william o douglas biography

"[19] Ultimately, Douglas believed that a judge's role was "not neutral" as "The Constitution is not neutral. William O. Douglas was born in 1890s. [40] Fortas would later say that he "resigned to save Douglas," thinking that the dual investigations of himself and Douglas would stop with his resignation.[40]. Some historians, including biographer Bruce Murphy, asserted that this claim was false,[5][6][12] although Murphy later added, according to Washington Post editorial writer Charles Lane, that Douglas's "career on the court makes it 'appropriate'" that he be buried in Arlington Cemetery. William Orville Douglas (1898-1980) was an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court of the United States.He joined the court in 1939 after a nomination from President Franklin D. Roosevelt.On November 12, 1975, Douglas assumed senior status and continued to serve in this capacity until his death on January 19, 1980.Prior to joining the court, Douglas was the chairman of the … Douglas holds a number of records as a Supreme Court justice, including the most opinions. In his book The Years of Lyndon Johnson: The Path to Power, Robert Caro wrote that in 1937, Douglas had helped to persuade Roosevelt to authorize the Marshall Ford Dam, a controversial project whose approval enabled Johnson to consolidate his power as a representative. [23], After Diem's assassination in November 1963, Douglas became strongly critical of the war, believing Diem had been killed because he "was not sufficiently servile to Pentagon demands. [6] Douglas graduated second in his class at Columbia in 1925. [5] After moving the family from town to town in the West, his mother, with three young children, settled in Yakima, Washington. Since at the time the stay was granted the Supreme Court was out of session, this stay meant that the Rosenbergs could expect to wait at least six months before the case was heard. In the interview Douglas discusses how the Supreme Court functions and its role in the American judicial system. (1950). He was an actor, known for The Outer Limits (1963), Heaven and Earth (1987) and PT 109 (1963). The basis for the stay was that Judge Irving Kaufman had sentenced the Rosenbergs to death without the consent of the jury. "[16][21] That went too far for Hugo Black, who dissented in Griswold despite having been allies with Douglas. [71], For other people named William Douglas, see, Relationships with others at Supreme Court, Whitman, Alden. "[23] Douglas now outspokenly argued the war was illegal, dissenting whenever the Court passed on an opportunity to hear such claims. At 76 on December 31, 1974, on vacation with his wife Cathleen in the Bahamas, Douglas suffered a debilitating stroke in the right hemisphere of his brain. Douglas was also criticized for accepting $350 for an article he wrote on folk music in the magazine Avant Garde. Points of Rebellion, by William O. Douglas. [53] As a result of his injuries, Douglas did not return to the court until March 1950,[54] or take part in many of that term's cases. He sat on the U.S. Supreme Court for more than thirty-six years (1939–75), longer than any other justice. His older sister Martha was born in 1897 and his brother Art in 1902. Nominated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Douglas was confirmed at the age of 40, one of the youngest justices appointed to the court. The river as plaintiff speaks for the ecological unit of life that is part of it. Douglas wrote many books about his experiences and observations during these trips. Lane therefore concluded, "Legally, then, Douglas may have had a plausible claim to be a 'Private, U.S. Army,' as his headstone at Arlington reads. Douglas was afflicted with polio as a young man, and he was raised in Washington, where he became a distinguished scholar and lawyer, obtaining a BA from Whitman College in 1920 before getting his LL B from Columbia University in 1925. William Orville Douglas (October 16, 1898 – January 19, 1980) was an American jurist and politician who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. After Hannegan released the letter to the convention on July 20, the nomination went without incident, and Truman was nominated on the second ballot. Douglas personally visited the area on November 18, 1967. Professor Kastenberg notes in his recent book on the subject, that Attorney General John Mitchell and his deputy, William Wilson had promised Ford that the Central Intelligence Agency, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Internal Revenue Service, and the Federal Bureau of Investigations had evidence of Douglas' criminal conduct. He was suspicious of majority rule as it related to social and moral questions, and frequently expressed concern about at forced conformity with "the Establishment". Douglas later claimed his mother had been left destitute. United States Securities and Exchange Commission, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=William_O._Douglas&oldid=1021597309, Franklin D. Roosevelt administration personnel, Members of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, United States federal judges appointed by Franklin D. 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[12]:324–325 Because of widespread opposition to his decision, Douglas briefly faced impeachment proceedings in Congress, but attempts to remove him from the Court went nowhere. [15] Ronald Dworkin would conclude that because Douglas believed his convictions were merely "a matter of his own emotional biases," Douglas would fail to meet "minimal intellectual responsibilities. In his response, Ford put aside previous differences and paid tribute to the retiring justice: May I express on behalf of all our countrymen this nation's great gratitude for your more than thirty-six years as a member of the Supreme Court. On June 17, 1953, Douglas granted a temporary stay of execution to Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, who had been convicted of selling the plans for the atomic bomb to the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Nominated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Douglas was confirmed at the age of 40, one of the youngest justices appointed to the court. Served as a Justice of the Supreme court from April 17, 1939 until November 12, 1975. Supreme Court Historical Society, William O. Douglas. "[15], Douglas frequently disagreed with the other justices, dissenting in almost 40% of cases, more than half of the time writing only for himself. The first one was on the 17 June 1953 when William M. Wheeler of Georgia introduced an … The act that soon followed designated the Buffalo River as America's first National River. The Red River Gorge's Douglas Trail is named in his honor. William O. Douglas facts Nominated by President Franklin D Roosevelt, Douglas was confirmed at the age of 40, one of the youngest justices appointed to the court His term, lasting 36 years … Besides being personally disgusted by Douglas's lifestyle, Ford was also mindful that Douglas's protégé Abe Fortas was forced to resign because of ties to a similar foundation. Douglas's formal resignation was submitted, as required by federal protocols, to his longtime political nemesis, then-President Gerald Ford. Douglas was a self-professed outdoorsman. Douglas was sworn into office on April 17, 1939. It paralyzed his left leg and forced him to use a wheelchair. Douglas, William O. [29] In the 1950s, proposals were made to create a parkway along the path of the C&O Canal, which ran on the Maryland bank parallel to the Potomac River. [25] The Court was in recess for the summer but the congresswoman reapplied, this time to Douglas. Martin, Fenton S. and Goehlert, Robert U., This page was last edited on 5 May 2021, at 16:08. The appointments office at the law school told him that a New York firm wanted a student to help prepare a correspondence course for law. He was identified with the legal realist movement, which pushed for an understanding of law based less on formalistic legal doctrines and more on the real-world effects of the law. That social/political group befriended Lyndon Johnson, a freshman representative from the 10th District of Texas. He was an actor, known for The Outer Limits (1963), Heaven and Earth (1987) and PT 109 (1963). He later swayed the Supreme Court to preserve the Red River Gorge in eastern Kentucky, when a proposal to build a dam and flood the gorge reached the Court. William Orville Douglas (October 16, 1898 – January 19, 1980) was an American jurist and politician who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. After graduating in 1920 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and economics, he taught English and Latin at his old high school for the next two years, hoping to earn enough to attend law school. The names on the list included former senator and Supreme Court justice James F. Byrnes of South Carolina, former senator (and future Supreme Court justice) Sherman Minton, former governor and high commissioner to the Philippines Paul McNutt of Indiana, House speaker Sam Rayburn of Texas, Senator Alben W. Barkley of Kentucky, Senator Harry S. Truman of Missouri, and Douglas. Pages are unmarked. This generation experienced much of their youth during the Great Depression and rapid technological innovation such as the radio and the telephone. Douglas campaigned for the nomination for a short time, but he soon withdrew his name from consideration. She was duly impressed, and charmed. Douglas's first wife was Mildred Riddle, a teacher at North Yakima High School six years his senior, whom he married on August 16, 1923. He was elected to the Ecology Hall of Fame for his dedication to conservation. Whereas Black voted with the majority under strict construction to uphold the state constitutional provision, Douglas and Abe Fortas dissented. In 1961, Douglas pursued Joan "Joanie" Martin, an Allegheny College student writing her thesis on him. Attorney General John N. Mitchell and the Nixon administration worked to gather evidence against him. With a term lasting 36 years and 209 days, he is the longest-serving justice in the history of the Supreme Court. "[39] Truman selected Senator Alben W. Barkley and the two won the election. At age two Douglas suffered an illness he described as polio, but which revisionist biographers have claimed was intestinal colic. With fellow justice Hugo Black, Douglas argued for a "literalist" interpretation of the First Amendment, insisting that the First Amendment's command that "no law" shall restrict freedom of speech should be interpreted literally. [25] Six hours later the eight other justices reconvened by telephone for a special term and unanimously overturned Douglas's ruling.[27]. [15] Other justices at the time kept mistresses as secretaries or kept them away from the Court building according to Douglas's messenger Harry Datcher, but Douglas "did what he did in the open. Seven of his fellow justices voted to postpone until the next term any argued case in which Douglas's vote might make a difference. [34] His love for the environment carried through to his judicial reasoning. The William O. Douglas Wilderness In 1961 Douglas began pursuing a young Allegheny College student, Joan Martin, who was writing her senior thesis on him, and once Martin moved to Washington the affair became public. [23] Douglas met with the congresswoman's ACLU lawyers at his home in Goose Prairie, Washington, and promised them a hearing the next day. [23] On Friday, August 3, 1973, Douglas held a hearing in the Yakima federal courthouse, where he dismissed the Government's argument that he was causing a "constitutional confrontation" by saying, "we live in a world of confrontations. He was survived by his fourth wife, Cathleen Douglas, and two children, Mildred and William Jr., with his first wife. After serving as the third chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Douglas was successfully nominated to the Supreme Court in 1939, succeeding Justice Louis Brandeis. William O. Douglas’s judicial work was as eclectic as it was prolific. According to Douglas, Georgia tradition would guarantee a Maddox victory but he had trailed Callaway by some 3,000 votes in the general election returns. Generation also known as The Greatest Generation. [58] Douglas and Martin divorced in 1966. Mini Bio (1) William Douglas was born on April 23, 1932 in New Haven, Connecticut, USA as William Orville Douglas Jr. He was a writer, known for Studio One (1948), Howard K. Smith (1962) and What's My Line? He had been the last serving Supreme Court justice to have been appointed by Roosevelt. House Judiciary Chairman Emanuel Celler handled the case carefully and did not uncover evidence of any criminal conduct by Douglas. [55] Four months after his return to the court, Douglas had to be hospitalized again when he was kicked by a horse. Meanwhile, Douglas became friends with a group of young New Dealers, including Tommy "The Cork" Corcoran and Abe Fortas. In August 1923, Douglas traveled to La Grande, Oregon, to marry Mildred Riddle, whom he had known in Yakima. |  [12][54][56], While still married to Riddle, Douglas began openly pursuing Mercedes Hester Davidson in 1951. However, Douglas maintained that the travel gave him a world-wide perspective that was helpful in resolving cases before the Court. Magazine Avant Garde settlements with his first wife as William Orville Douglas six... Had known in Yakima how the Supreme Court media on William O. Douglas Collection at the water. Hit back at the Whitman College crime and communists, and therefore being a threat to security! 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