Jerome Shestack
| Jerome J. Shestack | |
|---|---|
 |
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| United States Ambassador to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights | |
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In office December 10, 1979 – 1980 |
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| President | Jimmy Carter |
| Preceded by | Edward Mezvinsky |
| Succeeded by | Michael Novak |
| Personal details | |
| Born | February 11, 1923 Atlantic City, New Jersey |
| Died | August 18, 2011 (aged 88) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Nationality | American |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Marciarose Schleifer |
| Alma mater |
University of Pennsylvania Harvard Law School |
Jerome Joseph "Jerry" Shestack (February 11, 1923 – August 18, 2011) was a Philadelphia lawyer and human rights advocate active in Democratic Party politics who served as president of the American Bar Association (ABA) from 1997 to 1998. He chaired the International League for Human Rights for twenty years, and was appointed the United States Ambassador to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights from 1979 to 1980 by President Jimmy Carter. Shestack was regularly listed on the National Law Journal's list of the 100 most influential U.S. lawyers.
Shestack was born in Atlantic City, New Jersey to Jewish parents Isidore Shestack and Olga Shankman Shestack. He grew up poor; his father was a paperhanger. His grandfather, an Orthodox Rabbi, was an early influence, telling him "Justice, justice, shalt thou pursue." When he was ten, the family moved to the Wynnefield neighborhood of Philadelphia. He graduated from Overbrook High School in Philadelphia in 1940, where he enjoyed the school's racial and ethnic diversity and began a long passion for poetry.
He received a bachelor's degree in history and economics in 1943 from the University of Pennsylvania, having gone through in 2½ years.
Shestack then served in the United States Navy from 1943 to 1946. During World War II he was a gunnery officer aboard the aircraft carrier USS Ticonderoga. He was wounded during the January 21, 1945, Japanese kamikaze attack upon the ship. His kosher dietary habits kept him from worse injury, as he avoided the pork meal that day and thus was not on the mess deck which suffered the worst of the damage.
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