Home > West's Encyclopedia of American Law > Jackson, Robert Houghwout

Robert Houghwout Jackson served as general counsel for the Federal Bureau of Internal Revenue, attorney general of the United States, and justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. During his service on the Court from 1941 to 1954 Jackson delivered unconventional opinions that did not always coincide with those of the president who had appointed him, FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT. Jackson was nonetheless chosen to be chief counsel at the NUREMBERG TRIALS following WORLD WAR II.

Jackson's straightforward style as a lawyer and a justice stemmed from his rural upbringing.

The first Jacksons immigrated to the United States from England in 1819. They settled in Spring Creek, Pennsylvania, where Jackson was born...