Thomas E. Fairchild

Thomas Edward Fairchild (December 25, 1912 – February 12, 2007) was an American lawyer and judge. He served forty years as a judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Earlier in his career he was a justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, and the 31st attorney general of Wisconsin.

Early life and career

Born on December 25, 1912, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Fairchild was the son of Edward T. Fairchild, who would serve on the Wisconsin Supreme Court from 1930 through 1957, and was chief justice for the last 3 years of his tenure.

Fairchild graduated from Riverside High School in 1929. He obtained a B.A. degree from Cornell University in 1934, and a Bachelor of Laws in 1938 from the University of Wisconsin Law School.

In 1938, he entered private practice in Portage, Wisconsin, partnering with Daniel H. Grady. In 1941, he was appointed a hearing commissioner for the Office of Price Administration in Chicago, Illinois, and Milwaukee, serving from 1941 to 1945. He returned to private practice in Milwaukee from 1945 to 1948. At the time, Republicans had dominated state elections for the previous fifty years. That year, Fairchild ran for Attorney General of Wisconsin. The incumbent, Grover L. Broadfoot, was defeated in the Republican primary. He had been appointed to the position to fill the unexpired term of John E. Martin, who had resigned to accept appointment to the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

Attorney General Fairchild's Republican opponent in the election was Don Martin, who benefited from having the same last name as the previous five-term Attorney General John E. Martin. Martin, however, did dispel some of that confusion when he was charged with public intoxication for an incident in which he urinated on a bank teller window in downtown Madison in broad daylight. Fairchild went on to win the election, but he was the only Democrat to win state-wide office that year. After the election, the incumbent, Grover Broadfoot, who was only serving on an appointed basis, resigned. This cleared the way for Fairchild to be appointed to begin his term two months early. He was re-elected without opposition in 1966, but would resign later that year to accept his seat on the United States Court of Appeals.

During his tenure on the Supreme Court, he was chair of the 1960 and 1963 Governor's commissions on constitutional revision.

U.S. Senate (1950, 1952)

Wisconsin Supreme Court (1956, 1966)