Judge Daniel A. Manion Papers

Collection

Identifier: JDM

Staff Only
Please use the Collection Organization below to place requests

Scope and Contents

This collection documents Manion’s personal life, education, and career as a lawyer, politician, and jurist who served as a circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Materials include family correspondence, family photographs, and materials related to Manion Canyon Arabians; correspondence to and from family and friends during attendance at Culver Military Academy, the University of Notre Dame, and military service in Vietnam; materials documenting Manion’s political activities, including his involvement with Young Americans for Freedom, Indiana State Senate campaigns, support for Ronald Reagan presidential campaigns, and participation in Republican National Conventions; and materials from Manion’s career as a lawyer and jurist, including correspondence, date books, conference memoranda, and scrapbooks documenting the controversy surrounding his nomination, confirmation, and career as a federal judge. The collection also includes a small collection of books related to Clarence Manion; framed photographs, certificates, and awards; audiovisual materials; and miscellaneous objects and artifacts.

Dates

Creation: 1896-2022

Creator

Manion, Daniel A. (Daniel Anthony), 1942-2024 (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright status for collection materials is unknown. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.

Biographical / Historical

Daniel Anthony Manion (1942-2024) was a lawyer and jurist who served as Circuit Judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit from 1986 to 2022. He was born on February 1, 1942, in South Bend, Indiana, to Clarence E. Manion (1896-1979) and Virginia (O’Brien) Manion (1911-1996). He attended Culver Military Academy before enrolling at the University of Notre Dame, where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in 1964 and was a 3-time Bengal Bouts boxing champion.

After graduating, he served in Vietnam as a lieutenant in the U.S. Army from 1965 to 1966, after which he was appointed Director of Industrial Development for the Indiana Department of Commerce (1968-1973). In 1973, he earned a J.D. from the Indiana University School of Law at Indianapolis and worked briefly in the Indiana Attorney General’s Office before establishing a private practice in South Bend in 1974. An active member of the Republican Party, he later served as an Indiana State Senator from 1978 to 1982.

In 1986, President Ronald Reagan nominated Manion to serve as judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Following contentious Senate judiciary hearings, Manion was eventually confirmed for the position and commissioned on July 24, 1986, after a tie-breaking vote by Vice President George H.W. Bush. Manion attained senior status in 2007 and retired in 2022. He died on August 31, 2024, at the age of 82.