Life Before the Supreme Court

Harlan Fiske Stone: A Man for All Seats

The Chief Justice Years (1941–1946)

“Will the Senate advise and consent to the nomination of Harlan F. Stone to be Chief Justice of the United States? Without objection, the nomination is confirmed.”
— Congressional Record, June 27, 1941

Mr. Chief Justice

On June 12, 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt nominated Stone to become the twelfth Chief Justice of the United States, succeeding the retiring Charles Evans Hughes. By selecting a Chief Justice who was associated with the opposite political party, Roosevelt’s choice was a calculated one. Stone had staunchly defended Roosevelt’s New Deal legislation in his opinions and, with war on the horizon, would likely be perceived as a non-partisan choice. On vacation in Estes Park, Colorado, when the Senate confirmed his nomination, Stone took his oaths in a lodge at Rocky Mountain National Park on July 3, 1941. The next day, Independence Day, he led a national radio audience in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance from the Park.

Elevated to Chief Justice

Justices, including the Chief Justice, are nominated by the President and confirmed with the advice and consent of the Senate. The Chief Justice, referred to as “First Among Equals,” is considered the most senior Justice, regardless of length of service. Stone is one of only three Chief Justices who was actively serving as an Associate Justice at the time of his nomination. The only other Chief Justices so “elevated“ were Edward D. White (Associate Justice from 1894 to 1910; Chief Justice from 1910 to 1921) and William H. Rehnquist (Associate Justice from 1972 to 1986; Chief Justice from 1986 to 2005). Two others, John Rutledge and Charles Evans Hughes, had a break in service between their Court tenures.

U.S. Commissioner Wayne H.Hackett swearing in Chief Justice Stone at Sprague’s Lodge in Estes Park, Colorado, July 3, 1941.
Charley Humberger, National Park Service

Chief Justice Stone, c. 1945.
David Edmonston

Stone in Conference

Chief Justice Stone assumed the helm of a Court full of strong-minded personalities, including Hugo L. Black, Felix Frankfurter, and William O. Douglas. Under Stone’s leadership, the structure of private conferences—meetings during which the Justices discuss and vote on cases and petitions—changed markedly. In contrast with his predecessor, Charles Evans Hughes, who kept discussions brief and on point, Stone encouraged open dialogue and debate. This resulted in longer conferences, which many of his colleagues resented.

The Court During World War II

Within six months of Stone becoming Chief Justice, the December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii changed not only America’s political, economic, and military involvement in World War II but also some of the types of cases that came before the Supreme Court. Soon the Justices were deciding cases about treason and espionage, flag pledge requirements in public schools, and the constitutionality of the Japanese-American internment programs. Such cases made plain that, during war times, civil liberties and national security concerns often conflict.

The Justices’ Wartime Activities

As a result of deaths and retirements, seven new Justices—all appointed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt—joined the Court between 1937 and 1941: Hugo L. Black (1937); Stanley F. Reed (1938); Felix Frankfurter (1938); William O. Douglas (1939); Frank Murphy (1940); James F. Byrnes (1941); and Robert H. Jackson (1941). Some Justices, including Stone, believed that members of the Court should not become involved in war-related events outside of judicial activities. Others disagreed and supported the war effort in a variety of ways.

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Justice Owen J. Roberts (third from left) chaired two presidentially appointed commissions: one to investigate the attack on Pearl Harbor and the other to locate and protect art and objects of cultural value that had been stolen or destroyed by the Nazis in Europe.
Harris & Ewing

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Justice James F. Byrnes resigned from the Court in 1942 to serve as Director of the Office of Economic Stabilization and, in 1943, managed the wartime economy as Director of Economic Mobilization.
Harris & Ewing

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Justice Robert H. Jackson took a leave of absence from fall 1945 through summer 1946 to serve as Chief Counsel for the Nazi War Trials in Nuremberg, Germany.
Harris & Ewing

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Justice Felix Frankfurter advised President Franklin D. Roosevelt on a variety of issues, including war mobilization, organized labor, and presidential appointments.
Bachrach Studio

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Justice Frank Murphy, shown here in 1940, served in the Army Reserves as a Lieutenant Colonel during the Court’s summer recess in 1942<br /><em>Harris & EwingLibrary of Congress.

Justice Frank Murphy, shown here in 1940, served in the Army Reserves as a Lieutenant Colonel during the Court’s summer recess in 1942.
Harris & Ewing
Library of Congress

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Taking the Center Seat One Last Time

On April 22, 1946, Stone took his seat at the center of the Bench as he had for the past five years. While reading a dissenting opinion, he lost his place and began to slur his words. Recognizing that the Chief Justice was in distress, his colleagues escorted him off the Bench. Several hours later, after suffering a cerebral hemorrhage, he passed away. The day after the Chief Justice’s passing, President Harry S. Truman, whom Stone had sworn in as President, announced: “Through his untimely death the people of the United States have lost the services of an eminent jurist and a distinguished public servant. His service on the Supreme Court of the United States was characterized by his high sense of duty, his great legal learning and the clarity of his judicial reasoning.”

Order of service for the funeral of Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone, Washington National Cathedral, April 25, 1946.

“I am inexpressibly shocked and grieved by the sudden death of Chief Justice Stone, my very dear friend and most highly esteemed colleague. In the passing of this great judge and faithful public servant the country has suffered an irreparable loss.”
— Statement of Charles Evans Hughes, Stone’s predecessor as Chief Justice

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