Taft, Holmes, and the 1920s Court by David Henry Burton

Taft, Holmes, and the 1920s Court by David Henry Burton

Author:David Henry Burton
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press


Oliver Wendell Holmes became a capital man when, in 1902, he was sworn in as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Soon thereafter, he wrote to his British friend, the legal scholar, Sir Frederick Pollock. He was in a rare euphoric mood. Regarding his work, Holmes was "more absorbed, interested, and impressed than ever I dreamed I might be."19 His earlier court endeavors seemed "a finished book—locked up far away, and a new and solemn volume opens." He was struck by "the variety and novelty of the questions, the remote spaces from which they came, and the amount of work they require." Holmes was a truly happy man as he threw himself into meeting his new responsibilities.

The appointment of Holmes as a justice was not, however, written in the stars. The position might have gone to another except for his friendship with Henry Cabot Lodge and in turn Lodge's friendship with Theodore Roosevelt. In February 1902, Justice Horace Gray, a Massachusetts man, had fallen ill. Because of the seriousness of his condition, and considering his age, it was doubtful that he would be able to return to his post. The tradition that the Court should always have a Massachusetts member was well established, so that both George F. Hoar and Henry Cabot Lodge, the junior of the two senators from Massachusetts, became keenly interested in the choice of Gray's successor. Hoar had the advantage of senatorial seniority, offset by Lodge's close association with the President. Lodge went on the offensive almost at once, pushing the Holmes candidacy with TR as befit their friendship. There were other aspirants—William H. Moody, then Secretary of Navy, and Samuel Hoar, a nephew of Senator Hoar—which heightened the personal nature of the competition. Lodge stole a march on his senate rival in coming out strongly for Holmes in his frequent, private conversations with Roosevelt.



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