James Leo Wadsworth

James Leo Wadsworth was born on May 21, 1922, in Alamo, Lincoln County, Nevada, and attended grade school and high school in Panaca, Nevada. He earned a bachelor's degree in political science from Brigham Young University, where his studies were interrupted when he was called to active duty in the Air Corps during World War II - he served as a pilot of A-20 fighter/bombers with combat service in the Mediterranean and Italian theaters. He later received his Juris Doctorate from George Washington University in Washington, D.C., in 1952.

Mr. Wadsworth's legal and public career in Nevada was long and diversified. He maintained a private law practice and served as district attorney of Esmeralda County from 1960 to 1962 and of Lincoln County from 1966 to 1970. He was elected to the Nevada State Assembly and worked as a general lobbyist to various governmental offices and legislatures. He also taught state, local, and federal government of the United States at two universities and was a published author.

In 1970 he formed a law office to become chief counsel for all of Howard R. Hughes' interests in Nevada, serving as Mr. Hughes' personal attorney as well as general manager of the Landmark Hotel and Casino. Devoted to his roots in Lincoln County, he had returned to Panaca in 1962 after purchasing the 1895 home of his paternal grandparents. James Leo Wadsworth died on February 25, 2019, at the age of 96.