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Office of the Attorney General

Historical Biography

Attorney General: James Clark McReynolds

McReynolds, James Clark
48th Attorney General, -
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James Clark McReynolds was born in Elkton, Kentucky, on February 3, 1862, James McReynolds received a B.S. from Vanderbilt University in 1882, and graduated from the University of Virginia law department in 1884. He practiced law in Nashville, Tennessee, for many years, and was a professor at Vanderbilt Law School from 1900 to 1903. He was appointed Assistant Attorney General of the United States by Theodore Roosevelt and served from 1903 to 1907. Thereafter he moved to New York to engage in private practice.

He was retained by the Government in matters relating to enforcement of antitrust laws, particularly in proceedings against the Tobacco Trust and the combination of the anthracite coal railroads. McReynolds was appointed Attorney General of the United States by President Wilson on March 5, 1913, and remained until August 29, 1914, when named Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. He served on the Supreme Court from 1914 to 1941. He died August 24, 1946 in Washington D.C.

About the Artist: Hubert Vos

(1855-1935)

Vos was born in Maastricht, Holland, and studied in Rome, Paris, and at the Academy of Fine Arts in Brussels. In 1887 he established a studio in London and opened two art schools. Portraits became his specialty and he won gold medals for his work in Paris, Amsterdam, Munich, Dresden and Brussels. He emigrated to the United States in 1892 and became a naturalized citizen in 1898. The Vos portrait of Attorney General McReynolds was painted in 1914.

Updated October 24, 2022