J. Searcy Bracewell, Jr.

J. Searcy Bracewell, Jr. (1918–2003) was a Texas politician and founder of the Houston-based law firm Bracewell & Giuliani. He served as both state representative and state senator from Houston.

Bracewell was born on January 19, 1918 and died on May 13, 2003. A member of the Texas House of Representatives from 1947 to 1949 and the Texas Senate from 1949 to 1959, Bracewell wrote bills establishing what later became the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center and the University of Texas Health Science Center Dental School. He later ran an unsuccessful campaign for the U.S. Senate in a special election in 1957. In 1945, he, his father, his brother, and a future state District Judge joined to form the precursor of the firm that became Bracewell & Giuliani when former New York City mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani joined in March 2005. Bracewell served in World War II on the staff of General George S. Patton. He was president and board chairman of the Houston Grand Opera, interim president of the South Texas College of Law, board chairman of the Visitors of Texas A&M University at Galveston. He was named Outstanding Houston Aggie in 1978.