小韦德·汉普顿·麦克雷.
(July 3, 1920 – August 30, 1987)
The first African American judge appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit and the second African American solicitor general in the history of the United States. McCree was born in Des Moines, Iowa, and attended Boston Latin School. He was a member of Phi Beta Kappa and graduated summa cum laude from Fisk University in 1941. After a four-year stint in the Army during World War II, he graduated 12th in his class from Harvard Law School in 1948.
McCree and his wife, Dores moved to her hometown of Detroit, 密歇根. There, McCree entered into private practice at the legendary black law firm of Bledsoe & 泰勒. In 1953 he was appointed to the Workman's Compensation Commission by Governor G. Mennen威廉姆斯. Two years later he became the first African-American to be named a judge of the Circuit Court for Wayne County, 密歇根.
约翰·F总统. Kennedy appointed him to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of 密歇根 in 1961, another first for an African-American. In 1966 President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed him to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit. He served there until 1977, when he left to become United States Solicitor General, the second African-American to hold that office – 最高法院 Justice Thurgood Marshall was the first. 吉米·卡特总统, who nominated McCree to the post, said at his memorial service that McCree was "a true American hero".
Often called the "10th Justice", McCree served as solicitor general for four years. He stepped down in 1981 to become the Lewis M. Simes Professor of Law at the University of 密歇根, a position he held until his death. As solicitor general, McCree personally argued 25 cases in the U.S. 最高法院, including the Richard Nixon presidential tapes case and the Bakke "reverse discrimination" case.
In 1981 he accepted appointment as Lewis M. Simes Professor of Law at the University of 密歇根 Law School, where he taught until his death on August 30, 1987. During these years he also consulted on various cases and served as Special Master for the U.S. 最高法院 in cases in which it exercised original jurisdiction.
