James D. St. Clair

Who was James D. St. Clair?

James D. St. Clair was an American lawyer, and practiced law for many years in Boston with the firm of Hale and Dorr. He lived in Wellesley Hills, MA for nearly 5 decades until his death.

He first gained notice while assisting Joseph Welch in the Army-McCarthy Hearings of 1954..

Much later in this his career he was Richard Nixon's counsel, most notably before the United States Supreme Court in United States v. Nixon, where he said,

The President wants me to argue that he is as powerful a monarch as Louis XIV, only four years at a time, and is not subject to the processes of any court in the land except the court of impeachment.

He also represented Nixon before the House Judiciary Committee as they considered impeachment charges against him.

He was born and raised in Illinois, graduating from Moline High School, Moline, IL, in 1937, and studying at Augustana College, the University of Illinois and Harvard Law School.