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Archibald "Archie" Cox Jr. (May 17, 1912 – May 29, 2004) was an American lawyer and law professor who served as U.S. Solicitor General under President John F. Kennedy and later as a special prosecutor during the Watergate scandal. During his career, he was a pioneering expert on labor law and also an authority on constitutional law. The Journal of Legal Studies has identified Cox as one of the most cited legal scholars of the 20th century.[1]
Cox was Senator John F. Kennedy's labor advisor and in 1961, President Kennedy appointed him solicitor general, an office he held for four and a half years. Cox became famous when under mounting pressure and charges of corruption against persons closely associated with Richard Nixon, Attorney General nominee Elliot Richardson appointed him as Special Prosecutor to oversee the federal criminal investigation into the Watergate burglary and other related crimes that became popularly known as the Watergate scandal. He had a dramatic confrontation with Nixon when he subpoenaed the tapes the president had secretly recorded of his Oval Office conversations. When Cox refused a direct order from the White House to seek no further tapes or presidential materials, Nixon fired him in an incident that became known as the Saturday Night Massacre. Cox's firing produced a public relations disaster for Nixon and set in motion impeachment proceedings which ended with Nixon stepping down from the presidency.
Cox returned to teaching, lecturing, and writing for the rest of his life, giving his opinions on the role of the Supreme Court in the development of the law and the role of the lawyer in society. Although he was recommended to President Jimmy Carter for a seat on the First Circuit Court of Appeals, his nomination fell victim to the dispute between the president and Senator Ted Kennedy. He was appointed to head several public-service, watchdog and good-government organizations, including serving for 12 years as head of Common Cause. In addition he argued two important Supreme Court cases, winning both: one concerning the constitutionality of federal campaign finance restrictions (Buckley v. Valeo) and the other the leading early case testing affirmative action (Regents of the University of California v. Bakke).
(From the Wikipedia)
Sources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archibald_Cox
"United States Census, 1910," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MK1Q-Q75 : accessed 11 April 2018), Archibald Cox in household of Fanny C Cox, Plainfield Ward 3, Union, New Jersey, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 96, sheet 14A, family 287, NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1982), roll 910; FHL microfilm 1,374,923.
"New Jersey State Census, 1915," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QV9W-CNXB : 15 March 2018), Archibald Cox, Plainfield, 2 ward, 2 district, Union, New Jersey, United States; citing sheet #10A, household 195, line #31, New Jersey State Library, Trenton; FHL microfilm 1,465,561.
"United States Census, 1920," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M4YP-B5X : accessed 11 April 2018), Archibald Cox Jr. in household of Archibald Cox, Plainfield Ward 3, Union, New Jersey, United States; citing ED 127, sheet 8B, line 30, family 166, NARA microfilm publication T625 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1992), roll 1071; FHL microfilm 1,821,071.
"United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X4N3-KM4 : accessed 11 April 2018), Arch ? W Cox in household of Arch Cox, Plainfield, Union, New Jersey, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 113, sheet 15B, line 44, family 278, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 1388; FHL microfilm 2,341,123.
"United States Census, 1940," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K4NS-DHN : accessed 11 April 2018), Archibald Cox, Weston Town, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 9-620, sheet 9A, line 16, family 155, Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940, NARA digital publication T627. Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790 - 2007, RG 29. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012, roll 1621.
