Jamestown Post-Journal
May 2, 2001
The biographer of chief Nuremberg prosecutor, Supreme Court Justice and area native Robert H. Jackson spent Tuesday and Wednesday in Jamestown, speaking to the Jamestown Bar Association at the newly created Robert H. Jackson Center on East Fourth Street.
According to author and attorney Eugene C. Gerhart, Jackson was able to rise from working as a “country lawyer” to the pinnacle of legal expertise simply because of his character.
“It has nothing to do with where you were born,” Gerhart said. “It is how your mother brought you up. He was honest and fair to both sides, but not wishy-washy. He was a hard worker and he stood for things.”
Gerhart authored America’s Advocate: Robert H. Jackson more than 40 years ago. He first approached Jackson about writing his biography shortly after the war crimes trial ended. According to Gerhart, Jackson thought the idea was premature, stating that “I would not want to encourage the belief that it would have wide or permanent value.”
Jackson also told Gerhart biographies were best written after the subject’s death. “I know I disagreed with him,” said Gerhart, still sprightly at 87 years old. “He had done something impressive and I had wanted to document that Nuremberg was the first world trial for crimes against all of you.”