ONE Connection | 11 Fascinating Facts About Welch Pogue
11 Fascinating Facts About Welch Pogue
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Lloyd Welch Pogue ("Welch") holds a special place in Firm history dating back to 1967. That's the year his Washington, D.C., firm merged with Cleveland-based Jones, Day, Cockley & Reavis—nearly tripling the size of the Washington Office. By then, Welch was a well-known aviation attorney and a pivotal figure in the growth and safety of post-World War II air transportation.
He's also the father of Dick Pogue, Jones Day's fifth Managing Partner from 1984 to 1992. Dick joined the Firm in 1957 as an associate—a decade before his dad arrived at Jones Day's Washington Office.
On the occasion of Welch's 100th birthday in 1999, a biographer neatly summed up Welch as a man of "captivating paradoxes" who emerged from the Iowa family farm and small-town life to become an eminent attorney, presidential adviser, aviation authority, world traveler, and author. His career took him all over the world, yet he never let go of the virtues learned from his midwestern upbringing.
Here, we share 11 notable facts about the life and times of L. Welch Pogue.
1. He might have been a farmer—if not for his fascination with a nearby ax murder trial.
Welch was born in 1899 at his family's farm near Grant, Iowa (population 98), where his father, Leander Welch Pogue, grew crops, raised livestock, and kept dairy cattle. Welch (or "Welchie," as he was known by family and friends) worked on the farm and was homeschooled through the 10th grade by his mother, Myrtle, a former schoolteacher. In 1913, Welch left home and moved in with his aunt and uncle to attend high school in the town of Red Oak, which was 20 miles from the farm.
While in high school, Welch spent his afternoons at the Montgomery County Court House in Red Oak, attending the trial of a man accused of bludgeoning eight people in one household with an ax. Welch was fascinated by the proceedings, especially the lawyers—many of whom traveled from as far away as Chicago to litigate the case—and their cross-examination skills. At the conclusion of the trial, Welch announced to his parents that he wanted to become a lawyer, not a farmer. Though surprised—particularly because no one in his family had been a lawyer—they agreed to support his choice.
(The Villisca Ax Murders of June 1912 remain an enduring and unsettling fascination for true-crime followers. Still a cold case, the murderous event has spawned reality television shows, podcasts, a book, ghost tours, and a horror movie. Now a popular tourist attraction, the house in which the murders happened is said to be haunted.)
2. He was the protégé of a future Supreme Court Justice.
After earning his undergraduate degree at the University of Nebraska and his law degree at the University of Michigan, Welch spent a year studying public utility law at Harvard Law School. Among his distinguished teachers was future U.S. Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter, who would later serve on the Court from 1939 to 1962. A generous mentor, Frankfurter met with Welch every morning in the law library to further Welch's studies. Although he arrived at Harvard as a master's degree in law candidate, Welch graduated with a Doctor of Juridical Science degree (S.J.D.), Harvard's highest law degree.
3. Welch's early law career took his family from Boston to Paris to NYC.
In 1930, Welch, an associate of the Boston-based firm Ropes, Gray, Boyden & Perkins (now Ropes & Gray), moved with his wife and two-year-old son, Dick, to Paris to help a senior partner open a branch office there. Soon after, he seized an opportunity in New York City to become a partner in a small firm affiliated with Ropes & Gray. Through his clients, he learned more about the fascinating area of aviation law.
4. He was an aviation pioneer who helped make air travel safer.
Few have had as much influence on the development of America's aviation industry as Welch Pogue. Realizing the vast possibilities for its innovation and growth, he left private practice in New York and applied for work with the Civil Aeronautics Board ("CAB") in Washington when it was created by Congress in 1938. The organization was in its infancy, and Welch quickly moved up the ranks.
Within six months, he was general counsel with a reputation for getting things done. He hired the best lawyers he could find without regard to political affiliation. In fact, being one of "Pogue's boys" was a badge of honor among aviation lawyers.
In 1942, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt appointed him as chairman of the CAB. His four years as chairman marked a pivotal time for aviation. During his tenure, he led the regulation and development of the U.S. airline industry through WWII and into the postwar expansion of commercial aviation. In 1944, Welch represented the United States at the seminal Chicago International Civil Aviation Conference. Attended by envoys of 55 nations, the conference reached deals on the management of international flights after World War II, such as requiring that English be the international language of air traffic control.
The gathering's outcome provided a structure for international pacts on technical, safety, and legal issues, enabling the peaceful passage of aircraft around much of the globe.
5. He learned how to navigate President Roosevelt's short attention span.
During his tenure as chairman of the CAB, Welch was in frequent contact with President Roosevelt regarding aviation matters. According to his obituary in The Washington Post, Welch developed a clever way to keep the president informed:
President Roosevelt did not want to be obliged to read any memorandum over one page in length. He called long memoranda "trash" (only he used much stronger language). Most aviation problems were technical in nature. They could not be treated well on only one page.
So, I decided this way of defeating that trait. I simply divided the memorandum into as many half-pages as necessary, and then I sent them to him, one at a time, over several days; he never failed to read them all as I found out when I next saw him.
Welch stepped down from his position as CAB Chairman on June 1, 1946—incidentally, the same day that Dick Pogue graduated from high school.
6. The merger that brought Welch to Jones Day could have been derailed by an anti-nepotism policy.
In August 1946, Pogue formed the Washington, D.C.-based partnership Pogue & Neal with his CAB colleague George Neal. By 1967, the firm had 14 lawyers and a robust practice focused primarily on airline regulations. Eager to diversify, Welch's firm merged that year with Jones, Day, Cockley & Reavis, which had a large national presence but a small Washington Office of just eight lawyers. Before the merger could happen, Jones Day lawyers had to consider the Firm's anti-nepotism policy since Welch's son Dick was a partner in the Firm's Cleveland Office. Fortunately, the policy applied to children of partners but not their parents—an interpretation of the rule approved by the very person who wrote it, Managing Partner Jack Reavis. The resulting merger created two distinct profit centers and two Firm names: Jones, Day, Cockley & Reavis maintained its name in Cleveland, and the newly expanded Washington Office became Reavis, Pogue, Neal & Rose. Understandably, some clients found this double name confusing.
7. An award in his name honors aviation leaders.
In 1994, Aviation Week Magazine established the L. Welch Pogue Award for Lifetime Achievement in Aviation, naming Welch as the inaugural honoree. Since then, the award has been presented annually to leaders who have made significant contributions to the global air transport industry including, in 2023, The Honorable Rodney E. Slater, 13th U.S. Secretary of Transportation. The award ceremony is frequently held in Jones Day's Washington Office.
8. His quotation about flight is highly cited and favored.
"Unlike the boundaries of the sea by the shorelines, the 'ocean of air' laps at the border of every state, city, town and home throughout the world."
—L. Welch Pogue quote as it appears on the National Air and Space Museum website
Welch's quote about the limitlessness of flight appears on many lists of favorite sayings about flying and aviation. It even inspired a 2019 song, "Ocean of Air," by Grammy-nominated artist Arun Shenoy, an Indian-Singaporean musician and songwriter.
9. He was married for 75 years to Mary Ellen (Edgerton) Pogue.
Welch and his wife met at the University of Nebraska, where he was pursuing his A.B. degree and Mary Ellen, a violinist, was studying music. Like Welch, Mary Ellen was very active in volunteer and philanthropic activities. She also played violin as a member of the Potomac String Ensemble. (As an aside, she met the Wright Brothers, pioneers in aviation, when she a girl.) The couple had three children: Richard (Dick) Welch Pogue, William Lloyd Pogue, and John Marshall Pogue.
Of their marriage, Welch once wrote: "My wife has encouraged and inspired me in all of my undertakings and deserves great credit in my major undertakings where vision and courage were required."
Welch passed away in 2003, two years after Mary Ellen. He was 103 years old.
10. Welch's book on his family's history made waves in genealogical circles.
Welch's younger brother, Bill, was the family historian, but he died in 1993, leaving behind a trove of research related to the family's history. With his youngest son, John, an avid researcher, Welch devoted more than six years to completing the family history.
The resulting 720-page book, Pogue/Pollock/Polk Genealogy as Mirrored in History, took first-place honors in several national genealogy book competitions. It also received the 1992 Award for Excellence from the National Genealogical Society as well as a Certificate of Commendation from The American Association for State and Local History.
11. Welch retired in 1981, but he never stopped working.
As a retiree, he filled his calendar with some surprising volunteer activities, including recording textbooks for the blind. He also joined the National Air and Space Museum as a docent, a role he maintained almost until his death. He also learned to rebind rare books, and he gave slide lectures on topics as diverse as hummingbirds and Washington outdoor art and architecture.
Born in 1899, Welch's lifelong ambition was to live in three centuries—19th, 20th, and 21st. Since he lived to be 103, he accomplished that goal, as he did so many others in his long and productive lifetime.
—Written by Julie A. Evans
