Jerris Leonard

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20th century American politician

title: "Jerris Leonard" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1931-births", "2006-deaths", "marquette-university-alumni", "marquette-university-law-school-alumni", "republican-party-members-of-the-wisconsin-state-assembly", "politicians-from-chicago", "wisconsin-lawyers", "republican-party-wisconsin-state-senators", "lawyers-from-chicago", "nixon-administration-personnel", "united-states-assistant-attorneys-general-for-the-civil-rights-division", "rufus-king-international-high-school-alumni", "20th-century-members-of-the-wisconsin-legislature", "people-associated-with-hopkins-&-sutter"] description: "20th century American politician" topic_path: "law" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerris_Leonard" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary 20th century American politician ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox officeholder"]

Field	Value
name	Jerris Leonard
image	Jerris Leonard.png
office	6th United States Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division
president	Richard Nixon
term_start	1969
term_end	1971
predecessor	Stephen J. Pollak
successor	David Luke Norman
state1	Wisconsin
state_senate1	Wisconsin
district1	4th
term_start1	January 2, 1961
term_end1	January 6, 1969
predecessor1	Kirby Hendee
successor1	Nile Soik
state_assembly2	Wisconsin
district2	Milwaukee 19th
term_start2	January 7, 1957
term_end2	January 2, 1961
predecessor2	William Kasik
successor2	Nile Soik
party	Republican
birth_date	January 17, 1931
birth_place	Chicago, Illinois
death_date
death_place	Bethesda, Maryland
spouse	Mariellen C. Mathie
alma_mater	Marquette University
profession	Lawyer, Politician
::

Jerris Leonard (January 17, 1931July 27, 2006) was an American lawyer and Republican politician. He served as Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division in the United States Department of Justice during the first two years of the Richard Nixon administration. Prior to his federal service, he served eight years in the Wisconsin Senate (1961–1969) and four years in the State Assembly (1957–1961), representing northern Milwaukee County.

Leonard was born on January 17, 1931, to Jerris and Marie Leonard in Chicago, Illinois. His family moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he graduated from Rufus King High School. He earned a B.S. in business administration in 1952 from Marquette University, and in 1955 earned an LL.B. from Marquette University Law School.

On August 22, 1953, he married Mariellen C. Mathie, with whom he had six children. He died on July 27, 2006, in Bethesda, Maryland.

Leonard was first elected to the Wisconsin State Assembly in 1956 to succeed William Kasik from the 19th Milwaukee County district, which included the Town of Milwaukee (but not the City of Milwaukee itself), Bayside, Fox Point, Glendale, Granville, River Hills, Shorewood, and Whitefish Bay. He served two terms, and advanced to the Wisconsin State Senate in 1960, serving two terms (1961–1969). He ran against United States Senator Gaylord Nelson in the 1968 United States Senate election and was defeated.

He was in the United States Department of Justice 1969–1973 during the administration of President Richard Nixon, serving as the first administrator of the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration.

In the 1980s Leonard served as president of United Sciences of America, Inc., a multi-level marketing company selling nutritional supplements, which was accused of deceptive practices and false claims, and eventually filed bankruptcy.

"The Political Graveyard: Lawyer Politicians in the District of Columbia, L".
"Leonard, Jerris 1931".
"The Political Graveyard: Index to Politicians: Leonard".
Wisconsin Blue Book, 1968 Edition, (Members of the State Senate), page 22.
(January 30, 2007). "sjr7.pdf".
"American League of Lobbyists - Memorial Page".
(1987). "USA: The strange rise and fall of one MLM". Money.
Stare, F.J.. (1986). "Marketing a nutritional "revolutionary breakthrough". Trading on names.". New England Journal of Medicine.
(1987). "United Sciences of America, Incorporated: an "optimal" diet?". Annals of Internal Medicine.
Renner, J.H.. (1986). "Science or scam?". New England Journal of Medicine.
Holden, C.. (1986). "Scientists get flak over marketing plan". Science.

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