Harry Allison Johnston II (1931- ) was born in West Palm Beach, the son of Harry Allison Johnston, Sr. (1895-1983), who was known as “Colonel Johnston” for his service during World War I and II. Except for the war years, Colonel Johnston served as an attorney for Palm Beach County from 1936 to 1967.
After graduating from Palm Beach High School in 1949, Harry Johnston II continued his education at Virginia Military Institute (VMI) and the University of Florida Law School. He practiced law with his father, and then with Jones, Foster, Johnston and Stubbs. Johnston was a member of the Florida Senate 1974-86, the last two years as president, where he enabled the founding of the Children’s Services Council and the passing of the Growth Management Act.
Johnston was elected to four terms in the U. S. House of Representatives (1988-96), where he chaired the Budget Committee and the Foreign Affairs African subcommittee. After leaving Congress, Johnston resumed his practice of probate and estate law.
In his first decade of retirement, he was named Special Envoy to the Sudan by President Clinton (1998-2000), declined an ambassadorship, and attended a White House meeting on the U. S. Trade Agenda. Governor Chiles appointed him as trustee at Palm Beach Community College during selection of a new president for the college. Johnston was director of the Palm Beach County Criminal Justice Commission, president of the board of trustees for the Norton Museum of Art, and was listed as a Florida Super Lawyer by Law & Politics magazine. He is a founding member of the Forum Club of the Palm Beaches formed in 1976.