O. James Lighthizer

O. James "Jim" Lighthizer (born March 20, 1946) is an American lawyer, politician, and the president of the American Battlefield Trust non-profit battlefield preservation organization.[1]

O. James Lighthizer
In office
1979–1982

In November 2019, at the 20th anniversary of his presidency, Lighthizer announced that he would retire in 2020.[2] On November 12, 1999, Lighthizer was named president of the newly formed Civil War Preservation Trust, which was created from the merger of two Civil War battlefield preservation organizations, the Association for the Preservation of Civil War Sites, founded in 1987, and the Civil War Trust, founded in 1991. Together, these two organizations had preserved more than 6,000 acres of battlefield land, but had amassed more than $7 million in debt.[3] In 2000, Lighthizer's first full year, the Trust (now named the American Battlefield Trust) retired all of the outstanding debt while also saving 2,421 new acres.[4] In November 2014, the Trust expanded its preservation mission to include not only Civil War battlefields, but those of the American Revolution and the War of 1812.[5] Through 2019, the organization has saved almost 52,000 acres at more than 130 battlefields in 24 states, averaging well over 2,000 acres a year during Lighthizer's 20 years at the helm. Membership grew from about 20,000 in 2000 to more than 47,000 in 2017.[6] From 2000 through 2019, the Trust took in a total of $451 million for battlefield preservation, including $235 million in private donations and $216 million in federal and public funding.[7] In 2019, the Trust received its 10th consecutive four-star rating from Charity Navigator.org, which evaluates non-profit organizations for fiscal stability, responsibility and performance.[8] Only two percent of non-profits have attained a four-star rating from Charity Navigator for as many as nine consecutive years.[9]

As a Democrat, Lighthizer served from 1982 to 1990 as elected County Executive of Anne Arundel County, Maryland and is remembered for being instrumental in the creation of Quiet Waters Park, something he would later say was "the toughest political fight in my 16 years of politics".[10]

Prior to serving as County Executive, Lighthizer was a member of the Maryland House of Delegates from 1979 to 1982.

After his term ended, Lighthizer served as the Secretary of Transportation to Governor William Donald Schaefer from 1991 to 1995. During his tenure, he developed new programs that matched state fund with federal ISTEA (Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act) funds to preserve battlefield land. Between 1991 and 2014, the programs Lighthizer initiated and championed protected 8,700 acres on 61 properties near the Antietam National Battlefield, as well as additional acreage at other Maryland battlegrounds.[11] After leaving state service, Lighthizer resumed the private practice of law. As a board member at the Civil War Trust, he helped engineer its merger with the Association for the Preservation of Civil War Sites in 1999 before becoming president of the merged organization.[12] In 2011, the Civil War Preservation Trust was renamed, again becoming simply the Civil War Trust, and in May 2018, the overall organization was renamed American Battlefield Trust, with the Civil War Trust continuing as a division of the umbrella organization along with a second division, the Revolutionary War Trust.[13]

Lighthizer's brother, Robert Lighthizer, currently serves as U.S. Trade Representative.

References
  1. Staff roster of American Battlefield Trust. Accessed February 27, 2020.
  2. "Jim Lighthizer, president of American Battlefield Trust, Announces Retirement." Emerging Civil War webpage. Posted November 4, 2019, accessed February 27, 2020.
  3. Zeller, Bob (2017). Fighting the Second Civil War: A History of Battlefield Preservation and the Emergence of the Civil War Trust. Washington, D.C.: Knox Press. pp. 12, 215. ISBN 978-0-9988112-1-5.
  4. Zeller 2017, pps. 217, 227.
  5. Zeller 2017, p 339.
  6. Zeller 2017, p. 20
  7. American Battlefield Trust Saved Land page. Accessed February 27, 2020.
  8. Charity Navigator historical ratings for American Battlefield Trust. Accessed February 27, 2020.
  9. American Battlefield Trust news release, August 15, 2018. Accessed February 27, 2020.
  10. Gazette, Capital. "Our say: On parks, Schuh plays the Quiet Waters card". Baltimore Sun.
  11. Zeller, 2017. p. 334.
  12. John A. Farrell (November 16, 2008). "McMansionizing History". The Washington Post.
  13. News release on formation of American Battlefield Trust. Accessed May 29, 2018.
Preceded by
Robert A. Pascal		 Anne Arundel County Executive
1982—1990		 Succeeded by
Robert R. Neall
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