Thomas Watt Gregory served as U.S. attorney general from 1914 to 1919 under President Woodrow Wilson. Gregory, a Texas attorney and politician, expanded the Department of Justice but is most remembered for his aggressive prosecution of radicals and pacifists during World War I.

Gregory was born on November 6, 1861, in Crawfordsville, Mississippi. He graduated from Southwestern Presbyterian University in Clarksville, Tennessee, in 1883 and studied law at the University of Virginia in 1884. In 1885, Gregory received a law degree from the University of Texas. He opened a law office in Austin, Texas, and soon gained attention for his prosecution of an oil monopoly case that ultimately barred the company from doing business in the state.

Gregory served as assistant city attorney in Austin from 1891 to 1894, yet his interests began to shift towards politics. He rejected numerous opportunities involving state political office in the hopes of attaining a national political role. He served...