In 1975, President Gerald Ford named Edward H. Levi, the president of the University of Chicago, as attorney general. Eulogizing Levi 25 years later, Ford said that in the aftermath of Watergate, he had been looking for someone divorced from politics who could restore public confidence in the Justice Department and the legal system.

“No campaign managers need apply, nor members of the family, official or political,” noted Ford. “I wanted him to protect the rights of American citizens, not the president who appointed him.”