Harlington Wood, Jr.

Harlington Wood Jr. was an American lawyer, jurist, political figure and an amateur actor. He served as a United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit from 1976 until his death in 2008, after earlier serving as a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois. He was considered one of the country's leading legal historians on the life and legacy of former lawyer and United States President Abraham Lincoln, but is perhaps best known for his involvement as an Assistant Attorney General for the United States Department of Justice in two separate Native American armed protests: the first being the occupation at Alcatraz Island, in San Francisco Bay, from 1969 through the summer of 1971, and the second being the Wounded Knee incident in 1973 at Wounded Knee, South Dakota. His accomplishments and impact as both jurist and statesman included participation in many recent events around the world, which he circled three times, including Russia, Outer Mongolia, Europe, Cambodia, Greenland, China, Japan and South America.