge was a Republican.

In 1929 newly-elected President Herbert Hoover appointed Mitchell U.S. attorney general. The appointment again went against conventional wisdom because Hoover was a Republican. Mitchell received the appointment largely due to his performance as solicitor general, with several justices urging Hoover to name Mitchell. Hoover made the appointment based on the recommendations of several Supreme Court justices. With the precipitous decline in the U.S. economy after the stock market crash in late 1929, the Hoover administration soon came under attack for not trying to control the situation. Mitchell's term was largely uneventful in light of the economic depression.

After the Hoover administration left office in 1933, Mitchell joined a New York City law firm rather than return to Minnesota. As a high-powered corporate attorney, he fell out of the public eye until 1945, when he assisted in a congressional investigation into the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. However, Mitchell quickly grew restless at the committee's slow pace in analyzing the events surrounding December 7, 1941 and resigned within three months.

Mitchell also headed a federal court committee that redrafted the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Although these rules may appear dry and hard to understand, they are vitally important to the administration of justice and to the prompt and fair resolution of civil disputes. In addition, these rules have served as models for state court procedural rules. The chairmanship of the committee is considered a high honor.

Mitchell maintained these activities as well as his law practice into the 1950s. He died on August 24, 1955 in Syosset, New York.