author
John R. (John Randolph) Dos Passos
1844–1917
A prominent New York lawyer who also wrote widely on law, politics, and public affairs, he was known in his day for bringing complex financial and constitutional questions to a broad audience.
1 Audiobook
The Anglo-Saxon Century and the Unification of the English-Speaking People
by John R. (John Randolph) Dos Passos
About the author
Born in Philadelphia in 1844, John Randolph Dos Passos studied law at the University of Pennsylvania, was admitted to the bar in 1865, and moved to New York City a couple of years later. He built a successful legal career there and became especially associated with corporate, banking, and stock-exchange law.
He also wrote extensively. His Treatise on the Law of Stock-Brokers and Stock Exchanges became a standard reference work, and he published books and arguments on subjects including interstate commerce, trusts, Cuba, and American politics. That mix of legal expertise and public debate made him more than a courtroom figure: he was also a writer who tried to explain the big issues of his era.
Dos Passos died in 1917. He is also remembered as the father of novelist John Dos Passos, but his own career stands on its own as that of a well-known lawyer-author in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century America.