Born in Toledo, Ohio, Potter received a Bachelor of Philosophy from the University of Toledo in 1940 and a Juris Doctor from the University of Michigan Law School in 1946.

He joined the United States Army Reserve, serving from 1946 to 1951 and achieving the rank of captain.

He was an assistant state attorney general of Ohio from 1968 to 1969, and was then a judge on the Ohio Sixth District Courts of Appeals until 1982.

[1] On May 5, 1982, Potter was nominated by President Ronald Reagan to a seat on the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio vacated by Judge William Kernahan Thomas.

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