T. Wade Bruton

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Indy beetle (talk | contribs) at 03:30, 9 July 2021. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Wade Bruton
42nd Attorney General of North Carolina
In office
1960–1969
GovernorLuther H. Hodges
Terry Sanford
Dan K. Moore
Preceded byMalcolm B. Seawell
Succeeded byRobert Burren Morgan
Member of the
North Carolina House of Representatives
from Montgomery County
In office
1929–1933
Preceded byOscar Haywood
Succeeded byDaniel A. Monroe
Personal details
Born
Thomas Wade Bruton

(1902-09-10)September 10, 1902
Capelsie, Montgomery County, North Carolina
DiedMay 21, 1976(1976-05-21) (aged 73)
Raleigh, North Carolina
Political partyDemocratic
Occupationlawyer

Thomas Wade Bruton (September 10, 1902 – May 21, 1976) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the Attorney General of North Carolina from February 1960 through January 1, 1969.

Early life

Bruton graduated from the Duke University Law School. His wife died in February 1960.[1]

Career

Bruton began practicing law in 1927. The following year he sought a seat in the North Carolina House of Representatives, representing Montgomery County. He lost the primary election by 10 votes, but in the run-off contest won by five votes. In the subsequent general election he won by 23 votes. He ultimately served two terms in the House in 1929 and 1931. He served three months in 1933 as a clerk of court in Montgomery County before joining the state attorney general's office as Assistant Attorney General of North Carolina on July 1, 1933. He served in the National Guard, and in 1942 he was called into service by the United States Army with the rank of captain. In early 1945 he was sent to Germany to head the army's prosecution division in Wiesbaden, and prepared trials for German war criminals. He returned to the United States the following year and resumed his post as Assistant Attorney General of North Carolina.[1]

On February 20, 1960, Governor Luther H. Hodges declared that he would appoint Bruton Attorney General of North Carolina following the resignation of Malcolm B. Seawell.[1] During his tenure, assistant attorney generals were entrusted with advising different departments of state government. He held daily staff meetings to coordinate their work and make changes to their assignments.[2]

He won two full terms as Attorney General until losing in a Democratic primary to Robert Burren Morgan in 1968.[3] [4][5] Following the end of his tenure, he became a lobbyist.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Race Issue Is Viewed Hopefully : Bruton Foresees Little Difficulty". Greensboro News & Record. Associated Press. February 23, 1960. Retrieved July 8, 2021.
  2. ^ Bell 1972, p. 113.
  3. ^ "Candidate - Wade Bruton". Our Campaigns. 2006-12-16. Retrieved 2016-05-05.
  4. ^ "North Carolina Manual". North Carolina Historical Commission. 28 March 2018 – via Google Books.
  5. ^ "The Dispatch - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com.
  6. ^ Bell 1972, p. 300.

Works cited

  • Bell, Harold Leonard (1972). The Office of State Attorney General in the South (PhD thesis). University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. OCLC 77774350. {{cite thesis}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)