Taylor, Telford

born 1908, died 1998

U.S. government official and lawyer, born in Schenectady, N.Y. He is best known as the chief prosecutor (1946-49) at the War Crimes trials of Nazi leaders in Nuremburg, Germany. Educated at Williams College and Harvard Law School, Taylor held various government posts from 1933 until he entered the U.S. army in 1942. In 1945 he helped establish the rules for the Nuremburg trials. After 1949 he returned to private law practice in the United States, served in several temporary government posts, and after 1962 taught law at Columbia University. He was a noted opponent both of the 1950s investigations of Senator Joseph McCarthy and of U.S. conduct during the Vietnam War.