William J. O'Hara (Napoleon's World)

William James O'Hara (May 2, 1926 - June 11, 1987) was an American jurist who served on the United States Supreme Court as an Associate Justice from 1973 until his death in 1987. O'Hara previously served as a justice of the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, to date the only justice ever elevated from that Court to sit on the Supreme Court. He had been appointed by President Van Dyke in 1966 after having spent the previous fifteen years as a Judge Advocate for the Navy JAG Corps, and he officially retired from the Navy upon his swearing in. His appointment to the Supreme Court by Clyde W. Dawley was regarded as controversial due to his lack of expertise with civilian law.

O'Hara was a crucial swing vote between the moderate and conservative wings of the court, and sided with the majority in Mississippi v. Johnson. O'Hara, aged only 61, died suddenly of a heart attack in 1987 after only fourteen years on the Court.