This list of the Presidents of the American Bar Association

American Bar Association

The American Bar Association , founded August 21, 1878, is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. The ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of academic standards for law schools, and the formulation...

includes all presidents of the association, which was formed in 1878 to represent the interests of lawyers, accredit law school

Law school

A law school is an institution specializing in legal education.- Law degrees :- Canada :...

s, and create and maintain a code of ethics. The American Bar Association is a voluntary

Voluntary association

A voluntary association or union is a group of individuals who enter into an agreement as volunteers to form a body to accomplish a purpose.Strictly speaking, in many jurisdictions no formalities are necessary to start an association...

 bar association

Bar association

A bar association is a professional body of lawyers. Some bar associations are responsible for the regulation of the legal profession in their jurisdiction; others are professional organizations dedicated to serving their members; in many cases, they are both...

 of lawyer

Lawyer

A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...

s and law students not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

.

The association comprises 410,000 members, who are represented by a House of Delegates, the organization's primary body, which acts to create and adopt new policies and recommendations pertaining to the practice of law. The House of Delegates and the association itself are headed by the President, who generally serves a one year term.

Presidents

#	Name	Term	State	Comments	Ref.
1	James O. Broadhead	1878–1879	Missouri Missouri Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...	American Bar Association American Bar Association The American Bar Association , founded August 21, 1878, is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. The ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of academic standards for law schools, and the formulation...  co-founder
2	Benjamin H. Bristow Benjamin Bristow Benjamin Helm Bristow was an American lawyer and Republican Party politician who served as the first Solicitor General of the United States and as a U.S. Treasury Secretary. Fighting for the Union, Bristow served in the army during the American Civil War and was promoted to Colonel...	1879–1880	New York New York New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
3	Edward John Phelps Edward John Phelps Edward John Phelps was a lawyer and diplomat from Vermont. Born in Middlebury, he graduated from Middlebury College in 1840, studied law at Yale University, and began practicing in 1843.-Schooling:...	1880–1881	Vermont
4	Clarkson Nott Potter Clarkson Nott Potter Clarkson Nott Potter was an American civil engineer, then a practising lawyer in New York City, and in 1869-1875 and in 1877-1881 a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives. He was President of the American Bar Association from 1881 to 1882.-Family:Potter was the son of...	1881–1882	New York
5	Alexander Lawton Alexander Lawton Alexander Robert Lawton was a lawyer, politician, diplomat, and brigadier general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War.-Early life:...	1882–1883	Georgia
6	Cortlandt Parker	1883–1884	New Jersey
7	John W. Stevenson John W. Stevenson John White Stevenson was a U.S. Representative, the 18th Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky, the 25th Governor of Kentucky and U.S. Senator. His father, Andrew Stevenson, had served as Speaker of the House and minister to Great Britain...	1884–1885	Kentucky
8	William Allen Butler William Allen Butler William Allen Butler was an American lawyer and writer of poetical satires.Son of the poet and lawyer Benjamin Franklin Butler and nephew of naval hero William Howard Allen, Allen graduated at the University of the City of New York in 1843 and became a New York lawyer...	1885–1886	New York
9	Thomas J. Semmes	1886–1887	Louisiana
10	George G. Wright George G. Wright George Grover Wright was a pioneer lawyer, Iowa Supreme Court justice, law professor, and Republican United States Senator from Iowa....	1887–1888	Iowa
11	David Dudley Field	1888–1889	New York
12	Henry Hitchcock Henry Hitchcock (Missouri lawyer) Henry Hitchcock was a lawyer from St. Louis, Missouri. An early president of the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis, Hitchcock was a co-founder of the American Bar Association in 1878. He later became the twelfth president of the association in 1889.-Further reading:* Bar Association of St....	1889–1890	Missouri	American Bar Association co-founder
13	Simeon Eben Baldwin Simeon Eben Baldwin Simeon Eben Baldwin , jurist, law professor and the 50th Governor of Connecticut, was the son of jurist, Connecticut governor and U.S. Senator Roger Sherman Baldwin and Emily Pitkin Perkins...	1890–1891	Connecticut
14	John Forrest Dillon John Forrest Dillon John Forrest Dillon was an American jurist who served on both federal and Iowa state courts, and who authored a highly influential treatise on the power of states over municipal governments.-Early life and career:...	1891–1892	New York
15	John Randolph Tucker	1892-1893	Virginia
16	Thomas Cooley Thomas M. Cooley Thomas McIntyre Cooley, LL.D., was the 25th Justice and a Chief Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court, between 1864 and 1885. Born in Attica, New York, he was father to Charles Cooley, a distinguished American sociologist...	1893–1894	Michigan
17	James C. Carter	1894–1895	New York
18	Moorfield Storey Moorfield Storey Moorfield Storey was an American lawyer, publicist, and civil rights leader. According to Storey's biographer, William B...	1895–1896	Massachusetts
19	James M. Woolworth	1896–1897	Nebraska
20	William Wirt Howe	1897–1898	Louisiana
21	Joseph H. Choate	1898–1899	New York|
22	Charles F. Manderson Charles F. Manderson Charles Frederick Manderson was a United States Senator from Nebraska from 1883 to 1895.-Biography:Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he attended school there and then moved to Canton, Ohio, in 1856, where he studied law...	1899–1900	Nebraska
23	Edmund Whetmore	1900–1901	New York
24	U. M. Rose	1901-1902	Arkansas
25	Francis Rawle	1902-1903	Pennsylvania
26	James Hagerman	1902–1903	Missouri
27	Henry St. George Tucker, III	1904–1905	Virginia
28	George R. Peck	1905–1906	Illinois
29	Alton B. Parker Alton B. Parker Alton Brooks Parker was an American lawyer, judge and the Democratic nominee for U.S. president in the 1904 elections.-Life:...	1906–1907	New York
30	Jacob M. Dickinson Jacob M. Dickinson Jacob McGavock Dickinson was United States Secretary of War under President William Howard Taft from 1909 to 1911. He was succeeded by Henry L. Stimson.-Biography:...	1907–1908	Illinois
31	Frederick William Lehmann Frederick William Lehmann Frederick William Lehmann was a prominent American lawyer, statesman, United States Solicitor General, and rare book collector.-Biography:...	1908–1910	Missouri	Future US Solicitor General
32	Charles F. Libby	1909-1910	Maine
33	Edgar Howard Farrar Edgar Howard Farrar Edgar Howard Farrar was an American lawyer.He was born at a plantation in Concordia Parish, Louisiana, the son of Thomas Price Farrar. After home schooling, he attended college at the Baton Rouge Collegiate Institute, then earned his masters from the University of Virginia...	1910–1911	Louisiana Louisiana Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
34	Stephen S. Gregory Stephen S. Gregory Stephen Strong Gregory was a prominent Chicago lawyer.-Biography:Stephen S. Gregory was born in Unadilla, New York on November 16, 1849. His family moved to Madison, Wisconsin in 1858. He was educated at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, receiving an A.B. in 1870, an LL.B. in 1871, and an A.M...	1911-1912	Illinois
35	Frank B. Kellogg Frank B. Kellogg Frank Billings Kellogg was an American lawyer, politician and statesman who served in the U.S. Senate and as U.S. Secretary of State. He co-authored the Kellogg-Briand Pact, for which he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 1929..- Biography :Kellogg was born in Potsdam, New York, and his family...	1912–1913	Minnesota	Future US Secretary of State United States Secretary of State The United States Secretary of State is the head of the United States Department of State, concerned with foreign affairs. The Secretary is a member of the Cabinet and the highest-ranking cabinet secretary both in line of succession and order of precedence...
36	William Howard Taft William Howard Taft William Howard Taft was the 27th President of the United States and later the tenth Chief Justice of the United States...	1913–1914	District of Columbia	Former US President President of the United States The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces.... Future US Supreme Court Chief Justice Chief Justice of the United States The Chief Justice of the United States is the head of the United States federal court system and the chief judge of the Supreme Court of the United States. The Chief Justice is one of nine Supreme Court justices; the other eight are the Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States...
37	Peter W. Meldrim	1914-1915	Georgia
38	Elihu Root Elihu Root Elihu Root was an American lawyer and statesman and the 1912 recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. He was the prototype of the 20th century "wise man", who shuttled between high-level government positions in Washington, D.C...	1915-1916	New York
39	George Sutherland George Sutherland Alexander George Sutherland was an English-born U.S. jurist and political figure. One of four appointments to the Supreme Court by President Warren G. Harding, he served as an Associate Justice of the U.S...	1916–1917	Utah	Future US Supreme Court Justice Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States are the members of the Supreme Court of the United States other than the Chief Justice of the United States...
40	Walter George Smith	1917–1918	Pennsylvania
41	GeorgeT.Page	1918-1919	Illinois
42	Hampton L. Carson	1919–1921	Pennsylvania
43	William A. Biount	1920-1921	Florida
44	Cordenio A. Severance	1921–1922	Minnesota
45	John W. Davis John W. Davis John William Davis was an American politician, diplomat and lawyer. He served as a United States Representative from West Virginia , then as Solicitor General of the United States and US Ambassador to the UK under President Woodrow Wilson...	1922-1923	New York
46	R. E. L. Saner	1923-1924	Texas
47	Charles E. Hughes	1925–1926	New York
48	Chester Isaiah Long	1926-1927	Kansas
49	Charles S. Whitman Charles S. Whitman Charles Seymour Whitman served as the 41st Governor of New York from January 1915 to December 1918. He was also a delegate to Republican National Convention from New York in 1916.-Biography:...	1926-1927	New York
50	Silas H. Strawn Silas H. Strawn Silas Hardy Strawn was a prominent Chicago lawyer and one of the name partners at the law firm of Winston & Strawn. He was also the president of the United States Chamber of Commerce during the early years of the Great Depression, in which capacity he supported the policies of Herbert Hoover and...	1927-1928	Illinois
51	Gurney E. Newlin	1928-1929	California
52	Henry Upson Sims	1929-1930	Alabama
53	Josiah Marvel	1930-1931	Delaware
54	Charles A. Boston 4	1930-1931	New York
55	Guy A. Thompson	1931-1932	Missouri
56	Clarence E. Martin	1932-1933	West Virginia
57	Earle W. Evans	1933-1934	Kansas
58	Scott M. Loftin	1934–1935	Florida
59	William L. Ransom	1935–1936	New York
60	Frederick Harold Stinchfield Frederick Harold Stinchfield Frederick Harold Stinchfield was an American attorney and former president of the American Bar Association. Stinchfield graduated from Harvard Law School in 1905. In the same year he passed the New York State bar exam and began his law career. During World War I Stinchfield served as a major in...	1936–1937	Minnesota
61	Arthur T. Vanderbilt Arthur T. Vanderbilt Arthur T. Vanderbilt was Chief Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court from 1948 to 1957. He also was a noted attorney, legal educator and nationally known proponent of court modernization.-Biography:...	1937–1938	New Jersey
62	Frank J. Hogan	1938–1939	District of Columbia
63	Charles A. Beardsley	1939–1940	California
64	Jacob M. Lashly	1940–1941	Missouri
65	Walter P. Armstrong	1941–1942
66	George Maurice Morris	1942–1943	District of Columbia
67	Joseph W. Henderson	1943–1944	Pennsylvania
68	David A. Simmons	1944–1945	Texas
69	Willis Smith Willis Smith Willis Smith was a Democratic U.S. senator from the state of North Carolina between 1950 and 1953.-Early life and education:Born in Virginia, he moved to North Carolina before age 2...	1945–1946	North Carolina
70	Carl B. Rix	1946–1947	Wisconsin
71	Tappan Gregory	1947–1948	Illinois
72	Frank E. Holman Frank E. Holman Frank Ezekiel Holman was an American attorney who after his election as president of the American Bar Association in 1948 led an effort to amend the United States Constitution to limit the power of treaties and executive agreements. Holman's work led to the Bricker Amendment.Holman was born in...	1948–1949	District of Columbia
73	Harold J. Gallagher	1949–1950	New York
74	Cody Fowler	1950–1951	Florida
75	Howard L. Barkdull	1951–1952	Ohio
76	Robert G. Storey	1952–1953	Texas
77	William James Jameson William James Jameson William James Jameson was a United States federal judge.Born in Butte, Montana, Jameson received an A.B. from the University of Montana in 1919 and an LL.B. from the University of Montana School of Law in 1922. He was in private practice in Billings, Montana from 1922 to 1957...	1953–1954	Montana
78	Loyd Wright Loyd Wright Loyd Wright was an American attorney and lifetime Californian, who represented a number of movie stars, served as president of the State Bar of California, the American Bar Association and the International Bar Association and was an unsuccessful candidate for the Republican nomination for the...	1954–1955	California
79	E. Smythe Gambrell	1955–1956	Georgia
80	David Farrow Maxwell David Farrow Maxwell David Farrow Maxwell was the eightieth president of the American Bar Association.Maxwell urged Congress to enact a measure that would grant tax advantages to self-employed lawyers and others who desire to set up voluntary pension plans.-References:...	1956–1957	Pennsylvania
81	Charles S. Rhyne	1957–1958	District of Columbia
82	Ross L. Malone, Jr.	1958–1959	New Mexico	Former Deputy Attorney General Deputy Attorney General Deputy Attorney General is the second-highest-ranking official in a department of justice or of law, in various governments of the world. In those governments, the Deputy Attorney General oversees the day-to-day operation of the department, and may act as Attorney General during the absence of... , 1952-53
83	John D. Randall	1959–1960	Iowa
84	Whitney N. Seymour, Sr.	1960–1961	New York	Former Assistant Solicitor General United States Solicitor General The United States Solicitor General is the person appointed to represent the federal government of the United States before the Supreme Court of the United States. The current Solicitor General, Donald B. Verrilli, Jr. was confirmed by the United States Senate on June 6, 2011 and sworn in on June... , 1931-33
85	John C. Satterfield	1961–1962	Mississippi
86	Sylvester C. Smith, Jr.	1962–1963	New Jersey
87	Walter E. Craig	1963–1964	Arizona
88	Lewis Franklin Powell, Jr.	1964–1965	Virginia	Future US Supreme Court Justice Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States are the members of the Supreme Court of the United States other than the Chief Justice of the United States...
89	Edward W. Kuhn	1965–1966	Tennessee
90	Orison S. Marden Orison S. Marden (lawyer) Orison Swett Marden was a New York City lawyer, a leader of the Legal Aid Society, and a president of the American Bar Association, the New York State Bar Association, and the New York City Bar Association....	1966–1967	New York
91	Earl F. Morris	1967–1968	Ohio
92	William T. Gossett	1968–1969	Michigan
93	Bernard Segal Bernard Segal Bernard G. Segal was an American lawyer known for his advocacy of the poor and his work in the Civil Rights Movement....	1969–1970	Pennsylvania
94	Edward L. Wright	1970–1971	Arkansas
95	Leon Jaworski Leon Jaworski Leonidas "Leon" Jaworski was the second Special Prosecutor during the Watergate Scandal...	1971–1972	Texas
96	Robert W. Meserve	1972–1973	Massachusetts	Past president of Boston Bar Assn. Boston Bar Association The Boston Bar Association, which also goes by the acronym BBA, is a volunteer non-governmental organization in Boston, Massachusetts, United States...
97	Chesterfield Smith Chesterfield Smith Chesterfield Smith was an American lawyer. He founded the law firm Holland & Knight and served as president of the American Bar Association in 1973-1974, during the Watergate scandal.-Early life and education:...	1973–1974	Florida
98	James D. Fellers James D. Fellers James Davison Fellers founded the law firm of Fellers Snider in Oklahoma City in 1963. Fellers served as the President of the Oklahoma Bar Association in 1964, and President of the American Bar Association from 1974 to 1975....	1974–1975	Oklahoma
99	Lawrence E. Welch	1975–1976	New York
100	Justin A. Stanley	1976–1977	Illinois
101	William B. Spann, Jr.	1977–1978	Georgia
102	S. Shepherd Tate	1978–1979	Tennessee
103	Leonard S. Janofsky	1979–1980	California
104	William Reece Smith, Jr. W. Reece Smith Jr. William Reece Smith Jr. is an American lawyer. Smith served as the interim president of the University of South Florida, and the president of the American Bar Association....	1980–1981	Florida	Investigated Sami Al Arian
105	David R. Brink David R. Brink David R. Brink is an American attorney and former President of the American Bar Association. A specialist in Estate planning, Brink graduated from the University of Minnesota and the University of Minnesota Law School before joining the Minnesota law firm of Dorsey & Whitney...	1981–1982	Minnesota
106	Morris Harrell	1982–1983	Texas	Alumnus of Baylor Law School Baylor Law School Founded in 1857, Baylor Law School is the oldest law school in Texas and has been accredited by the American Bar Association since 1931 and a member of the Association of American Law Schools since 1938. Baylor Law School is affiliated with Baylor University and located in Waco, Texas...
107	Wallace D. Riley	1983-1984	Michigan
108	John C. Shepherd	1984-1985	Missouri
109	William W. Falsgraf	1983–1985	Ohio
110	Eugene C. Thomas	1986–1987	Idaho
111	Robert MacCrate Robert MacCrate Robert MacCrate is a New York lawyer who served as Counsel to New York Governor Nelson D. Rockefeller and as Special Counsel to the Department of the Army for its investigation of the My Lai Massacre. In the late 1980s MacCrate served as president of both the New York State Bar Association and the...	1987–1988	New York
112	Robert D. Raven	1988-1989	California
113	L. Stanley Chauvin, Jr.	1988–1989	Kentucky
114	John J. Curtin, Jr.	1990–1991	Massachusetts	Past president of Boston Bar Assn. Boston Bar Association The Boston Bar Association, which also goes by the acronym BBA, is a volunteer non-governmental organization in Boston, Massachusetts, United States...
115	Sandy D'Alemberte	1991–1992	Florida	Future president of FSU Florida State University The Florida State University is a space-grant and sea-grant public university located in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a comprehensive doctoral research university with medical programs and significant research activity as determined by the Carnegie Foundation...
116	J. Michael McWilliams	1992-1993	Maryland
117	R. William Ide, III	1994–1995	Georgia
118	George Edward Bushnell Jr.	1994–1995	Michigan
119	Roberta C. Ramo	1995–1996	New Mexico	First female president Alumna of University of CO, Boulder
120	N. Lee Cooper	1996–1997	Alabama
121	Jerome J. Shestack Jerome J. Shestack Jerome Joseph "Jerry" Shestack , was a Philadelphia lawyer and human rights advocate active in Democratic Party politics who served as president of the American Bar Association from 1997 to 1998...	1997–1998	Pennsylvania	Former editor of Harvard Law Record Harvard Law Record The Harvard Law Record is an independent, biweekly student-edited newspaper based at Harvard Law School. Founded in 1946, it is the oldest law school newspaper in the United States.-Characteristics:... Member of IAJLJ International Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists The International Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists strives to advance human rights everywhere, including the prevention of war crimes, the punishment of war criminals, the prohibition of weapons of mass destruction, and international co-operation based on the rule of law and the fair...
122	Philip S. Anderson	1998-1999	Arkansas
123	William G. Paul	1999–2000	Oklahoma
124	Martha W. Barnett	2000–2001	Florida
125	Robert Edward Hirshon	2001–2002	Michigan
126	Alfred P. Carlton Jr.	2002–2003	North Carolina
127	Dennis W. Archer Dennis Archer Dennis Wayne Archer is an American lawyer and politician from Michigan. A Democrat, Archer served on the Michigan Supreme Court and as mayor of Detroit...	2003–2004	Michigan	First African-American president
128	Robert J. Grey, Jr. Robert J. Grey, Jr. Robert James Grey, Jr., Past President of the American Bar Association is a partner with the Richmond, Virginia-based law firm, Hunton & Williams...	2004–2005	Virginia
129	Michael S. Greco Michael S. Greco Michael Spencer Greco is a former President of the American Bar Association . He is currently a partner in the Boston office of Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Preston Gates Ellis LLP, and a former partner at the now-defunct Hill and Barlow.-ABA Presidency:As President of the American Bar Association,...	2005–2006	Massachusetts	First foreign-born president
130	Karen J. Mathis	2006–2007	Pennsylvania
131	William H. Neukom	2007–2008	California
132	H. Thomas Wells Jr.	2008–2009	Alabama
133	Carolyn B. Lamm	2009–2010	District of Columbia
134	Stephen N. Zack	2010–2011	Florida
135	William T. Robinson III	2011–2012	Kentucky