George H.W. Bush Lifetime of Leadership Award

George H.W. Bush Lifetime Leadership Awardee

James Goodale

  • Class
    1955
  • Induction
    2015
  • Sport(s)
    Baseball, Men's Ice Hockey



James C. Goodale, '55 was a member of the varsity men's ice hockey and baseball teams at Yale. 

Goodale is widely known for leading the defense of teh New York Times in the Supreme Court in the "Pentagon Papers case", which resulted in a resounding triumph for freedom of the press. He is leading First Amendment lawyer and has been called "Father" of the Reporters' Privilege that protects reporters from disclosing their sources as he successfully argued in the Bransburg v. Hayes case. Goodale went on to argue in front of the Supreme Court twice more on behalf of the New York Times.

He has been the vice chairman of the New York Times, a parter in the law firm of Debevoise & Plimpton, producer-host of the TV program, Digital Age, and a law professor at Yale, NYU, and Fordham. He is the author of over 200 articles on the press and of the recent book "Fighting for the Press."

He has been named as one of the best lawyers in the United States, one of the most influential members of the NYC media world, and was named by Time magazine as one of the 200 future leaders of the United States, Goodale and his family have a long connection to Yale athletics. He and his brother Tom, captain of the 1959 hockey team, and their children have been awarded 17 varsity letters.
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