| Jim Eisenhower | |
| Office: | Judge of the Pennsylvania Court of Judicial Discipline |
| Appointer: | Tom Wolf |
| Term Start: | January 2019 |
| Office1: | Chair of the Board of the Pennsylvania Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority |
| Term Start1: | 2007 |
| Term End1: | 2011 |
| Appointer1: | Ed Rendell |
| Predecessor1: | Lauri A. Kavulich |
| Successor1: | Sam Katz |
| Office2: | Member of the Board of the Pennsylvania Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority |
| Term Start2: | 2005 |
| Term End2: | 2007 |
| Appointer2: | Ed Rendell |
| Predecessor2: | Kenneth I. Trujillo |
| Successor2: | Robert L. Archie Jr. |
| Office3: | Chair of the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency |
| Term Start3: | 2003 |
| Term End3: | 2004 |
| Birth Date: | 30 January 1958[1] |
| Birth Place: | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Education: | Temple University (BA) Antioch School of Law (JD) Oxford University (MPhil) |
| Spouse: | Nora Dowd Eisenhower[2] |
| Party: | Democratic |
| Residence: | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
James J. Eisenhower (born January 30, 1958) is an American lawyer and judge from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. He is a judge on the Pennsylvania First Judicial District's Court of Common Pleas, Criminal Section. He was elected to the Court by the citizens of Philadelphia in November, 2023. He was previously a Judge of the Pennsylvania Court of Judicial Discipline and served as the President Judge of the Court. Eisenhower was Of Counsel at Philadelphia law firm Dilworth Paxson LLP.
Born in the Olney section of Philadelphia, James attended the Incarnation of Our Lord Parochial School. He graduated from William Tennet Public High School. James earned a B.A. from Temple University and a J.D. degree from Antioch School of Law. He earned a Master of Philosophy from Oxford University where he was a Marshall Scholar.
James is married to Nora Dowd Eisenhower. They have two children.
He is a distant relative of Dwight D. Eisenhower.
He is an amateur guitar player, and was known to play during campaign events, even playing a guitar solo with Philadelphia indie rock band Cecil B. during a "Jammin' for Jim" rally at University of Pennsylvania.
James was an assistant professor at Temple University School of Law. He taught Jurisprudence, the Philosophy of Law, and US election law. He also served a law clerk for the Honorable J.Sydney Hoffman, Superior Court of Pennsylvania.
James served as former Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell's chief criminal justice advisor during Rendell's 2002 gubernatorial election. After Rendell's election, Eisenhower served on the "Governor's Cabinet for Children and Families" within the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare. From 1994 to 1997 he served as Chief Counsel of the Police Advisory Commission of Philadelphia.
In 2005, Rendell named him Chairman of the Pennsylvania Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority, the inter-governmental body that regulates finances for the city of Philadelphia. During the governorship of Rendell, James also chaired the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency (PCCD), the commonwealth's lead agency for criminal justice, children delinquency prevention and the protection of victims of crime.
In 2019, Governor Tom Wolf appointed James to the Pennsylvania Court of Judicial Discipline. He was President Judge of the eight member Court from 2022-2023.
In May 2011, he was named to the Board of Directors for Congreso, a Philadelphia-based and nationally recognized multi-service organization. Congreso's goal is to alleviate poverty and promote economic self-sufficiency to ensure that our most vulnerable populations have the educational credentials and workforce skills to compete in a global economy.
In 2008, James was surrogate speaker and primary Election Day counsel for Hillary Clinton. Later that year, he served as general election federal court counsel for Barack Obama.
From 2007 through 2011 he served as the chair of the Pennsylvania Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority (PICA), the state authority that oversees the finances of the city of Philadelphia.
James was the Democratic nominee for the 2000 Pennsylvania Attorney General election and the 2004 Pennsylvania Attorney General election. He won the Democratic primary twice against John Morganelli (2000, 2004) and David Barasch (2004). He narrowly lost the 2004 general election to future Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett.
In 2003, he was named to the "Power 75" list of politically influential people in Pennsylvania by the Pennsylvania Report.
James served on the White House staff at the National Security Council during the presidency of Bill Clinton. He authored PDD 42, the presidential decision directive on international crime and the executive order that seized the assets of the Colombian Cali Cartel. He also served as the White House representative on the US delegation to the P-8 Ministerial meeting in Paris, France on international terrorism.
Registrar, Oxford University