Background
Lipshutz, Robert Jerome was born on December 27, 1921 in Atlanta. Son of Allen A. and Edith (Gavronski) Lipshutz.
Lipshutz, Robert Jerome was born on December 27, 1921 in Atlanta. Son of Allen A. and Edith (Gavronski) Lipshutz.
Juris Doctor, University Georgia, 1943. Bachelor of Laws, University Georgia, 1943.
He played a back channel role in the negotiations between Egypt and Israel that led to the signing of the Camp David Accords in 1978. He earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Georgia, where he was captain of the debate team, and was awarded a law degree from the University of Georgia School of Law in 1943. He served in the United States Army during World World War II and worked as a lawyer in Atlanta after completing his military service, opening a law office in 1947.
Lipshutz first met Carter in 1966 when Carter was running an ultimately unsuccessful bid in the Democratic Party primary against Lester Maddox.
He served as Carter"s campaign treasurer during the 1976 Presidential Election and was named as White House Counsel after Carter took office, part of the "Georgia Mafia" that followed Carter into his administration. The White House
As White House counsel, Lipshutz advised the president to commute the sentence of G. Gordon Liddy, convicted as part of the Watergate scandal, an act that was described as being "in the interest of equity and fairness".
He also lobbied on behalf of naming a greater proportion of minorities to positions as judges and in the executive branch. Lipshutz drafted a revised policy regarding affirmative action that was ultimately accepted by the Supreme Court of the United States in its decision in the case Regents of the University of California v.
Bakke regarding a race-based admission policy at the University of California Davis School of Medicine that the plaintiff claimed cost him a spot at the school in which the court ruled that racial quotas were unacceptable, but that affirmative action was allowed.
Key role
During the negotiations between President of Egypt Anwar El Sadat and Prime Minister of Israel Menachem Begin at Camp David, Lipshutz provided input from leaders of major Jewish organizations regarding the peace process. In a statement issued by the former president, Carter said that Lipshutz"s "insights played a key role in many White House initiatives and decisions" at Camp David and at other points during his presidency, including his part in the drafting of the presidential order that led to the creation of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, District of Columbia After leaving the White House in October 1979, he was replaced by Lloyd Cutler. Lipshutz served as a trustee of the Atlanta Jewish Federation and the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, as well as of the Carter Center established by the former president
A resident of Atlanta, he died at the Atlanta Hospice at the age of 88 on November 6, 2010, due to a pulmonary embolism.
Past vice chairman Georgia Board Human Resources. Treasurer, legal counsel Jimmy Carter Presidential campaign committee, 1976. Trustee The Carter Center.
Advisory committee Jimmy Carter Library. Lieutenant Army of the United States, 1943-1946. Member American Bar Association, Georgia Bar Association, Atlanta Bar Association, Atlanta Lawyers Club, Atlanta., B'nai B'rith (past president, Distinguished Service award).
Married Barbara Sorelle Levin, February 16, 1950 (deceased 1970). Children: Randall M., Judith Ann, Wendy Jean, Debbie Sue. Married Betty Beck Rosenberg, February 10, 1973.
Stepchildren: Robert, Nancy Fay.