Jay Nixon Named Recipient of Harry S. Truman Public Service Award
Dowd Bennett partner and former Missouri Governor Jay Nixon recently was awarded the Harry S. Truman Public Service Award for 2024 at a ceremony at the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum. The Truman award was established by the City of Independence in 1974 to recognize Americans who typify President Truman’s dedication, industry, ability, honesty, and integrity.
Dowd Bennett now is the only law firm in the country to have two Truman award winners in its partnership. Former Senator John C. Danforth received the Truman award in 2015.
Nixon is the 50th recipient of the Truman Public Service award. The first recipient was former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. Other prior recipients include former Presidents Jimmy Carter, Gerald Ford, and Bill Clinton; former Senators Bob Dole, Patrick Leahy, John McCain, Christopher “Kit” Bond, Claire McCaskill, and Roy Blunt.
Jay Nixon served as Missouri governor from 2009 to 2017, after having served an unprecedented four terms as Missouri Attorney General. As governor, Nixon led the state through difficult economic times and devastating natural disasters, including the EF-5 tornado that struck Joplin, Missouri in the spring of 2011. The Associated Press called him “a ubiquitous commander of disasters” in conjunction with his management of that disaster. Nixon balanced Missouri’s budget every year without raising taxes, while making historic investments in education, health care, and economic development.
After leaving office in 2017, Nixon returned to the private practice of law, joining Dowd Bennett, focusing his practice on impact litigation, appellate practice, and environmental and conservation law. He teaches a conservation law course on “The Law of Rails to Trails” at Washington University School of Law, and for the last four years has been named by Missouri Lawyers Media to its Power List for Appellate Attorneys in Missouri. He recently was recognized by Best Lawyers as its 2025 Government Relations Lawyer of the Year in St. Louis.