John Newton Mitchell served as President Richard M. Nixon's attorney general from 1969 to 1972. A prominent Wall Street attorney before becoming attorney general, Mitchell's poor judgment and political instincts led him astray. He was convicted of several crimes involving the Watergate scandal and served time in federal prison.

Mitchell was born on September 5, 1913 in Detroit, Michigan. He earned a degree from Fordham University and then attended Fordham's law school. Following his graduation in 1938, Mitchell joined a New York City law firm that specialized in corporate law and finance. He left the firm during World War II to serve as a torpedo boat commander in the U. S. Navy but returned to become one of the country's leading authorities on municipal bonds. During the 1950s Mitchell confined himself to the law and expressed no political ambitions. By the mid-1960s, he seemed destined to remain a behind-the-scenes corporate attorney.

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