On this day, William Henry Lewis was appointed Assistant Attorney General of the United States by President William Howard Taft, becoming the first African American to hold a sub-cabinet level position in the U.S. federal government. A Harvard-educated lawyer and former All-American football player, Lewis was a respected legal mind and a symbol of Black excellence in public service during the Jim Crow era. Despite facing racial discrimination, his appointment broke significant ground in the legal and political arenas.
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