Topic: Leon Jaworski

Leonidas "Leon" Jaworski (September 19, 1905; Waco, Texas – December 9, 1982; near Wimberley, Texas) was the second Special Prosecutor during the Watergate Scandal. Jaworski was appointed to that position on November 1, 1973, soon after the Saturday Night Massacre of October 19 and October 20, 1973 that resulted in the dismissal of special prosecutor Archibald Cox.

A child of German-speaking parents, a Polish immigrant Presbyterian minister and Austrian immigrant mother, he was named after ancient Spartan king Leonidas, and had a brother named Hannibal. An earnest student who studied at night by the light of oil lamps, he was a champion debater at Waco High School, and graduated from Baylor Law School and received his master's degree in law at The George Washington University Law School. In 1925 he became the youngest person ever admitted to the Texas bar. After starting out defending bootleggers during Prohibition, in 1931 he joined the Houston law firm that became Fulbright & Jaworski, one of the largest in the US, which became the first in Houston to hire African-American and Jewish staff.

During World War II, Jarworski prosecuted the Johannes Kunze murder trial, where five German prisoners of war were accused of beating to death a fellow prisoner for being a "traitor".