Nicholas Spaeth

Who is Nicholas Spaeth?

Nicholas J. Spaeth was the 27th Attorney General of North Dakota, serving from 1985 to 1992. He lost the 1992 North Dakota governor's race to Republican Ed Schafer.

Spaeth grew up in North Dakota. He went to college at Stanford University, where he graduated with honors, and won a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford. After Oxford, we went to Stanford Law School, where he was managing editor of the law review. After graduation, he clerked for U.S. Eighth Circuit Judge Myron Bright and then for Supreme Court Justice Byron White.

As Attorney General, Spaeth was the only statewide, elected official not to be endorsed by the National Rifle Association in the history of the state. Although he is an avid hunter, he is also a lifelong advocate of gun control. In the November 1992 election for governor of North Dakota, Spaeth lost to Schafer, 58% to 41%.

In 2004, Spaeth joined H&R Block, Inc. in 2004, as a senior vice president and chief legal officer. He resigned in 2007 and joined the Federal Home Loan Bank as executive vice-president, general counsel, and chief risk officer.