Goldberg, Arthur J(oseph) (1908-1990)

US public official, diplomat, and Supreme Court justice. After serving as a presidential campaign adviser (1960), he was appointed by President John F Kennedy to be secretary of labour (1961-62). He was nominated by President Kennedy to the US Supreme Court and served from 1962-65. He resigned from the court at the request of President Lyndon B Johnson in order to replace Adlai Stevenson as the US delegate to the United Nations (1965-68). He ran unsuccessfully for governor of New York (1970) and left New York to teach and practice law in Washington, DC.

Goldberg was born in Chicago, Illinois. He practised law privately before serving the Office of Strategic Services during World War II, often representing the interests of organized labour in strike negotiations and litigation. He served as general counsel to the United Steelworkers of America and helped merge the American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO).