John Doar was born December 3, 1921, in Minneapolis and grew up in New Richmond, Wisconsin. He graduated from Princeton University and received his law degree from the University of California at Berkeley. In 1950, he returned to New Richmond to practice law with his father, William Thomas Doar Sr., his older brother William Thomas Doar Jr. (Tom), and his cousin Warren P. Knowles Jr. In 1960, he moved to Washington, DC, to serve in the Civil Rights Division of the United States Justice Department. During seven years with the division, he prosecuted several high-profile cases, including the Mississippi Burning trial, and personally escorted James Meredith as he arrived at the University of Mississippi as its first black student. His efforts laid the groundwork for the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. After leaving the Civil Rights Division in 1967, he moved to New York, where he led anti-poverty efforts in Brooklyn and served on the New York City Board of Education. In 1973, he served as Special Counsel to the House Judiciary Committee's impeachment inquiry into the conduct of President Richard Nixon. Following Nixon's resignation from office, he practiced private law for more than three decades. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2012 for his service to his country and died on November 11, 2014.