James McCauley Landis (September 25, 1899 – July 30, 1964) was an American government official and legal adviser.

He then became a professor at Harvard Law School, until called into government service during the New Deal.

[4] President Franklin D. Roosevelt sent him to Egypt as American Director of Economic Operations in the Middle East (1943–1945).

In 1946, Roosevelt's successor, Harry S. Truman, later appointed him chairman of the Civil Aeronautics Board, a position he served until the next year.

Less than a year after he returned home, he suffered a heart attack and drowned in his swimming pool.