Abner Mikva - WikiHQ

Abner Joseph Mikva ( ; January 21, 1926 – July 4, 2016) was an American politician, federal judge, and legal scholar. He was a member of the Democratic Party. After serving in the Illinois House of Representatives, Mikva ran for the U.S. Congress in 1966 but lost the primary to incumbent congressman Barrett O'Hara. In 1968, Mikva defeated O'Hara. Mikva served in the United States House of Representatives representing Illinois's 2nd congressional district (1969–1973) and 10th congressional district (1975–1979). He was appointed as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit by President Jimmy Carter, serving from 1979 to 1994. He served as the White House Counsel from 1994 to 1995 during Bill Clinton's presidency. He was one of the few people in modern times to serve in the executive, legislative and judicial branches of the Federal government.

In his later career, Mikva taught at the University of Chicago Law School, the Georgetown University Law Center and the Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law. He mentored future President of the United States Barack Obama and future United States Attorney General Merrick Garland (who also succeeded him on the D.C. Circuit) during their early years in law. In 2014, Obama honored Mikva with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Early life and family

Mikva was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the son of Ida (Fishman) and Henry Abraham Mikva, Jewish immigrants escaping from pogroms in Ukraine. Mikva and his parents spoke Yiddish at home. During the Great Depression, his father was often unemployed and the family relied on welfare. before transferring to Washington University in St. Louis, where he met his future wife, Zorita Rose (Zoe) Wise. Both graduated in 1948 and soon married. Laurie, who teaches at Northwestern University and is on the board of directors of the Legal Services Corporation; and Rachel, a rabbi and professor who teaches at the Chicago Theological Seminary.

Political career

After graduation, Mikva clerked for Supreme Court Justice Sherman Minton. He also returned to Chicago and began practicing law, at a firm which became Goldberg, Devoe, Shadur & Mikva after he made partner. The firm handles labor, real estate, commercial and civil rights cases, as well as some criminal defense.</blockquote>

Illinois House of Representatives

He spent ten years, 1956 to 1966, in the Illinois House of Representatives. In the Illinois House, Mikva was part of the "Kosher Nostra", a group of independent, clean Democrats that included future United States Senator and Presidential candidate Paul Simon, future Illinois Comptroller and candidate for Governor Dawn Clark Netsch, and Representative Anthony Scariano.

U.S. House of Representatives

Mikva lost a primary challenge to machine-backed U.S. Representative Barratt O'Hara in 1966, but "reinvented himself" as a community activist, winning election to the United States Congress in 1968. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1969 to 1973 and 1975 to 1979.

He first represented Illinois's 2nd District, which included the South Side's lakefront wards including Hyde Park, his residence and the University of Chicago. Both parties attempted to redistrict Mikva out of Congress. The redistricting for the 1972 elections put Hyde Park in the 1st District Mikva instead moved to the North Shore's 10th District.

After he was defeated by Republican Samuel H. Young in 1972, In 1976, he was reelected by 201 votes against Young in a rematch that was one of the most expensive congressional races up to that time. Despite opposition from anti-gun control interests that spent over $1 million to oppose his nomination, Mikva was confirmed by the United States Senate on September 25, 1979 and received his commission on September 26, 1979. He served as Chief Judge from 1991 to 1994.

During his 15 years as judge, including four as Chief Judge, Mikva used his experience in the legislative branch as well as with the conservative Justice Minton to craft his opinions. Mikva's most controversial decisions struck down the Pentagon ban against gay people serving in the U.S. military (overturned on appeal by the circuit sitting en banc, but the ban was ultimately overturned by Executive Order), and - in 1982 - upheld regulation of air bags in automobiles.

Post-judicial career

Mikva taught law at Northwestern University and was White House Counsel under President Bill Clinton from 1994 to 1995, finding himself the oldest member of the White House team, and eventually resigning due to exhaustion. Mikva offered Obama a law clerk position in his judicial office after Obama graduated from Harvard Law School, but Obama declined. Future Obama appointee and United States Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan did serve as one of Mikva's law clerks and was then a professor at the University of Chicago Law School. Mikva also encouraged Obama to listen to preachers to understand public speaking, "listen[ing] to patterns of speech, how to take people up the ladders. It's almost a Baptist tradition to make someone faint, and, by God, he's doing it now." In November 2004, Mikva was an international election monitor of Ukraine's contested presidential election. In July 2006, Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich named Mikva chair of the Illinois Human Rights Commission. In 2009, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn requested that Mikva lead a commission investigating the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign for admitting applicants Mikva Challenge is a non-profit, non-partisan organization whose mission is to develop youth to be informed, empowered, and active citizens and community leaders who will promote a just and equitable society. Mikva Challenge has chapters in Chicago, Illinois, Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles, California, and partner sites spanning the country including Cobb County, Georgia, Wilmington, Delaware, Rochester, New York, New York City, New York, Louisville, Kentucky, Riverside, California, New Hampshire, Detroit, Michigan, and Macomb County, Michigan, Madison, Wisconsin, and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The organization helps youth to expand their political desire by working as election judges, volunteering on campaigns, advising city officials, and creating local activism projects to improve their schools and communities. Their motto is "Democracy is a Verb!" As of 2020, Mikva Challenge reaches 100,000 youth annually

in programs in over 3,000 schools across the country. He was also suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease at the time of his death.

Legacy and awards

Mikva's congressional and judicial papers are archived at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library in Springfield, Illinois. In 1998, Mikva received the Chicago History Museum's "Making History Award" for Distinction in Public Service. In 2016, Congress renamed the United States Post Office in downtown Evanston, Illinois, after Mikva, who had lived in Evanston and represented it as a congressional representative.

References

External links

Mikva Challenge
Retrieved on 2009-02-26