Robert Jackson

Robert Jackson was a hero introduced in the 2000 television movie Nuremberg.

He was portrayed by Alec Baldwin.

A Supreme Court Justice, Jackson was tasked with representing the Americans in setting up a tribunal to prosecute a number of high ranking Nazis after the Second World War. He first flew to London with his secretary Elsie Douglas to meet with his British counterpart, Sir David Maxwell-Fyfe, and then went to Germany to find a suitable location to hold the trial.

Jackson decided on having the trial in Nuremberg, Germany. Despite all the damage to the city, Jackson and his counterparts decided it would be the perfect location to hold the trial as it had been the spiritual home of the Nazi movement, had a Palace of Justice that would fit their needs perfectly, and had housing available in undamaged parts of the city.

While the Army and German POWs set to work rebuilding the palace to meet the Allies needs, Jackson flew home to ask Francis Biddle to act as the chief American jurist at the trial.

Returning to Germany, Jackson threw himself in to preparations for the trial. Some of the work he and the others had to do was to decide who to charge, what to charge them with, and the procedures they would work on. Jackson was determined that the trials be fair, even if it meant there was the possibility of some of the Nazis they were bringing to trial being found non guilty. He felt that otherwise the trials would be seen as little more than show trials where the guilt was a foregone conclusion.

During the trial he worked with his French and British counterparts to present the best case possible. He was so determined to get Hermann Göring that he lost control of the situation while Göring was on the witness stand. He recovered from this setback and was able to get under Göring's skin the next day during ongoing examinations.

Jackson was as horrified as everyone else in the courtroom when a film documenting Nazi atrocities was shown in court, and would find himself wondering how a so called civilized society could carry out such atrocities.

At the conclusion of the trial he watched in satisfaction as a majority of the Nazis were found guilty of various crimes and either sentenced to death or to long terms in prison. Having fallen in love with Elsie, he told her that when they got home they would have a lot to talk about.