Wade Hampton McCree Jr. (July 3, 1920 – August 30, 1987) was an American legal scholar and judge. He was the first African American appointed as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and the second African-American United States Solicitor General in the history of the United States. He joined the faculty of the University of Michigan Law School after leaving government service in 1981, and taught there until the time of his death.
Wade Hampton McCree Jr.
Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals
Born 1920 in Des Moines, IA
Died 1987 in Detroit, MI
FJC ID: 1537
Career output and lasting influence
Opinions attributed per year · peak 5/year
Later decisions citing those opinions, per year · peak 101/year
Michigan Eastern District Court · 1961–1966Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals · 1966–1977
Both charts share the same year axis. Opinion counts include only opinions in our corpus attributed to this judge so far — a year at zero can mean an attribution gap, not judicial silence. Influence typically outlasts the career: citations keep climbing after the last opinion.
- Gender
- Male
- Race
- African American
Prior employment
Faculty · 1981–1987
Solicitor general of the United States1977–1981
Board member · 1968–1973- Michigan Circuit Court, Wayne CountyJudge · 1954–1961
- Michigan Workmen's Compensation CommissionCommissioner · 1952–1954
- Private practice, Detroit, Michigan1948–1952
U.S. Army captain1942–1946
Appointments
1966–1977 · Appointed by Lyndon B. Johnson (Democratic)Term ended: Resignation
1961–1966 · Appointed by John F. Kennedy (Democratic)Term ended: Appointment to Another Judicial Position
Education
LL.B. · 1944- Fisk UniversityA.B. · 1941