John Joseph Hickey

John Joseph Hickey was a United States Circuit Judge who served on the Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit from 1966 until his death in 1970. Before his appointment to the federal bench, he had a distinguished career in Wyoming politics and law, serving as the state's twenty-fourth governor from 1959 to 1961 and briefly as a United States Senator from 1961 to 1962. Born in Wyoming in the early twentieth century, Hickey spent most of his professional life in public service, working as a prosecutor, state party leader, and elected official before President Lyndon B. Johnson, a Democrat, nominated him to the federal appellate court.

Early life and legal career

John Joseph Hickey was born on August 22, 1911, in Rawlins, Wyoming, to John Joseph Hickey and Brigit O'Meara. His father had relocated to Wyoming in 1873 and found employment with the Union Pacific Railroad, establishing the family in the state decades before statehood. Growing up in Rawlins, Hickey completed his public school education there in 1929. He pursued legal studies at the University of Wyoming College of Law, earning his law degree in 1934 during the depths of the Great Depression.

Following his admission to the bar, Hickey quickly became involved in local government and politics in his hometown. He served as treasurer of Rawlins from 1935 to 1940, gaining experience in municipal administration. During this same period, he became active in Democratic Party politics, eventually assuming the role of chair of the Carbon County Democratic Party. From 1939 to 1942, he held the position of county attorney for Carbon County, prosecuting cases and representing the county's legal interests.

His legal career was interrupted by World War II. In 1942, Hickey enlisted in the United States Army as a private. He served for forty-two months during the war, rising through the ranks to attain the rank of captain by the time of his honorable discharge on December 25, 1945. Shortly after returning to civilian life, on January 15, 1946, he married Winifred Espy. He resumed his legal career in Wyoming, serving again as county attorney of Carbon County from 1946 to 1949.

In 1949, President Harry S. Truman appointed Hickey to serve as United States Attorney for the District of Wyoming, a position he held until 1954. As the federal prosecutor for the entire state, he was responsible for handling criminal prosecutions and civil matters on behalf of the United States government. His tenure as U.S. Attorney coincided with the post-war period and the early years of the Cold War. After completing his service as U.S. Attorney, Hickey assumed the chairmanship of the Wyoming Democratic Party in 1954, positioning himself as a leader within the state's Democratic organization during a period when Republicans dominated much of Wyoming politics.

Hickey's political career reached its apex when he was elected Governor of Wyoming, serving from 1959 to 1961. He held the distinction of being the first governor of Wyoming born in the twentieth century. During his governorship, he remained active in national Democratic politics. At the 1960 Democratic National Convention, he seconded the presidential nomination of Lyndon B. Johnson. During the 1960 presidential campaign, when questions arose about whether John F. Kennedy's Catholic faith would prove to be a political liability in Western states, Hickey publicly stated that religious affiliation would not be a significant issue in Wyoming, noting that he himself was Catholic and had won election in 1958.

Hickey's time as governor was cut short by unusual circumstances. When Senator-elect Keith Thomson died before taking office, Hickey resigned from the governorship on January 2, 1961. Secretary of State Jack R. Gage succeeded him as governor and promptly appointed Hickey to fill the Senate vacancy. Hickey's tenure in the United States Senate was brief, lasting only from early 1961 to early 1963. In the 1962 election, he sought a full term but was defeated by Republican Milward Simpson, who had served as governor before Hickey. On October 15, 1962, Hickey suffered a heart attack, though he recovered from this medical episode.

Following his departure from the Senate, Hickey returned to Wyoming and resumed the private practice of law in Rawlins from 1962 to 1966, returning to his roots in his hometown legal community.

Federal appellate service

President Lyndon B. Johnson nominated Hickey to the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit on May 12, 1966. The nomination was to fill a vacancy created by the departure of Judge John Coleman Pickett. The Senate confirmed Hickey on June 9, 1966, and he received his commission the same day, officially beginning his service on the federal appellate bench.

The Tenth Circuit, headquartered in Denver, Colorado, has appellate jurisdiction over federal district courts in Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Utah, and Wyoming, as well as certain appeals from administrative agencies. As a circuit judge, Hickey would have participated in three-judge panels hearing appeals from these districts, reviewing questions of law and the application of federal statutes and constitutional provisions.

Hickey served on the Tenth Circuit for approximately four years. His tenure on the court was significantly shorter than that of many federal appellate judges, who often serve for decades, due to his declining health in the final year of his service. During his time on the bench, he would have been involved in the adjudication of appeals across the full range of federal law, though specific details of his judicial work and the cases he decided are not extensively documented in the available records.

Jurisprudence and legacy

Hickey's judicial service was curtailed by serious health problems that emerged in 1970. In July of that year, he was hospitalized for treatment of a stomach ulcer. The following month, in August, he traveled to the Presbyterian Medical Center in Denver to receive treatment for lung cancer. His condition deteriorated, and on September 22, 1970, he died in a hospital in Cheyenne, Wyoming, exactly one month after his fifty-ninth birthday. He was buried on September 24, 1970, with Bishop Hubert Newell delivering the eulogy at his funeral services.

Hickey's career reflected a life devoted to public service in his home state and in the federal system. His path from local prosecutor to governor, senator, and finally federal appellate judge illustrated the various levels at which attorneys could serve the public in the mid-twentieth century American legal and political system. His relatively brief tenure on the Tenth Circuit means that his judicial legacy is less extensively documented than that of judges who served for longer periods, but his appointment represented the culmination of a career that spanned local, state, and federal government service across more than three decades.