page_title: Rhodes College
section_title: Government and military
hierarchical_section_title: Rhodes College / Notable people / Alumni / Government and military
caption_attribution_description: English: Abe Fortas
context_page_description: Rhodes College is a private liberal arts college in Memphis, Tennessee. Historically affiliated with the Presbyterian Church, it is a member of the Associated Colleges of the South and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Rhodes enrolls approximately 2,000 students, and its Collegiate Gothic campus sits on a 123-acre wooded site in Memphis' historic midtown neighborhood.
context_section_description: Thomas Watt Gregory, 1883 – U.S. Attorney General 1914-1919
  Thomas Jennings Bailey, 1884 – Associate Justice of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia
  William L. Frierson, 1887 – Solicitor General of the United States 1920-21; Assistant U.S. Attorney General 1917-1920
  Key Pittman, 1890 – U.S. Senator from Nevada 1913-40; Chairman, Senate Foreign Relations Committee
  Theodore M. Brantley, 1875 – longest-serving Chief Justice of the Montana Supreme Court, serving for 23 years (1899–1922)
  Nathan Lynn Bachman, 1897 – U.S. Senator from Tennessee
  Julian P. Alexander, 1906 – U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Mississippi 1918-21; Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Mississippi 1941-1953
  Abe Fortas, '30 – Associate Justice, U.S. Supreme Court  (1965–1969); as an attorney, argued Gideon v. Wainwright before the Supreme Court (affirming the Sixth Amendment right to counsel in all criminal cases) 
  Gwen Robinson Awsumb, 1937 – American politician and social activist who became the first woman to be elected to the Memphis City Council in 1968; Chair of Memphis City Council 1970-1975
  Joseph Williams Vance, Jr. – United States Navy officer, received Bronze Star Medal for action in the Battle of Makassar Strait (1942) during World War II, attended Southwestern from 1936 to 1938. He later gave his life during the Guadalcanal landings. The U.S. Navy destroyer USS Vance (DE-387), which saw duty in the latter part of World War II, was named in his honor.
  Bill Alexander, '57 – U.S. Congressman from Arkansas (1969–1993), Chief Deputy Majority Whip
  W.J. Michael Cody, '58 – Attorney for Martin Luther King, Jr. during the 1968 Memphis Sanitation Strike, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee (1977–81), Attorney General of Tennessee (1984–88)
  Claudia J. Kennedy, '69 – first woman to hold a three-star rank in the U.S. Army, Lieutenant General, Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence, member of the Military Intelligence Hall of Fame
  Charles McGrady, '75 – President of the Sierra Club 1998–2000; North Carolina House of Representatives, District 117
  Catherine Eagles, '79 – U.S. District Judge for the Middle District of North Carolina
  Willie Hulon, ‘79 – Executive Assistant Director, National Security Branch of the FBI
  Kelley Paul, '85 – writer, former political consultant; wife of US Senator Rand Paul
  A. Marvin Quattlebaum, Jr., '86 – U.S. Circuit Court Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit
  Amy Coney Barrett, '94 – U.S. Circuit Court Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit; Former Diane and M.O. Miller Research Chair of Law at Notre Dame Law School
  Alison Lundergan Grimes, '01 – Secretary of State of Kentucky
  Dustin Burrows, '01 – Texas State Representative, District 83
caption: Abe Fortas' senior picture from the 1930 yearbook
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