In 1955, President Dwight Eisenhower appointed Jewel as an assistant U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois.

She gave the seconding speech for Nixon's nomination to be the Republican candidate for President during the 1960 Presidential election.

In 1972, Nixon appointed Jewel to serve as a representative to the General Assembly of the United Nations.

She made a yearly recommendation to President Bush about the number of refugees that should be admitted to the United States.

[13] After Bush lost his reelection campaign, Jewel returned to Chicago to continue practicing law until her death in 1997.

In his book Witness to Power, John Ehrlichman wrote that Nixon was "intrigued" with the idea of nominating Lafontant to the Supreme Court.

She received a Candace Award for Distinguished Service from the National Coalition of 100 Black Women in 1983.

[16] Jewel Stradford Lafontant-Mankarious died of breast cancer at her home in Chicago on May 31, 1997, aged 75.