{{Short description|American lawyer (1939–2025)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Stephen Harmelin | office = White House Director of Speechwriting | president = Lyndon B. Johnson | term_start = 1964 | term_end = 1965 | predecessor = Position established | successor = Harry McPherson (1967) | birth_name = Stephen Joseph Harmelin | birth_date = {{birth date|1939|5|7}} | birth_place = Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|2025|5|3|1939|5|7}} | death_place = Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. | party = Republican | spouse = Julia Harmelin | children = 3, including Alison | education = {{ubl |University of Pennsylvania (BA) |Harvard University (JD)}} | allegiance = {{flag|United States}} | branch = {{flag|United States Coast Guard}} | branch_label = Branch }}
'''Stephen Joseph Harmelin''' (May 7, 1939 – May 3, 2025) was an American lawyer who specialized in corporate and transactional law. He was the co-chairman of the Philadelphia-based law firm Dilworth Paxson LLP. He also served as the White House Director of Speechwriting and as a White House aide for President Lyndon B. Johnson from 1964 to 1965.
==Early life and education== Harmelin was born on May 7, 1939, into a Jewish family in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Harmelin attended Central High School.<ref name=":9" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://centralhs.philasd.org/about-central-high-school/famous-alumni/|title=Notable Alumni|website=Central High School|access-date=November 20, 2020}}</ref> He later went on to graduate from the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard Law School.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.evergreeneditions.com/article/Stephen+Harmelin/2510923/312791/article.html|title=The Legal Intelligencer — LI Professional Excellence June 21, 2016|website=The Legal Intelligencer|access-date=November 19, 2020}}</ref> He served in the United States Coast Guard.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|url=https://s3.amazonaws.com/barnes-images-p-e1c3c83bd163b8df/assets/L5-Board-Bio.pdf|title=Stephen J. Harmelin, Esq.|website=The Barnes Foundation|access-date=November 19, 2020}}</ref>
==Career== From 1964 to 1965, Harmelin served as the White House Director of Speechwriting and as a White House aide to President Lyndon B. Johnson.<ref name=":9">{{cite web |title=Stephen J. Harmelin, former Dilworth Paxon chair, passionate Philadelphian and history lover who helped shape Center City, has died at 85 |newspaper=The Philadelphia Inquirer |date=May 4, 2025 |first1=Ryan W. |last1=Briggs |first2=Earl |last2=Hopkins |url=https://www.inquirer.com/obituaries/stephen-harmelin-dilworth-paxson-obituary-20250504.html}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://news.usc.edu/77602/reporting-from-hot-spots-where-no-one-wants-to-be/|title=This just in: Alumna reports from global hotspots|website=University of Southern California|date=March 20, 2015 |access-date=November 28, 2020 |last1=Bell |first1=Susan }}</ref> Johnson tasked Harmelin with the creation of the White House Fellows program.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=https://atlanticlegal.org/2013/12/24/stephen-j-harmelin-co-chairman-dilworth-paxson-llp/|title=Stephen J. Harmelin – Board of Directors: Atlantic Legal Foundation|website=Atlantic Legal Foundation|access-date=November 19, 2020}}</ref> He joined Dilworth Paxson LLP in 1965 and worked under former Philadelphia Mayor Richardson Dilworth.<ref name=":9" /> In 1970, Harmelin briefly left Dilworth Paxson and served as a Special Philadelphia Assistant District Attorney under Arlen Specter.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":9" />
In 1989, Harmelin was appointed by Pennsylvania Governor, Bob Casey Sr. as a Commissioner on the Board of the Pennsylvania Convention Center Authority. He served in that role until 2002.<ref name=":1" /> In 1992, he served as General Counsel for the Legislative Reapportionment Commission on behalf of the Pennsylvania State Senate and the Pennsylvania General Assembly.<ref name=":1" /> From 2007 to 2008, he worked as the ''receiver ad litem'' for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and recovered $170 million, the largest in the commission's history.<ref name=":3" /> He also served as a member of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals Task Force to select counsel in certain lawsuits.<ref name=":1" /> He retired from Dilworth Paxson in 2019.<ref name=":9" />
Harmelin served as General Counsel to the National Constitution Center.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|url=https://www.dilworthlaw.com/Lawyers/StephenJHarmelin|title=Stephen Joseph Harmelin|website=Dilworth Paxson|access-date=November 19, 2020}}</ref> Harmelin was awarded the Replansky Award by the Philadelphia Bar Association Corporate Law Committee for distinguished accomplishments in civics, law, and professionalism.<ref name=":3" /> He also sat on the National Constitution Center's Board of Trustees from the center's opening in 2000.<ref name=":9" />
==Personal life== Harmelin was the founder of the Philadelphia Constitution Foundation, where he led a project to bring the original copy of the Magna Carta to Philadelphia in 1987 as a way to commemorate the U.S. Constitution's 200th anniversary, and then again in 2001.<ref name=":7">{{Cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/05/01/us/the-constitution-1787-1987-magna-carta-goes-on-display-in-philadelphia.html |title=The Constitution 1787–1987; Magna Carta goes on display in Philadelphia |newspaper=The New York Times |date=May 1987 |access-date=November 19, 2020 |last1=Stevens |first1=William K. }}</ref> He also sat on the boards of the Barnes Foundation, the Atlantic Legal Foundation, the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, and ''The Philadelphia Inquirer''.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":3" /><ref name=":6">{{Cite web |url=https://www.inquirer.com/business/mitra-kalita-cnn-digital-philadelphia-inquirer-board-directors-lisa-hughes-20201019.html |title=Kalita of CNN Digital to join Philadelphia Inquirer board of directors |newspaper=The Philadelphia Inquirer |date=October 19, 2020 |access-date=November 19, 2020}}</ref> He appeared in the History Channel show ''Save Our History'' where he spoke about the National Constitution Center.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm5063723/|title=Stephen J. Harmelin|website=IMDb|access-date=November 19, 2020}}</ref> Harmelin helped draft the Russian Federation's Constitution, which was enacted in 1993.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.law.com/thelegalintelligencer/2025/05/05/stephen-harmelin-former-dilworth-paxson-co-chair-and-community-pillar-dies-at-age-85/?slreturn=20250506191023|title=Stephen Harmelin, Former Dilworth Paxson Co-Chair and Community Pillar, Dies at Age 85|newspaper=The Legal Intelligencer}}</ref> In 2013, Harmelin led a project to return Pennsylvania's original copy of the Bill of Rights, which was held in the New York Public Library. He arranged an agreement with the library that allowed the copy to be shared between the library and the state of Pennsylvania for 100 years. According to Jeffrey Rosen, who serves as the president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, "[there is] no one else in American history who's responsible for restoring two original copies of the Bill of Rights to their owners."<ref name=":9" />
Harmelin was close friends with former longtime Pennsylvania Senator, Arlen Specter. He served as the Treasurer for Specter's successful re-election campaign in 2004.<ref name=":8">{{Cite web |url=https://www.inquirer.com/philly/news/local/20080103_Specter_took_in__1_million_too_much__audit_says.html |title=Specter took in $1 million too much, audit says |newspaper=The Philadelphia Inquirer |date=January 3, 2008 |access-date=November 19, 2020}}</ref>
Stephen Harmelin died from Parkinson's disease at home in Society Hill, on May 3, 2025, four days before his 86th birthday.<ref name=":9" />
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{IMDb name| 5063723}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harmelin, Stephen}} Category:1939 births Category:2025 deaths Category:American political fundraisers Category:Corporate lawyers Category:Harvard Law School alumni Category:Jewish American government officials Category:Lawyers from Philadelphia Category:Central High School (Philadelphia) alumni Category:United States Coast Guard officers Category:University of Pennsylvania alumni Category:21st-century American Jews Category:Deaths from Parkinson's disease in Pennsylvania