Joshua Reuben Clark, Jr. (1871–1961) was a prominent leader (General Authority) in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He served as councilor in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles from 1933 until his death. Prior to that, Clark had been a prominent attorney in the Department of State, and as Undersecretary of State for president Calvin Coolidge. In 1930 Clark was appointed ambassador to Mexico

Because of his prominence in both Law and Mormonism, the law school of the flagship private LDS college, Brigham Young University, is named after him. Additionally, LDS student groups in many law schools across the United States are named the "J. Reuben Clark Law Society."

Early Life

Clark grew up as a Mormon farm boy in tiny Grantsville, Utah in Tooele County. At age eleven he could plow with a team of horses. If the weather was too cold for others to go, he would walk to the evening Mormon worship meeting alone.

In a large family he learned to work. He had a father and a mother of pioneer virtue and integrity. His father wrote in his journal, "I went down between the barley and wheat in the old ditch, and knelt down and prayed and dedicated the grain that we have sown and asked the blessings of the Lord upon it; this I do every year with everything that I plant."

With an elementary school education and at the urging of his father, J. Reuben Clark moved to Salt Lake City to go to college. Dr. James E. Talmage was his mentor. When he went east to school Dr. Talmage said, "He possessed the brightest mind ever to leave Utah."

He married Luacine Savage. They became parents of three daughters and one son. From 1898 to 1903 he was teacher and administrator in Heber and in Cedar City.

Government Service

In 1903 J. Reuben Clark took his family to New York City to attend the Columbia University School of Law. In 1906 he graduated head of his class with an LL.B. degree. Shortly after he was appointed as Department of State Assistant Solicitor, and he published his classic "Memorandum on the Right to Protect Citizens in Foreign Countries by Landing Forces."

While living in Washington, D.C., he was appointed as an assistant professor of law at George Washington University.

He opened law offices in Washington, D.C., in New York City, and in Salt Lake City, where he specialized in international and municipal law.

A staunch Republican, he became influential in both Utah and national politics.

They tried more than once to draft him to run for the United States Senate. There was also an effort made to draft him as a candidate for the presidency of the United States until he firmly refused.

During World War I, J. Reuben Clark served as a major on duty with the U.S. Attorney General’s office. He helped prepare the original Selective Service regulations. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal.

President Calvin Coolidge appointed him as Under Secretary of State in 1928. He then published his "Memorandum on the Monroe Doctrine." Even his critics praised it as a "monument of erudition," a "masterly treatise."

In 1930 J. Reuben Clark was named as U.S. Ambassador to Mexico. Two and a half years later he was called by letter to the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

It was nearly a year before J. Reuben Clark was able to come to Church headquarters. During the first fifteen months he was away for five months in Washington, D.C., or abroad on-call for the President of the United States.

In October 1933 J. Reuben Clark Jr. was honored at a dinner in Beverly Hills, California. Telegrams of tribute arrived—also one letter from Will Rogers, philosopher and humorist, perhaps the best-known American of his time. Will Rogers apologized for the letter but said, "I have more to say than I am able to pay for [in a telegram]."

John Nance Garner, the Vice President of the United States, was there, of whom Rogers said in his letter, "He ... deserves [better work] than he’s got."

Rogers then spoke in admiration of J. Reuben Clark and closed, "So, God Bless Reuben Clark, and make him a Democrat, or Republican as necessity demands! [signed] Will."

Church Service

In 1930 J. Reuben Clark was named as U.S. Ambassador to Mexico. Two and a half years later he was called by letter to the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Clark asked the President Grant to allow him to complete some aspects of his government assignment before assuming his church duties. It was nearly a year before J. Reuben Clark was able to come to Church headquarters.