Representative James Douglas McKevitt

James Douglas “Mike” McKevitt (October 26, 1928 – September 28, 2000) was an American lawyer and Republican politician who served one term as a U.S. Representative from Colorado from 1971 to 1973. Over the course of a varied public career, he held positions at the state and federal levels, including service as Denver district attorney, assistant attorney general of Colorado, Assistant United States Attorney General, and counsel on energy policy at the White House.

McKevitt was born on October 26, 1928, in Spokane, Washington. During his youth his family moved to California, and he graduated from Grant High School in Sacramento. He then pursued higher education in the Pacific Northwest, enrolling at the University of Idaho in Moscow, Idaho, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1951. Seeking a career in law, he subsequently moved to Colorado and attended the University of Denver School of Law, earning his law degree in 1956.

Between his undergraduate and legal studies, McKevitt served in the United States Air Force from 1951 to 1953. During his military service he rose to the rank of captain, gaining leadership experience in the early years of the Cold War. After completing his military duty and law school, he was admitted to the bar and entered private legal practice, beginning a professional trajectory that would soon lead him into public service and state-level legal work.

McKevitt joined the Colorado state attorney general’s office in 1958 as an assistant attorney general, a position he held until 1967. In this capacity he was involved in the legal affairs of the state government for nearly a decade, helping to represent Colorado’s interests in a range of civil and criminal matters. His work in the attorney general’s office established his reputation in Colorado’s legal and political circles and prepared him for higher prosecutorial responsibilities.

In 1967, McKevitt was elected district attorney for Denver, Colorado, serving in that office until 1971. As Denver’s chief prosecutor, he became known for his aggressive approach to law enforcement, particularly in relation to the city’s countercultural communities. He gained public attention for prosecuting and, according to contemporaneous accounts, harassing Denver’s “hippies” and the restaurants they frequented. On August 8, 1969, he ordered the seizure of a print of the 1967 Swedish film “I Am Curious (Yellow)” from the Vogue Art Theater in Denver, banning the film on the grounds that it was “obscene and pornographic.” The ban lasted sixteen days, until August 22, 1969, when a judge ruled that the seizure constituted a prior restraint on the defendants’ right to freedom of speech and the film was returned to the theater.

McKevitt was elected as a Republican to the Ninety-second Congress and served as a U.S. Representative from Colorado from January 3, 1971, to January 3, 1973. His election occurred during a significant period in American history marked by the Vietnam War, social unrest, and shifting political alignments. In 1970, twenty-year Democratic incumbent Byron Rogers was defeated in the primary by a more liberal Democrat, attorney Craig Barnes. Many of Rogers’ more conservative supporters crossed party lines in the general election and backed McKevitt, whose own popularity and the split within the Democratic Party enabled him to win the seat by approximately 10,000 votes. During his single term, McKevitt participated in the legislative process in the House of Representatives and represented the interests of his Colorado constituents as a conservative Republican in what was traditionally a strongly Democratic district. In 1972 he sought reelection to the Ninety-third Congress but was defeated by liberal Democrat Pat Schroeder, who would go on to serve in the House for many years.

After leaving Congress, McKevitt remained in Washington, D.C., and continued his public service at the federal level. In 1973 he served as Assistant United States Attorney General in the Office of Legislation, working within the Department of Justice on matters related to the administration’s legislative program. From 1973 to 1974 he served as a counsel on energy policy at the White House, a role that placed him at the center of emerging national concerns over energy supply and regulation in the early 1970s. Later, he was appointed to the Korean War Memorial Commission, serving as a member from 1987 to 1995, contributing to the planning and commemoration efforts that culminated in the establishment of the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.

James Douglas “Mike” McKevitt died on September 28, 2000, in Washington, D.C. He was interred with military honors at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, reflecting both his service in the United States Air Force and his long career in public office.