List of presidents of the American Bar Association explained

This list of the presidents of the American Bar Association includes all presidents of the association, which was formed in 1878 to represent the interests of lawyers, and create and maintain a code of ethics. Since 1923, the ABA has accredited law schools. The American Bar Association is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States.

The association comprises 410,000 members, who are represented by a House of Delegates, the organization's primary body, which acts to create and adopt new policies and recommendations pertaining to the practice of law. The House of Delegates and the association itself are headed by the President, who generally serves a one-year term.

Presidents

	Name	Term	State	Comments	Ref.
1	James O. Broadhead	1878–1879	Missouri	American Bar Association co-founder	^[1]
2	Benjamin H. Bristow	1879–1880	New York		^[2]
3	Edward John Phelps	1880–1881	Vermont
4	Clarkson Nott Potter	1881–1882	New York	Former Congressman
5	Alexander Lawton	1882–1883	Georgia
6	Cortlandt Parker	1883–1884	New Jersey
7	John W. Stevenson	1884–1885	Kentucky	Governor/Senator
8	William Allen Butler	1885–1886	New York
9	Thomas J. Semmes	1886–1887	Louisiana
10	George G. Wright	1887–1888	Iowa	former Senator
11	David Dudley Field	1888–1889	New York
12	Henry Hitchcock	1889–1890	Missouri	American Bar Association co-founder	^[3]
13	Simeon E. Baldwin	1890–1891	Connecticut
14	John Forrest Dillon	1891–1892	New York
15	John Randolph Tucker	1892–1893	Virginia		^[4]
16	Thomas Cooley	1893–1894	Michigan
17	James C. Carter	1894–1895	New York
18	Moorfield Storey	1895–1896	Massachusetts
19	James M. Woolworth	1896–1897	Nebraska
20	William Wirt Howe	1897–1898	Louisiana
21	Joseph H. Choate	1898–1899	New York
22	Charles F. Manderson	1899–1900	Nebraska	former Senator	^[5]
23	Edmund Wetmore	1900–1901	New York		^[6]
24	U.M. Rose	1901–1902	Arkansas
25	Francis Rawle	1902-1903	Pennsylvania
26	James Hagerman	1902–1903	Missouri
27	Henry St. George Tucker, III	1904–1905	Virginia		^[7]
28	George R. Peck	1905–1906	Illinois		^[8]
29	Alton B. Parker	1906–1907	New York		^[9]
30	Jacob M. Dickinson	1907–1908	Illinois	future United States Secretary of War
31	Frederick William Lehmann	1908–1910	Missouri	Future US Solicitor General
32	Charles F. Libby	1909-1910	Maine
33	Edgar Howard Farrar	1910–1911	Louisiana		^[10]
34	Stephen S. Gregory	1911-1912	Illinois
35	Frank B. Kellogg	1912–1913	Minnesota	Future US Secretary of State
36	William Howard Taft	1913–1914	District of Columbia	Former US President Future US Supreme Court Chief Justice
37	Peter W. Meldrim	1914-1915	Georgia
38	Elihu Root	1915-1916	New York
39		1916–1917	Utah	Future US Supreme Court Justice
40	Walter George Smith	1917–1918	Pennsylvania
41	GeorgeT.Page	1918-1919	Illinois
42	Hampton L. Carson	1919–1921	Pennsylvania		^[11]
43	William A. Biount	1920-1921	Florida
44	Cordenio A. Severance	1921–1922	Minnesota
45	John W. Davis	1922-1923	New York
46	R. E. L. Saner	1923-1924	Texas
47	Charles E. Hughes	1925–1926	New York	Future US Supreme Court Chief Justice
48	Chester Isaiah Long	1926-1927	Kansas
49	Charles S. Whitman	1926-1927	New York
50	Silas H. Strawn	1927-1928	Illinois
51	Gurney E. Newlin	1928-1929	California
52	Henry Upson Sims	1929-1930	Alabama
53	Josiah Marvel	1930-1931	Delaware
54	Charles A. Boston	1930-1931	New York
55	Guy A. Thompson	1931-1932	Missouri
56	Clarence E. Martin	1932-1933	West Virginia
57	Earle W. Evans	1933-1934	Kansas
58	Scott M. Loftin	1934–1935	Florida
59	William L. Ransom	1935–1936	New York
60	Frederick Harold Stinchfield	1936–1937	Minnesota		^[12]
61	Arthur T. Vanderbilt	1937–1938	New Jersey
62	Frank J. Hogan	1938–1939	District of Columbia
63	Charles A. Beardsley	1939–1940	California
64	Jacob M. Lashley	1940–1941	Missouri
65	Walter P. Armstrong	1941–1942	Tennessee
66	George Maurice Morris	1942–1943	District of Columbia
67	Joseph W. Henderson	1943–1944	Pennsylvania
68	David A. Simmons	1944–1945	Texas
69	Willis Smith	1945–1946	North Carolina
70	Carl B. Rix	1946–1947	Wisconsin
71	Tappan Gregory	1947–1948	Illinois
72	Frank E. Holman	1948–1949	District of Columbia
73	Harold J. Gallagher	1949–1950	New York
74	Cody Fowler	1950–1951	Florida
75	Howard L. Barkdull	1951–1952	Ohio
76	Robert G. Storey	1952–1953	Texas
77	William James Jameson	1953–1954	Montana
78	Loyd Wright	1954–1955	California
79	E. Smythe Gambrell	1955–1956	Georgia
80	David Farrow Maxwell	1956–1957	Pennsylvania
81	Charles S. Rhyne	1957–1958	District of Columbia
82	Ross L. Malone, Jr.	1958–1959	New Mexico	Former Deputy Attorney General, 1952–53
83	John D. Randall	1959–1960	Iowa
84	Whitney N. Seymour, Sr.	1960–1961	New York	Former Assistant Solicitor General, 1931–33
85	John C. Satterfield	1961–1962	Mississippi
86	Sylvester C. Smith, Jr.	1962–1963	New Jersey
87	Walter E. Craig	1963–1964	Arizona
88	Lewis Franklin Powell, Jr.	1964–1965	Virginia	Future US Supreme Court Justice	^[13]
89	Edward W. Kuhn	1965–1966	Tennessee
90	Orison S. Marden	1966–1967	New York
91	Earl F. Morris	1967–1968	Ohio
92	William T. Gossett	1968–1969	Michigan
93	Bernard Segal	1969–1970	Pennsylvania	First Jewish American president	^[14]
94	Edward L. Wright	1970–1971	Arkansas
95	Leon Jaworski	1971–1972	Texas
96	Robert W. Meserve	1972–1973	Massachusetts		^[15]
97	Chesterfield Smith	1973–1974	Florida		^[16]
98	James D. Fellers	1974–1975	Oklahoma
99	Lawrence E. Walsh	1975–1976	New York
100	Justin A. Stanley	1976–1977	Illinois
101	William B. Spann, Jr.	1977–1978	Georgia
102	S. Shepherd Tate	1978–1979	Tennessee
103	Leonard S. Janofsky	1979–1980	California
104	William Reece Smith, Jr.	1980–1981	Florida
105	David R. Brink	1981–1982	Minnesota
106	Morris Harrell	1982–1983	Texas		^[17]
107	Wallace D. Riley	1983-1984	Michigan
108	John C. Shepherd	1984-1985	Missouri
109	William W. Falsgraf	1983–1985	Ohio		^[18]
110	Eugene C. Thomas	1986–1987	Idaho
111	Robert MacCrate	1987–1988	New York
112	Robert D. Raven	1988-1989	California
113	L. Stanley Chauvin, Jr.	1988–1989	Kentucky
114	John J. Curtin, Jr.	1990–1991	Massachusetts		^[19]
115	Sandy D'Alemberte	1991–1992	Florida	Future president of FSU
116	J. Michael McWilliams	1992-1993	Maryland
117	R. William Ide, III	1994–1995	Georgia		^[20]
118	George Edward Bushnell Jr.	1994–1995	Michigan		^[21]
119	Roberta Cooper Ramo	1995–1996	New Mexico	First female president	^[22]
120	N. Lee Cooper	1996–1997	Alabama		^[23]
121	Jerome J. Shestack	1997–1998	Pennsylvania		^[24]
122	Philip S. Anderson	1998-1999	Arkansas
123	William G. Paul	1999–2000	Oklahoma		^[25]
124	Martha W. Barnett	2000–2001	Florida
125	Robert Edward Hirshon	2001–2002	Michigan
126	Alfred P. Carlton Jr.	2002–2003	North Carolina
127		2003–2004	Michigan	First African-American president
128	Robert J. Grey, Jr.	2004–2005	Virginia
129		2005–2006	Massachusetts	First foreign-born president	^[26]
130	Karen J. Mathis	2006–2007	Pennsylvania		^[27]
131	William H. Neukom	2007–2008	California		^[28]
132	H. Thomas Wells Jr.	2008–2009	Alabama		^[29]
133	Carolyn B. Lamm	2009–2010	District of Columbia		^[30]
134	Stephen N. Zack	2010–2011	Florida	First Hispanic American president	^[31]
135	William T. Robinson III	2011–2012	Kentucky		^[32]
136	Laurel G. Bellows	2012–2013	Illinois		^[33]
137	James R. Silkenat	2013–2014	New York		^[34]
138	William C. Hubbard	2014–2015	South Carolina
139	Paulette Brown	2015–2016	New Jersey	First woman of color	^[35]
140	Linda Klein	2016–2017	Georgia
141	Hilarie Bass	2017–2018	Florida
142	Bob Carlson	2018-2019	Montana
143	Judy Perry Martinez	2019-2020	Louisiana
144	Patricia Lee Refo	2020-2021	Arizona
145	Reginald M. Turner	2021-2022	Michigan
146	Deborah Enix-Ross	2022-2023	New York
147	Mary L. Smith	2023-2024	Illinois	First Native American (Cherokee) woman president.
148	William R. Bay	2024-2025	Missouri		^[36]

References

• Sobel, Robert. Biographical Directory of the United States Executive Branch, 1774-1889. Greenwood Press (1990). .

Notes and References

1. Johnson, Rossiter. Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, - Vol. I-X (10). The Biographical Society (1904).
2. Sobel, 1990. p. 44
3. Web site: BAMSL Members . https://archive.today/20001001200431/http://www.bamsl.org/members/about/presidents.html . dead. 2000-10-01 . 2007-12-30 . Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis .
4. Encyclopedia: Tucker, John Randolph. 2008-03-07 . Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
5. Encyclopedia: Manderson, Charles Frederick . 2007-12-30 . Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
6. News: Edmund Whetmore, Noted Lawyer, Dies . 2007-12-30 . . 1918-07-09.
7. Encyclopedia: Tucker, Henry St. George, (1853 - 1932) . 2024-04-05 . Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
8. Web site: History of the United States Attorney District of Kansas . 2007-12-30 . United States Department of Justice.
9. Web site: Alton B. Parker . https://web.archive.org/web/20041106052142/http://www.klyneesopusmuseum.org/parker_pdf/parker.PDF . dead. 2004-11-06 . 2007-12-30 . Klyne Esopus Museum .
10. Book: The New international encyclopædia . Frank Moore Colby . Talcott Williams . 8 . 2nd . 384 . 1918 . Dodd, Mead and company . 2011-04-28 .
11. https://www.jstor.org/stable/844025 The Letters of Sir William Blackstone (1723-1780) in the Hampton L. Carson Collection of the Free Library of Philadelphia
12. Web site: Archived copy . 2009-02-08 . dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20110719051748/http://www.mlaus.org/archives/library/1327.pdf . 2011-07-19 .
13. http://www.sodomylaws.org/bowers/bonews03.htm Lewis F. Powell Jr., Who Became the Quiet Centrist of the Supreme Court, Is Dead at 90
14. News: Bernard G. Segal Dies at 89; Lawyer for Rich and Poor . The New York Times . 1997-06-05 . 2010-05-08.
15. https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=990CE1DB133CF937A1575AC0A963958260 New York Times
16. http://www.law.ufl.edu/leadership/commencement.shtml UFLaw Leadership Examples
17. https://archive.today/20070502221121/http://www.dallasbar.org/members/headnotes_showarticle.asp?article_id=77&issue_id=24 High-Profile Attorneys Positively Impact Dallas Community
18. News: A.B.A. Rejects Plan On Tobacco Ad Ban . The New York Times . E. R. . Shipp . 1987-02-17 . 2010-05-08.
19. http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/rvp/pubaf/99/curtin.html Curtin Center for Public Interest Law Dedicated
20. http://www.abanet.org/rol/europe_and_eurasia/board_europe_eurasia.html Rule of Law Initiative Home / Europe & Eurasia (CEELI) 2007-2008 Board Members
21. http://www.prdi.org/prdibios.html PRDI Advisers, Directors & Staff
22. http://www.memphisdailynews.com/Editorial/StoryInside.aspx?id=93708 Rice Makes Personal Donation For Katrina Relief in Mississippi
23. http://www.uscourts.gov/ttb/feb98ttb/february.htm Members Named to Commission
24. http://www.wolfblock.com/wbroot/popup_pubs_main.asp?mode=2&id=340&ifid=0&pgid=0 WolfBlock Lawyer to Receive ABA’s Highest Award
25. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4185/is_20020815/ai_n10177046 Archer elected as first African-American ABA president
26. Web site: 2006-02-14 . Michael S. Greco . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20060214202213/http://www.abanet.org/media/grecobio.html . 2006-02-14 . 2019-01-03.
27. http://www.abanet.org/media/mathisbio.html Karen J. Mathis bio
28. http://www.abanet.org/media/neukombio.html William H. Neukombio
29. http://www.abanet.org/media/wellsbio.html H. Thomas Wells, Jr. bio
30. http://www.abanet.org/media/lammbio.html Carolyn B. Lamm bio
31. http://www.abanet.org/media/zackbio.html Stephen N. Zack bio
32. http://www.abanet.org/media/robinsonbio.html Wm. T. (Bill) Robinson III bio
33. Web site: Laurel G. Bellows bio . 2013-08-02 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130805120017/http://www.abanow.org/reporter-resources/officer-bios/laurel-g-bellows-biography/ . 2013-08-05 . dead .
34. http://www.abanow.org/2012/02/american-bar-association-nominates-james-r-silkenat-as-aba-president-elect/ James R. Silkenat Nomination Announcement
35. Web site: ABA nominates Paulette Brown as first woman of color president . 2018-12-31 . www.americanbar.org . en.
36. Web site: Bill Bay asks ABA to meet lawyers where they are . 2022-04-06 . www.americanbar.org . en.