Edward H. Levi, the son and grandson of rabbis in Chicago, was sworn in Friday as Attorney General of the United States, the first Jew over chosen to head the Department of Justice. Levi, who resigned as president of the University of Chicago to accept President Ford’s nomination, took the oath of office with his left hand resting on an Old Testament Bible held by his wife. Supreme Court Justice Lewis Powell Jr, administered the oath.
In the presence of an overflow audience in the Department’s Great Hall, Ford lauded Levi’s legal ability and integrity, noting that the Senate last Wednesday had confirmed him swiftly by voice vote without debate. No dissent was raised against him in the Senate Judiciary Committee either.
The new Attorney General’s maternal grandfather was the late Rabbi Emil G. Hirsch of Chicago’s Sinai Congregation and nationally known as a leader in the Reform Jewish movement. His father was the late Rabbi Gerson Levi of Temple Isaiah, Chicago. The bible used in the oath taking, Levi told JTA, was not a family possession because he had expected to be sworn in this week and he did not bring a bible with him to Washington. He came here for the Senate confirmation hearings and voting.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
