David W. Marston

Who is David W. Marston?

David Weese Marston, Sr., known as Dave Marston, is a Philadelphia lawyer and author who was in 1978 removed from his position as United States Attorney for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania by U.S. President Jimmy Carter. An appointee of Carter's predecessor, Gerald R. Ford, Jr., Marston had obtained convictions of political figures from both parties within Pennsylvania when Carter authorized his removal.

A Tennessee native, Marston graduated in 1967 from Harvard University Law School in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He then spent two years in the United States Navy. In 1969, he joined a Philadelphia law firm, Montgomery, McCracken, Walker & Rhoads. In 1973, however, he entered the political world to become an aide to Republican U.S. Senator Richard S. Schweiker of Pennsylvania, who was later tapped by Ronald W. Reagan as Reagan's choice for vice president were Reagan to have wrestled the presidential nomination from Gerald Ford in 1976.

A reportedly "stunned" Marston questioned why Carter removed him because Marston had successfully prosecuted Pennsylvania State Senator Henry Cianfrani on racketeering charges.