Sherman Minton
Encyclopedia
Sherman "Shay" Minton was a Democratic
United States Senator
from Indiana
and an Associate Justice
of the Supreme Court of the United States
. He was the most educated justice during his time on the Supreme Court, having attended Indiana University
, Yale and the Sorbonne
. He had served as a captain in World War I
, then launched a legal and political career. In 1930, after multiple failed election attempts, and serving as a regional leader in the American Legion
, he became a utility commissioner under the administration of Indiana Governor
Paul V. McNutt
.
In 1934, Minton was elected to the United States Senate. During the campaign, he defended New Deal
legislation in a series of addresses in which he suggested it was not necessary to uphold the Constitution
during the Great Depression
crisis. Minton's campaign was denounced by his political opponents, and he received more widespread criticism for an address that became known as the "You Cannot Eat the Constitution" speech. As part of the New Deal Coalition
, the fiercely partisan Minton championed President
Franklin D. Roosevelt's unsuccessful court packing plans in the Senate and became one of his top Senate allies.
After Minton failed in his 1940 Senate re-election bid, Roosevelt appointed him as a judge to the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
. After Roosevelt's death, President Harry Truman
, who had developed a close friendship with Minton during their time together in the Senate, nominated him to the Supreme Court, where he served for seven years. An advocate of judicial restraint
, Minton was a regular supporter of the majority opinions during his early years on the Court; he became a regular dissenter
after President Dwight Eisenhower's appointees altered the Bench's composition. In 1956, poor health forced Minton's retirement, after which he traveled and lectured until his death in 1965.
Historians note the unusual contrast between his role as a partisan liberal Senator and his role as a conservative jurist. They attribute his shift in position as a reaction to the relationship between the New Deal senators and the conservative 1930s Court, which ruled much of the New Deal legislation unconstitutional. When Minton became a Supreme Court Justice, the Senate had become more conservative and the Court more activist, causing him to support conservative minority positions. As a Justice, Minton frequently played the role of peace-maker and consensus builder during a period when the Court was riven with feuds. He generally ruled in favor of order over freedom as a result of his broad interpretation of governmental powers. These rulings and their limited impact lead some historians to have a negative opinion of his judicial record. Other historians point out Minton's strong commitment to his judicial principles as a valuable attribute. In 1962, the Sherman Minton Bridge
in southern IndianaOn September 9, 2011, the bridge was closed down by the 49th and current Governor
Mitch Daniels
after construction crews found cracks in the main load bearing structural element. Five to seven cracks have been discovered welded areas in a load-bearing steel beam. "The fissures were discovered in a type of steel frequently used in the 1950s and 1960s that is now known to be susceptible to cracking. ..." Repairs are expected to cost $20 million dollars and take six months. and the Minton-Capehart Federal Building in Indianapolis
were named in his honor.
, Indiana
, home. He was the third of the family's five children and was nicknamed Shay because of his younger brother's inability to properly pronounce "Sherman". Minton's paternal grandfather, Jonathan Minton, was killed during the American Civil War
and his father grew up on his own. Minton's parents married in 1883.
Minton received his basic education in a two-room schoolhouse in Georgetown, which he attended through eighth grade. He was exposed to politics from an early age; his father took him to several political rallies, including an 1895 speech by Democratic Party leader William Jennings Bryan
. His father was a day laborer for the New Albany and St. Louis Air Line Railway
. In 1898, he became disabled when he suffered heat stroke while working. His condition meant he could not work; the family became impoverished and had to subsist on the limited yield of their small farm. Minton's mother developed breast cancer in 1899. A traveling doctor attempted to remove her tumors in April 1900, performing the operation with her laid on the family dinner table, but she died during the procedure. The death was an emotional blow to Minton; thereafter, he refused to attend church and spoke against God, whom he blamed for his mother's death. Minton's father married Sarah Montague on December 3, 1901.
As Minton grew older, he was frequently in trouble with the people in his neighborhood. In 1904, he was arrested for disregarding a town ordinance forbidding bicyclists to ride on the sidewalk. He was taken before a justice of the peace
and fined three dollars, an incident he later credited with changing his outlook on life and sparking his desire to become a lawyer. To accomplish that goal, and continue supporting his family, he traveled with his older brother Herbert to Fort Worth, Texas
, to take a job at the Swift and Company meat packing plant. His father and younger siblings soon joined him in Texas after the two brothers' income was able to cover their expenses. After saving enough money to help establish the family in a new home, Minton returned to Indiana to attend high school, leaving his family in Texas.
. There, he participated in the football, baseball, and track teams. He founded the school's first debate club, the Wranglers, which won several awards. He worked in a local arcade, and during summer vacations returned to Fort Worth to work at the Swift plant. He was briefly expelled from school after committing a prank in February 1908.Minton was dating a girl who was participating in singing competition at the school. While her other competitors were singing Minton shouted "Hurrah for our side" from his seat. After doing so repeatedly a teacher discovered from whom the exclamation was coming and suspended him from the school. (see: Radcliff, p. 16) The school was under the guidance of the innovative Superintendent Charles Allen Prosser
, who only let Minton return after he formally apologized before the entire school a week later. Minton began dating Gertrude Gurtz in his senior year, and the two remained in regular correspondence after he left for college. He graduated high school at the top of his class in 1910.
Minton was intent on attending college; during the summer of 1910, he took a job as a Swift Company salesman in the Fort Worth area to help pay his way. He returned to Indiana and enrolled at Indiana University
in September 1911, taking enough classes to complete his first three years of courses in two years. Despite the heavy workload, he joined the school's baseball and debate teams, and participated in the campus' Jackson Club, an organization for Democrats. His college years were formative and had significant influence on his future political career. He became friends with future Governor of Indiana
Paul V. McNutt
, future presidential candidate Wendell L. Willkie, and several other men who later became influential in the state.Wendell Wilkie was also in the debating club, and Minton and Wilkie debated each other on several occasions. (see: Radcliff, p. 20) During his second year he ran out of money, but could not return to Texas to earn more because of his class schedule. He lodged in the Phi Delta Theta
(ΦΔΘ) international fraternity
house and subsisted mostly on wild berries, leftover bread from the cafeteria and free milk. He completed undergraduate school at the top of his class in 1913 and moved to Benjamin Harrison School of Law, now Indiana University School of Law.
Minton's placement at the top of his class entitled him to serve as librarian at the legal college. The position paid a fair salary and allowed him to live more comfortably for his last two years of school. He graduated from law school in 1915, again at the top of his class, and won a one-year scholarship to take post-graduate courses at Yale
. There, he focused on studying constitutional law
and attended the regular lectures of former President of the United States and future Chief Justice of the United States
William Howard Taft
. Taft remarked that Minton's post-graduate thesis was among the best he had ever read. Minton continued to improve his oratory skills and continued debating at Yale; he won the Wayland Club prize for extemporaneous public speaking, and helped organize the university’s legal aid society. He earned a post-graduate masters degree from Yale in 1916.
to assist the local county prosecutor. He joined the Chautauqua
Lecture Circuit
, and traveled to several cities to give speeches. During one lecture circuit, he met William Jennings Bryan. The three-time Presidential candidate advised the young Hoosier
about politics, inspiring him to consider a career in public life.
In 1917, just after the United States declared war on Germany and entered World War I, Minton enlisted in the United States Army
. He took an officers training course at Fort Benjamin Harrison
in hope of earning a commission, but was not among the those chosen to become an officer. In August he was granted a brief leave of absence; he returned to New Albany, where he married Gurtz on August 11.Gertrude Gurtz (February 2, 1893 – June 4, 1982) was a native of Harrison County
. She graduated from St. Mary's of the Woods
in 1911 and was working as a school teacher at the time of the marriage. (see: Radcliff, p. 25) He returned to camp in September and requested to repeat his training course, still hoping to receive a commission; after finishing the training he was commissioned as a captain. The American Expeditionary Forces, Eighty-fourth Division, to which Minton belonged, was dispatched to France in July 1918. Minton and his unit served on the Western Front
at Verdun, Soissons, and later protecting supply lines in Belgium. His unit was responsible for scouting
roads to ensure safe transport of men and supplies to the front lines during most his time in the war, and he saw no combat.
When President Woodrow Wilson
came to Paris in 1919
, Minton was in charge of a security detail guarding the negotiation hall and was able to meet Wilson. When the war ended, Minton remained briefly with the Army of Occupation in Germany before being discharged in August 1919. He chose to remain in Paris for several months to study Roman law
, international law
, civil law
and jurisprudence
in the Faculte de Droit at the Sorbonne
. He returned home in March 1920. The first of Minton's three children, Sherman Jr.
, was born while he was away. Minton's second son, John, and daughter, Maryanne, were born in 1921 and 1926, respectively.
, but lost the Democratic primary, despite significant campaigning and his war record. He lost to John Ewing
, 6,502 votes to 3,170, second place in a field of five candidates. After the loss, he briefly joined the Indiana law firm of Stonsenburg and Weathers, two politically active lawyers, before moving to Miami, Florida, where he joined another firm, Shutts & Bowen
. In January 1928, he left the Miami practice and returned to Stonsenburg and Weathers. He attempted to secure the Democratic nomination to run for Congress in 1930, but was again defeated, this time by the former state party chairman Eugene B. Crowe
.
The following year, Minton became a local commander of the American Legion
. The group had a large and active membership in the state at the time, and he used his position to encourage support of Democratic Party agenda. Paul McNutt was the national commander, and the two men became political allies. When McNutt became governor in 1930, he offered Minton a position at the head of a new utility regulation commission. As commissioner, Minton successfully imposed regulations that reduced state telephone bills by a combined total of $525,000. The cuts received widespread media coverage, and Minton was credited in the reports with the success.
in 1934. At the state Democratic Party Convention he ran against Earl Peters, a former chairman of the state party. With the support of McNutt, Minton won the nomination on the third ballot with 827 votes to Peters' 586.
Minton launched a statewide campaign in August 1934 and began delivering speeches in defense of the New Deal
. He blamed Republicans for the conditions of the Great Depression
. His opponent, incumbent Republican Senator Arthur R. Robinson
, accused Minton of playing "Santa Claus" by trying to give everyone "presents". He also criticized Minton's support of the New Deal, which Robinson and Republicans called unconstitutional. Minton's initial campaign slogan was "You can't offer a hungry man the Constitution", a slogan he unveiled in a debate with Robinson in Corydon
on August 11. He continued using the slogan, and on September 11, Minton delivered his infamous "You Cannot Eat the Constitution" speech,The speech was so named by newspapers who printed excerpts. In the speech Minton stated, "You cannot walk up to a hungry man today and say, 'Here have a Constitution'," and "you can't expect a farmer to dig himself out his debts with a Constitution." He finished his speech with. "let us keep our priorities realistic; in times like these the needs of the people take precedence over all else." (see: Radcliff, p. 40) in which he concluded the urgent needs of the masses outweighed the need to uphold the constitution. The speech backfired wildly and papers and opponents across the state called Minton's remarks traitorous. Minton stopped using the slogan and explained his position again using new terms, but his opponents continued to dog him over the issue. The Republicans also faulted popular governor McNutt and his reorganization of the government, and McNutt became more personally involved in the election. With the state party's more direct involvement, Minton won the election with fifty-two percent of the vote.
Minton took his Senate seat in January 1935. As a freshman, he sat in the back row of the chamber next to fellow freshman Harry Truman, and the pair quickly became friends. Minton was made a member of a special Lobby Investigation Committee
chaired by Senator Hugo Black
, that was set up to look into questionable lobbyist groups. According to professor of political science
Linda C. Gugin
, a Minton biographer, in practice the committee's investigations were politically motivated and directed against groups that were challenging New Deal legislation.
William Randolph Hearst
, a prominent and wealthy media magnate, began using his newspapers to deride the committee's "reckless attacks on freedom". Minton led the effort to counter Hearst and delivered a speech criticizing his support of the Republican Party. In 1937, Senator Black was appointed to the Supreme Court and left the Senate, and Minton secured his post as chair of the committee. Minton immediately began a full scale investigation of the media conglomerate controlled by Frank E. Gannett, accusing him of publishing Republican Party propaganda. For several weeks, Minton delivered speeches against Gannett in the Senate, and Gannett responded in kind in his newspapers. Minton finally introduced legislation that would have made it "illegal to publish information known to be false". Gannett, and a large number of allies in newspapers and on radio, immediately began to charge Minton and the Democratic Party with an assault on the freedom of the press. Minton's allies in Congress asked him to withdraw the bill because of its political repercussions, and he dropped the matter.
Minton tried again to expose what he believed to be Republican control of the media. He led the committee to target a newspaper with national circulation, Rural Progress. Minton accused the publishers of improperly accepting large sums of money from corporations and the editors of undue influence from this money. The owner of the paper, Maurive V. Renolds, was summoned before the committee for a hearing, where Minton demanded to know why he was accepting money from corporations. When Renolds asked his manager, Dr. Glen Frank, to help him answer the questions, Minton and fellow Democratic senators began to shout Dr. Frank down. As he was saying that the money from the corporations was for advertising in the magazine, Minton beat his gavel and yelled, "This committee doesn't intend to permit you to use this as a forum to air your Republican views."
Minton did not realize that Frank was also president of the University of Wisconsin, and soon suffered retaliation for the way he had treated Frank. Frank went on NBC
radio stations around the country and lambasted Minton for his rudeness. He made lengthy arguments accusing Minton of attempting to violate the Bill of Rights
. Minton was outraged, but the arguments had an effect among voters in Indiana. In 1938, he sought funding to launch a massive nationwide investigation of media conglomerates for proof of Republican interference in the press. Democratic Senator Edward R. Burke
led an effort to defeat the measure and privately accused Minton of damaging the Democrats' cause, which led Minton to leave the Lobby Investigation Committee.
Minton was a fierce partisan during his time in the Senate, and regularly abused his opponents verbally. Democratic Senator Huey Long
became one of Minton's favorite targets because of Long's often-threatened filibuster
s. During one of the filibusters, Long threatened to join the Republican Party. After most senators had left the chamber, Minton remained for several hours to periodically taunt Long. After tiring of the taunts, Long launched a rebuttal from the podium, calling Minton a vicious politician whose positions would cost Minton re-election. The exchange was unusual for its tone and later made national news.
Minton was involved in many such exchanges, including a particularly fierce one with Republican Senator Lester J. Dickinson
in March 1936. Dickinson delivered a speech in the Senate castigating President Franklin D. Roosevelt
for carrying out what he termed illegal and unconstitutional acts. Minton responded with a range of accusations, some personal, against Dickinson and his "political naivety".
of 1933 unconstitutional. For the first time, Minton gave speeches criticizing the court for overriding the will of Congress. He accused the court of allowing itself to be influenced by political motives rather than the law. In response to the court ruling, Minton began drafting a bill which would allow the Supreme Court to declare a law unconstitutional only if seven out the nine justices supported the decision. In February 1937, before Minton introduced his bill, President Roosevelt introduced a plan of his own to deal with the Supreme Court. Roosevelt proposed adding more justices to the court and creating a mandatory retirement age; the changes would allow him to appoint an overwhelming majority to the court who be more sympathetic to his agenda, ensuring the safety of legislation passed by his party.
Minton was pleased with Roosevelt's bill and quickly became its leading supporter in the Senate. The measure was placed in an omnibus bill
that was designed to reform judicial salaries and districting, among many other measures. Republicans quickly discovered the court packing provision and targeted the bill. Democrats had overwhelming super-majorities in Congress, and passage of the bill at first seemed assured. Minton's support of the bill helped him earn the position of Senate majority whip, allowing him to more effectively push for its passage. Minton delivered six radio addresses on behalf of his party in support of the bill, but public opinion could not be swayed in the Democrats' favor.
Minton received a death threat in the form of an envelope containing a shotgun shell and a message advising him to not vote for the court packing plan. Many Democrats, fearing their re-election prospects, joined with Republicans and defeated the bill. Minton was unhappy with the loss and it cost him considerable support among his voters, but as a result of his close connection with the bill and the leaders of his party, he gained more influence with the Democrats.
Although Minton supported the Roosevelt administration and became a regular guest at the White House, Minton did oppose the president on some measures. He voted to override a presidential veto of a grant of $2.5 billion USD ($ billion in 2010 dollars) in bonus pay for World War I soldiers (Bonus Army
). He supported the Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill
, which Roosevelt feared would cost the party support in the southern states. He also supported an extension of the Hatch Act of 1939
, a law that prevented federal employees from being forced to take part in state election campaigns, effectively lessening the influence of federal patronage.
As World War II neared, Minton took a cautious position on United States involvement. When the Soviet Union
invaded Finland
, Minton voted against granting a loan to Finland to help finance its defense efforts. He also opposed selling munitions and weapons to the Allies
or the Axis powers. He advocated and supported expanding the American military and believed that American entry into the war was inevitable, but should be delayed as long as possible. He voted in favor of the Smith Act
, which made it a crime to advocate the overthrow of the government, a law specifically targeted at communists and fascists in the United States. In his final year in office, there was considerable speculation in the press that Minton would be named to higher office by Roosevelt, including cabinet positions and the Supreme Court, but the speculations did not prove true.
machine's support in his re-election bid.
The Republican presidential candidate, Wendell Wilkie, was also a native of Indiana, and Minton faced a difficult challenge to win re-election. He referred to Wilkie as a "sycophant for the rich and famous". Wilkie never responded to Minton's taunts, leaving Minton's opponent in the Senate race, Raymond E. Willis
, to respond to Minton's charges. Willis had run for the Senate two years earlier but was defeated by Democrat Frederick Van Nuys
. Willis faulted Minton on a range of topics but focused on the legislation Minton supported while in the Senate. Willis claimed that much of the legislation was unconstitutional and Minton's positions were detrimental to the nation. Minton responded by pointing out Willis's connections to wealthy corporations and accused him of not caring for the people. Minton's campaign focused on the achievements of the New Deal programs. He claimed farm income in Indiana had doubled since 1932, and highlighted the passage of the Old Age Pension laws. His support for conscription and military preparedness for the coming war proved unpopular with voters and cost him considerable support, but according to historian William Radcliff it was Wilkie's favorite son
status, which led many Hoosiers to vote Republican, that proved to be the election's deciding factor. Despite Minton's heavy campaigning, he lost the close election to Willis by 5,179 votes out of over 1.5 million cast.
Roosevelt won the 1940 presidential election
. After Minton left office in March 1941, he was given a position in the Roosevelt administration as a reward for his loyalty during the court packing failure. He served as one of the president's advisers and a liaison between the White House and Congress. The extent of his duties is not fully known; Linda Gugin has speculated that he may have managed Roosevelt's patronage system. Minton was responsible for getting several officials appointed to high offices in the federal bureaucracy and numerous others appointed to lower ranking positions. He also convinced Roosevelt to support the creation of a Senate defense committee chaired by Truman, a position that brought Truman into the national spotlight and helped him gain the vice presidency.
. The nomination received minimal news coverage, and Minton was confirmed unanimously by the Senate on May 12. Minton resigned from his post in the administration, but even after he began working on the court, Minton remained active in Democratic politics behind the scenes and was in regular correspondence with Roosevelt to make patronage suggestions.
Minton was sworn in on May 29, but the court was in recess at the time. He took his seat when it returned to session on October 7. The court had the highest court load of all the appellate courts in the nation at that time, averaging 40 cases per judge annually. The men on the court were close friends, and Minton developed a particularly close friendship with Judge J. Earl Major
; Major offered Minton financial assistance during his later illnesses. Major had been on the court for several years and held a judicial philosophy similar to Minton's. The two men regularly attended baseball games and were frequent guests in each other's homes.
World War II broke out shortly after Minton joined the court, creating a flood of cases in which legal precedent provided little guidance, including challenges to wartime measures, selective service laws, price controls, rationing and civil liberties. In the majority of these cases, the court affirmed the decisions of the district courts, but in several the court was required to establish a precedent. Minton stated on several occasions his personal preference to affirm the decisions of the lower courts. He believed that the court that heard the case and pronounced judgment was generally able to make a decision that was superior to appellate courts' decisions. He believed the appellate process should be reserved for the more serious cases and cases where the lower court had clearly made a mistake.
During his time on the Seventh Circuit, Minton authored 253 of the court's opinions, including twelve dissenting opinions. Some of his opinions won praise; the editors of Tax Magazine commented favorably on Minton's opinions on tax law, calling them "direct Hoosier logic". Other court reporting papers made similar comments, applauding the manner in which he turned complex issues to simple questions that could easily be understood.
In the case of Sunkist v. Sunkist and Quaker Oats Co. v. General Mills, the court created a long standing precedent in their decision making it possible for different companies to use the same brand and product name as long as they produced dissimilar products. In another case, the court set a short-lived precedent allowing companies to artificially raise prices in local markets if the purpose was to artificially lower prices in another market to remain competitive. After Minton joined the U.S. Supreme Court, the decision was appealed to that body; Minton recused himself from the case, which the court decided to overturn. In another decision, Minton was in the majority that ruled under the Sherman Antitrust Act
that the New York Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company was a monopoly, ordering the company to break up its grocery business. Minton was also in the majority in several cases filed to enforce decisions made by the National Labor Relations Board
, usually to end worker strikes.
In the case of United States v. Knauer, the government was denying the wife of a United States citizen entry into the country because of her possible ties to Nazism. In a much criticized majority opinion which Minton co-authored with Judge Major, he stated that the "alien did not have any legal right—[her] status was a political decision to be made by officials in government." Many liberals condemned the court at the time of the decision. The case ruling was upheld by the Supreme Court in a 1946 appeal.
One of Minton's favorite cases was that of Modernistic Candies, Inc. v. Federal Trade Commission. The candy company produced a one-cent gumball dispenser in which almost all the gumballs were the same color. A few different-colored gumballs were included which, when dispensed, entitled the purchaser to a prize from the merchant who owned the machine. The FTC had an injunction put in place barring the company from producing the machines because they claimed it violated anti-gambling laws. Minton wrote the majority opinion and sided with the majority to keep the injunction in place, but dryly mocked the counsel for the defense and the gambling law, stating:
Minton often lamented that he was required to "pronounce the law as it was written, but on no occasion [c]ould he make the law."
Clemency Board, a panel of judges charged with overseeing reviews of decisions made by the courts-martial. The panel met every two weeks which, along with his responsibilities on the circuit court, kept Minton very busy and afforded him little rest, leading to a deterioration in his health. While yachting with President Truman on Memorial Day
in 1945, Truman asked Minton to accept an appointment to the position of Solicitor General of the United States. Minton declined because of his health, but he told Truman he would be interested in a seat on the Supreme Court.
In September 1945, Minton suffered a heart attack while in Washington; he was hospitalized for three months at Walter Reed Hospital. After returning to work, he was forced to rest regularly due to gradually worsening anemia
, and he sought to lessen his workload. To further complicate his health, on August 5, 1949, Minton tripped over a stone in his yard and broke his leg. The injury forced him to walk with a cane for the remainder of his life.
News of Minton's appointment received mixed reviews nationally. The New York Times
said that Truman had allowed personal and political friendship to influence his choice. The New Republic
said "the President is again reverting to his deplorable habit of choosing men for high post because they happen to be his friends...". The Washington Post raised questions about Minton's ability to be confirmed by the Senate due to the power many of his foes held in the body. The Indianapolis Star offered a more sympathetic opinion, pointing out Minton's qualifications and the pride Indiana could take in having a native on the Supreme Court. The article noted that he would be the most educated justice on the court, should he be confirmed.
Indiana Senator William E. Jenner
led opponents of Minton's nomination, including some of Minton's old foes, in an attempt to bring him before the body for hearings. Minton wrote a letter to the Senate Judicial Committee answering several of their questions, but refused to submit himself to a hearing. He mentioned his broken leg and hinted in his letter that it could be detrimental to his health to travel in his condition. He also stated that, as a sitting judge and former member of the Senate, it would be improper for him submit to a hearing. Although hearings had occurred irregularly in the past, it was not customary at that time to have a hearing on a nominee. During an absence of Jenners, Minton's allies worked to have the hearing request dropped and the Judicial Committee sent the measure to the full Senate in a vote of 9 to 2. Senator Homer Ferguson attempted to have the nomination returned to committee but the motion failed, 45–21. The long debate over Minton's appointment focused on his partisanship, support of the court packing plan during his time in the Senate, and poor health. His opponents launched numerous delaying tactics; the Senate session before the vote to confirm Minton lasted until midnight. His confirmation was approved 48-16 on October 3. , Minton remains the last member of Congress, sitting or former, to be appointed to the United States Supreme Court, and he is the only native of Indiana to be appointed to the court.Chief Justice John G. Roberts is the only other Supreme Court Justice from Indiana, but was not born in the state. See Demographics of the Supreme Court of the United States.
of legislation. He continued to take a broad view of governmental powers, demonstrated in his dissenting opinion in the case ofYoungstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer
, which ruled unconstitutional President Truman's wartime seizure of several steel mills to avert a workers' strike. Of all the cases in which Minton was involved, he disagreed most with the Youngstown decision and "went into a tirade" during the conference where the decision was made. He argued that there "could be no vacant spot in power when the security of the nation is at stake." Despite his strong protest, he could not influence the Court to permit the president to seize the plants without congressional approval. Minton joined with Chief Justice Fred M. Vinson
and Justice Stanley Forman Reed
in the dissenting opinion that the President had the authority through the war powers clause
of the constitution.
Minton abhorred racial segregation and provided a solid vote to strike down the school segregation practices at issue in 1954's landmark case of Brown v. Board of Education
; it was among the few decisions in which he sided against the government. According to William Radcliff, the majority opinion authored by Minton in the 1953 case Barrows v. Jackson was his most skillfully written opinion. He framed the complex question of the case as: "Can a racially restrictive covenant be enforced at law by a suit for damages against a co-covenantor who allegedly broke the covenant?" The Court decided the answer in the negative.
In the area of civil liberties, Minton adhered to the doctrine of "fundamental fairness
", a test established by the Supreme Court in 1937. In one decision, Minton stated that the right of free speech
was not an absolute right, and could be regulated so as not to violate the rights of others. In United States v. Rabinowitz, Minton wrote the Court's opinion upholding a lower court ruling which allowed police to search automobiles without a warrant, provided there was probable cause to justify the search.
Minton voted to uphold anti-communist legislation during the period of the "red scare", siding with the majority in 1951's Dennis v. United States
, which upheld the conviction of the leader of the U.S. Communist Party
. During the same period, the Court was split over the legality of governmental loyalty tests. Many agencies had programs in place to ensure members of the government were not communists. Minton's vote proved to be the deciding factor in cases regarding loyalty tests. In the case of Bailey v. Richardson, Minton's vote upheld the legality of the loyalty tests,In the case of Bailey v. Richardson the Court made a split decision resulting in the upholding of the lower Court's ruling by default. (see: Gugin (1997), p. 229) while in the decision he authored in the case of Joint Anti-Fascist Refugee Committee v. McGrath, he voted to uphold the plaintiff's position that he had been terminated illegally because of his support of fascist ideology. Minton's position gradually shifted to allowing the loyalty tests to take place, and in Adler v. Board of Ed. of City of New York he wrote the majority opinion allowing the tests and upholding New York's Feinberg Law.In the decisions in Adler v. Board of Ed. of City of New York, Minton wrote, "From time immemorial, one's reputation has been determined in part by the company he keeps. In the employment of officials and teachers of the school system, the state may very properly inquire into the company they keep, and we know of no rule, constitutional or otherwise, that prevents the state, when determining the fitness and loyalty of such persons, from considering the organizations and persons with whom they associate." (See: ) This proved to be the most important vote as it allowed the tests to be given with only minimal suspicion of a person's disloyalty to the government.
Because of Minton's previous Congressional partisanship, many liberals believed he would support their positions when on the Court. Throughout his tenure, Minton regularly disappointed them, leading many to rail against him. A lawyer writing for the New Jersey Law Journal labeled Minton a "spokesman against freedom", calling him "a man of conspicuous judicial shortcomings, whose votes against civil liberties exceeded those of any other man on the Court, and who wrote comparatively few opinions of other kinds." Linda Gugin pointed out that Minton was a disappointment to liberals because he consistently chose order over freedom. Gugin also concludes that Minton had the strongest commitment to judicial restraint and ideological neutrality of any justice, past or present.
and Hugo Black, referring to Black as a demagogue. He also offered advice on dealing with Republican opposition in the Senate. In a 1954 letter, after Truman left office, he urged Truman to help focus public attention on the economy and away from communism, a threat he claimed the Republicans were exaggerating to avoid confronting their own problems.
After Truman's withdrawal from the 1952 presidential campaign
, Minton made remarks indicating he had advised Truman to stay out of the contested New Hampshire primary election to begin with. In August 1956, a reporter asked Minton about his preferred candidate in the upcoming presidential election. Minton answered, "I have great confidence in Adlai Stevenson." He also remarked that Dwight D. Eisenhower
was politically handicapped. Minton was lambasted in the media for his endorsement, which he attempted to retract a few days later after being advised to do so by other members of the Court.
. Empirical coding of votes shows that Minton was the most conservative justice on the Court during his first year, and remained in the conservative half of the court for the duration of his career.
Minton did not enjoy the limited influence of his judicial role in the later years of his term, when he was more frequently in the minority in voting on cases. After the deaths of Chief Justice Fred M. Vinson and Justice Robert Jackson, Minton found himself with little support for many of his opinions, which led him to begin considering retirement.
The shifting position of the Court led to personal animosity between members of its two wings. Despite his disappointment over the Court's positions on some issues, Minton remained popular among his colleagues on the Court as he didn't take sides in their personal disagreements; he proved a soothing presence during a period marked by bitter personal feuds between strong personalities such as William O. Douglas
and Felix Frankfurter.
Minton informed Eisenhower of his intention to retire in a letter on September 7, 1956, in which he dryly stated his retirement was authorized by law. Eisenhower responded with a brief note wishing him a happy retirement. Although he did not tell the president, Minton informed the members of the Court that his duties were too taxing on his health. His anemia had steadily worsened, slowing him physically and mentally. Minton served as a Justice until October 15, 1956, retiring after 7 years and 3 days of service. He was succeeded by William J. Brennan, Jr.
Minton returned to his New Albany home, where he took a much lighter workload. He gave occasional lectures at Indiana University and continued to give public speeches from time to time. For several years after retiring from the Supreme Court, Minton occasionally accepted assignments to serve temporarily on one of the lower federal courts. He received an honorary doctorate degree from the University of Louisville
. He took many trips around the United States, and two trips to Europe. In England, he received an honorary doctorate from Oxford University in 1956.
Despite his failing health, Minton remained active in the Democratic Party. He was most concerned with President Eisenhower, who he believed was incompetent. He remained in regular correspondence with Truman, and the two met on several occasions at Democratic Party functions.
. He died in his sleep early in the morning of April 9. Minton's wife was Catholic; his funeral was held at Holy Trinity Catholic Church and was attended by many dignitaries, including several sitting members of the Supreme Court, the governors of Indiana and Kentucky
, and several members of Congress. He was buried in the Holy Trinity Cemetery adjacent to the church. Minton himself was nominally Catholic and had shunned Christianity for most of his life; he only began to occasionally attend mass
following his retirement. He left most of his personal papers and judicial records to the Truman Presidential Library.Four linear feet of Sherman Minton's papers are on deposit there. Various other papers are collected at a number of libraries around the country. Resources, research aids and bibliography, Sherman Minton, Federal Judicial Center
. According to Sherman Minton, Jr., Minton's wife destroyed most of Minton's communications with Truman because she believed they were "undignified and occasionally profane." (See: Stewart, Margaret M., p. 304)
Minton is the eponym
of the Sherman Minton Bridge
, which carries Interstate 64
across the Ohio River
, connecting western Louisville, Kentucky
with New Albany, Indiana
. Minton attended the dedication of the bridge at a 1962 ceremony. He is also the namesake of the annual Sherman Minton Moot Court Competition, held at the Indiana University Maurer School of Law. He is also honored (with Indiana Senator Homer E. Capehart
) — in the "Brutalist
" style designed by Woollen, Molzan and Partners
and with architectural art by Milton Glaser
— in the centrally located Minton-Capehart Federal Building on Indiana World War Memorial Plaza
in Indianapolis
. A bronze bust of Minton was created and put on display in the Indiana Statehouse.
While some writers like Linda Gugin and legal historian William Radcliff have given high praise to Minton's logic in his written opinions, they point out that his positions had little long term impact. Other legal historians, like Bernard Schwartz, have more negative opinion of Minton's judicial career. Schwartz wrote that Minton "was below mediocrity as a Justice. His opinions, relatively few for his tenure, are less than third rate, characterized by their cavalier approach to complicated issues." Schwartz went on to say, "he ranks near the bottom of any list of Justices." Most of the precedents Minton helped establish were overturned by the Warren Court in the years immediately following his retirement. In total he wrote sixty-seven majority opinions along with several of the dissenting opinions. Gugin authored a work in rebuttal to Schwartz's harsh critique, saying that Minton's rulings were "predictable based on the principles of deference, precedent, and strict interpretation"; she attributed his poor ranking to the bias of reviewers in favor of judicial activism.
Minton's time on the court marked the end of a transitory period in the judiciary. Since Minton, justices have tended to serve increasingly longer terms on the court, which has had strong political science implications on the Supreme Court. The growing concept of judicial non-partisanship became the norm in American politics after Minton—he was the last member of Congress of be appointed to the court. Linda Gugin and Professor James St. Clair have noted that the federal courts have lost a valuable point of view by not having experienced legislators among their ranks.
Minton played an important role behind the scenes of the Court as a peacemaker between its two opposing factions. These attempts to keep the peace led Justice Frankfurter to remark that while Minton would never be remembered as a great justice, he would be remembered as a great colleague by his fellow justices.
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
United States Senator
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
from Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
and an Associate Justice
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States are the members of the Supreme Court of the United States other than the Chief Justice of the United States...
of the Supreme Court of the United States
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
. He was the most educated justice during his time on the Supreme Court, having attended Indiana University
Indiana University
Indiana University is a multi-campus public university system in the state of Indiana, United States. Indiana University has a combined student body of more than 100,000 students, including approximately 42,000 students enrolled at the Indiana University Bloomington campus and approximately 37,000...
, Yale and the Sorbonne
Sorbonne
The Sorbonne is an edifice of the Latin Quarter, in Paris, France, which has been the historical house of the former University of Paris...
. He had served as a captain in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, then launched a legal and political career. In 1930, after multiple failed election attempts, and serving as a regional leader in the American Legion
American Legion
The American Legion is a mutual-aid organization of veterans of the United States armed forces chartered by the United States Congress. It was founded to benefit those veterans who served during a wartime period as defined by Congress...
, he became a utility commissioner under the administration of Indiana Governor
Governor of Indiana
The Governor of Indiana is the chief executive of the state of Indiana. The governor is elected to a four-year term, and responsible for overseeing the day-to-day management of the functions of many agencies of the Indiana state government. The governor also shares power with other statewide...
Paul V. McNutt
Paul V. McNutt
Paul Vories McNutt was an American politician who served as the 34th Governor of Indiana during the Great Depression, high commissioner to the Philippines, administrator of the Federal Security Agency, chairman of the War Manpower Commission and ambassador to the Philippines.-Family and...
.
In 1934, Minton was elected to the United States Senate. During the campaign, he defended New Deal
New Deal
The New Deal was a series of economic programs implemented in the United States between 1933 and 1936. They were passed by the U.S. Congress during the first term of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The programs were Roosevelt's responses to the Great Depression, and focused on what historians call...
legislation in a series of addresses in which he suggested it was not necessary to uphold the Constitution
United States Constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It is the framework for the organization of the United States government and for the relationship of the federal government with the states, citizens, and all people within the United States.The first three...
during the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
crisis. Minton's campaign was denounced by his political opponents, and he received more widespread criticism for an address that became known as the "You Cannot Eat the Constitution" speech. As part of the New Deal Coalition
New Deal coalition
The New Deal Coalition was the alignment of interest groups and voting blocs that supported the New Deal and voted for Democratic presidential candidates from 1932 until the late 1960s. It made the Democratic Party the majority party during that period, losing only to Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1952...
, the fiercely partisan Minton championed President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Franklin D. Roosevelt's unsuccessful court packing plans in the Senate and became one of his top Senate allies.
After Minton failed in his 1940 Senate re-election bid, Roosevelt appointed him as a judge to the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the courts in the following districts:* Central District of Illinois* Northern District of Illinois...
. After Roosevelt's death, President Harry Truman
Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman was the 33rd President of the United States . As President Franklin D. Roosevelt's third vice president and the 34th Vice President of the United States , he succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, when President Roosevelt died less than three months after beginning his...
, who had developed a close friendship with Minton during their time together in the Senate, nominated him to the Supreme Court, where he served for seven years. An advocate of judicial restraint
Judicial restraint
Judicial restraint is a theory of judicial interpretation that encourages judges to limit the exercise of their own power. It asserts that judges should hesitate to strike down laws unless they are obviously unconstitutional...
, Minton was a regular supporter of the majority opinions during his early years on the Court; he became a regular dissenter
Dissenting opinion
A dissenting opinion is an opinion in a legal case written by one or more judges expressing disagreement with the majority opinion of the court which gives rise to its judgment....
after President Dwight Eisenhower's appointees altered the Bench's composition. In 1956, poor health forced Minton's retirement, after which he traveled and lectured until his death in 1965.
Historians note the unusual contrast between his role as a partisan liberal Senator and his role as a conservative jurist. They attribute his shift in position as a reaction to the relationship between the New Deal senators and the conservative 1930s Court, which ruled much of the New Deal legislation unconstitutional. When Minton became a Supreme Court Justice, the Senate had become more conservative and the Court more activist, causing him to support conservative minority positions. As a Justice, Minton frequently played the role of peace-maker and consensus builder during a period when the Court was riven with feuds. He generally ruled in favor of order over freedom as a result of his broad interpretation of governmental powers. These rulings and their limited impact lead some historians to have a negative opinion of his judicial record. Other historians point out Minton's strong commitment to his judicial principles as a valuable attribute. In 1962, the Sherman Minton Bridge
Sherman Minton Bridge
The Sherman Minton Bridge is a double-deck through arch bridge spanning the Ohio River, carrying I-64 and US 150 over the river between Kentucky and Indiana. The bridge connects the west side of Louisville, Kentucky to downtown New Albany, Indiana.- History :...
in southern IndianaOn September 9, 2011, the bridge was closed down by the 49th and current Governor
Governor of Indiana
The Governor of Indiana is the chief executive of the state of Indiana. The governor is elected to a four-year term, and responsible for overseeing the day-to-day management of the functions of many agencies of the Indiana state government. The governor also shares power with other statewide...
Mitch Daniels
Mitch Daniels
Mitchell Elias "Mitch" Daniels, Jr. is the 49th and current Governor of the U.S. state of Indiana. A Republican, he began his first four-year term as governor on January 10, 2005, and was elected to his second term by an 18-point margin on November 4, 2008. Previously, he was the Director of the...
after construction crews found cracks in the main load bearing structural element. Five to seven cracks have been discovered welded areas in a load-bearing steel beam. "The fissures were discovered in a type of steel frequently used in the 1950s and 1960s that is now known to be susceptible to cracking. ..." Repairs are expected to cost $20 million dollars and take six months. and the Minton-Capehart Federal Building in Indianapolis
Indianapolis
Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...
were named in his honor.
Family and background
Sherman Minton was born on October 20, 1890, to John Evan and Emma Livers Minton in their GeorgetownGeorgetown, Floyd County, Indiana
Georgetown is a town in Floyd County, Indiana, United States. The population was 2,876 at the 2010 census.-Notable people:*R. Carlyle Buley, who was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for History in 1951, was born in Georgetown on July 8, 1893...
, Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
, home. He was the third of the family's five children and was nicknamed Shay because of his younger brother's inability to properly pronounce "Sherman". Minton's paternal grandfather, Jonathan Minton, was killed during the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
and his father grew up on his own. Minton's parents married in 1883.
Minton received his basic education in a two-room schoolhouse in Georgetown, which he attended through eighth grade. He was exposed to politics from an early age; his father took him to several political rallies, including an 1895 speech by Democratic Party leader William Jennings Bryan
William Jennings Bryan
William Jennings Bryan was an American politician in the late-19th and early-20th centuries. He was a dominant force in the liberal wing of the Democratic Party, standing three times as its candidate for President of the United States...
. His father was a day laborer for the New Albany and St. Louis Air Line Railway
Air Line Railroad
An air-line railroad was a railroad that was relatively flat and straight, choosing a shorter route over an easier route. In their heyday, which was prior to aviation, they were often referred to simply as "air lines." For example, a 1903 novel indicates a character's success by noting his position...
. In 1898, he became disabled when he suffered heat stroke while working. His condition meant he could not work; the family became impoverished and had to subsist on the limited yield of their small farm. Minton's mother developed breast cancer in 1899. A traveling doctor attempted to remove her tumors in April 1900, performing the operation with her laid on the family dinner table, but she died during the procedure. The death was an emotional blow to Minton; thereafter, he refused to attend church and spoke against God, whom he blamed for his mother's death. Minton's father married Sarah Montague on December 3, 1901.
As Minton grew older, he was frequently in trouble with the people in his neighborhood. In 1904, he was arrested for disregarding a town ordinance forbidding bicyclists to ride on the sidewalk. He was taken before a justice of the peace
Justice of the Peace
A justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...
and fined three dollars, an incident he later credited with changing his outlook on life and sparking his desire to become a lawyer. To accomplish that goal, and continue supporting his family, he traveled with his older brother Herbert to Fort Worth, Texas
Fort Worth, Texas
Fort Worth is the 16th-largest city in the United States of America and the fifth-largest city in the state of Texas. Located in North Central Texas, just southeast of the Texas Panhandle, the city is a cultural gateway into the American West and covers nearly in Tarrant, Parker, Denton, and...
, to take a job at the Swift and Company meat packing plant. His father and younger siblings soon joined him in Texas after the two brothers' income was able to cover their expenses. After saving enough money to help establish the family in a new home, Minton returned to Indiana to attend high school, leaving his family in Texas.
Education
Minton started at Edwardsville High School in 1905, aged fourteen. The following year the school was consolidated with nearby New Albany High SchoolNew Albany High School (Indiana)
Founded in 1853, New Albany High School is one of the oldest public high schools west of the Alleghenies and the first in Indiana. New Albany High School has the first rastafarian-run FM radio station to be licensed by the Federal Communications Commission and has had their own cable TV channel ...
. There, he participated in the football, baseball, and track teams. He founded the school's first debate club, the Wranglers, which won several awards. He worked in a local arcade, and during summer vacations returned to Fort Worth to work at the Swift plant. He was briefly expelled from school after committing a prank in February 1908.Minton was dating a girl who was participating in singing competition at the school. While her other competitors were singing Minton shouted "Hurrah for our side" from his seat. After doing so repeatedly a teacher discovered from whom the exclamation was coming and suspended him from the school. (see: Radcliff, p. 16) The school was under the guidance of the innovative Superintendent Charles Allen Prosser
Charles Allen Prosser
Charles Allen Prosser was the Father of Vocational Education in the United States and the architect of the 1917 Smith-Hughes Act. His mission in life was to help improve the education of American children.- Biography :...
, who only let Minton return after he formally apologized before the entire school a week later. Minton began dating Gertrude Gurtz in his senior year, and the two remained in regular correspondence after he left for college. He graduated high school at the top of his class in 1910.
Minton was intent on attending college; during the summer of 1910, he took a job as a Swift Company salesman in the Fort Worth area to help pay his way. He returned to Indiana and enrolled at Indiana University
Indiana University
Indiana University is a multi-campus public university system in the state of Indiana, United States. Indiana University has a combined student body of more than 100,000 students, including approximately 42,000 students enrolled at the Indiana University Bloomington campus and approximately 37,000...
in September 1911, taking enough classes to complete his first three years of courses in two years. Despite the heavy workload, he joined the school's baseball and debate teams, and participated in the campus' Jackson Club, an organization for Democrats. His college years were formative and had significant influence on his future political career. He became friends with future Governor of Indiana
Governor of Indiana
The Governor of Indiana is the chief executive of the state of Indiana. The governor is elected to a four-year term, and responsible for overseeing the day-to-day management of the functions of many agencies of the Indiana state government. The governor also shares power with other statewide...
Paul V. McNutt
Paul V. McNutt
Paul Vories McNutt was an American politician who served as the 34th Governor of Indiana during the Great Depression, high commissioner to the Philippines, administrator of the Federal Security Agency, chairman of the War Manpower Commission and ambassador to the Philippines.-Family and...
, future presidential candidate Wendell L. Willkie, and several other men who later became influential in the state.Wendell Wilkie was also in the debating club, and Minton and Wilkie debated each other on several occasions. (see: Radcliff, p. 20) During his second year he ran out of money, but could not return to Texas to earn more because of his class schedule. He lodged in the Phi Delta Theta
Phi Delta Theta
Phi Delta Theta , also known as Phi Delt, is an international fraternity founded at Miami University in 1848 and headquartered in Oxford, Ohio. Phi Delta Theta, Beta Theta Pi, and Sigma Chi form the Miami Triad. The fraternity has about 169 active chapters and colonies in over 43 U.S...
(ΦΔΘ) international fraternity
Fraternities and sororities
Fraternities and sororities are fraternal social organizations for undergraduate students. In Latin, the term refers mainly to such organizations at colleges and universities in the United States, although it is also applied to analogous European groups also known as corporations...
house and subsisted mostly on wild berries, leftover bread from the cafeteria and free milk. He completed undergraduate school at the top of his class in 1913 and moved to Benjamin Harrison School of Law, now Indiana University School of Law.
Minton's placement at the top of his class entitled him to serve as librarian at the legal college. The position paid a fair salary and allowed him to live more comfortably for his last two years of school. He graduated from law school in 1915, again at the top of his class, and won a one-year scholarship to take post-graduate courses at Yale
Yale Law School
Yale Law School, or YLS, is the law school of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Established in 1824, it offers the J.D., LL.M., J.S.D. and M.S.L. degrees in law. It also hosts visiting scholars, visiting researchers and a number of legal research centers...
. There, he focused on studying constitutional law
Constitutional law
Constitutional law is the body of law which defines the relationship of different entities within a state, namely, the executive, the legislature and the judiciary....
and attended the regular lectures of former President of the United States and future Chief Justice of the United States
Chief Justice of the United States
The Chief Justice of the United States is the head of the United States federal court system and the chief judge of the Supreme Court of the United States. The Chief Justice is one of nine Supreme Court justices; the other eight are the Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States...
William Howard Taft
William Howard Taft
William Howard Taft was the 27th President of the United States and later the tenth Chief Justice of the United States...
. Taft remarked that Minton's post-graduate thesis was among the best he had ever read. Minton continued to improve his oratory skills and continued debating at Yale; he won the Wayland Club prize for extemporaneous public speaking, and helped organize the university’s legal aid society. He earned a post-graduate masters degree from Yale in 1916.
Legal career and WWI
In May 1916, Minton returned to New Albany, where he opened a law practice and renewed his relationship with Gurtz. He took several cases and gained experience working pro bonoPro bono
Pro bono publico is a Latin phrase generally used to describe professional work undertaken voluntarily and without payment or at a reduced fee as a public service. It is common in the legal profession and is increasingly seen in marketing, technology, and strategy consulting firms...
to assist the local county prosecutor. He joined the Chautauqua
Chautauqua
Chautauqua was an adult education movement in the United States, highly popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Chautauqua assemblies expanded and spread throughout rural America until the mid-1920s. The Chautauqua brought entertainment and culture for the whole community, with...
Lecture Circuit
Lyceum
The lyceum is a category of educational institution defined within the education system of many countries, mainly in Europe. The definition varies between countries; usually it is a type of secondary school.-History:...
, and traveled to several cities to give speeches. During one lecture circuit, he met William Jennings Bryan. The three-time Presidential candidate advised the young Hoosier
Hoosier
Hoosier is the official demonym for a resident of the U.S. state of Indiana. Although residents of most U.S. states typically adopt a derivative of the state name, e.g., "Indianan" or "Indianian", natives of Indiana rarely use these. Indiana adopted the nickname "Hoosier State" more than 150...
about politics, inspiring him to consider a career in public life.
In 1917, just after the United States declared war on Germany and entered World War I, Minton enlisted in the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
. He took an officers training course at Fort Benjamin Harrison
Fort Benjamin Harrison
Fort Benjamin Harrison was a U.S. Army post located in suburban Lawrence, Indiana, northeast of Indianapolis. It is named for the 23rd United States President, Benjamin Harrison. Land was purchased in 1903, with the post being officially named for President Harrison in honor of Indianapolis being...
in hope of earning a commission, but was not among the those chosen to become an officer. In August he was granted a brief leave of absence; he returned to New Albany, where he married Gurtz on August 11.Gertrude Gurtz (February 2, 1893 – June 4, 1982) was a native of Harrison County
Harrison County, Indiana
Harrison County is a county located in the far southern part of the U.S. state of Indiana along the Ohio River. It is divided into twelve townships, and the county seat is Corydon, the former capital of Indiana. The county is part of the larger Louisville/Jefferson County, KY–IN Metropolitan...
. She graduated from St. Mary's of the Woods
Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College
Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College is a Roman Catholic, four-year liberal arts women's college located northwest of Terre Haute, Indiana, between the Wabash River and the Illinois state line. There is also a small village of the same name located nearby...
in 1911 and was working as a school teacher at the time of the marriage. (see: Radcliff, p. 25) He returned to camp in September and requested to repeat his training course, still hoping to receive a commission; after finishing the training he was commissioned as a captain. The American Expeditionary Forces, Eighty-fourth Division, to which Minton belonged, was dispatched to France in July 1918. Minton and his unit served on the Western Front
Western Front (World War I)
Following the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the German Army opened the Western Front by first invading Luxembourg and Belgium, then gaining military control of important industrial regions in France. The tide of the advance was dramatically turned with the Battle of the Marne...
at Verdun, Soissons, and later protecting supply lines in Belgium. His unit was responsible for scouting
Reconnaissance
Reconnaissance is the military term for exploring beyond the area occupied by friendly forces to gain information about enemy forces or features of the environment....
roads to ensure safe transport of men and supplies to the front lines during most his time in the war, and he saw no combat.
When President Woodrow Wilson
Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913...
came to Paris in 1919
Paris Peace Conference, 1919
The Paris Peace Conference was the meeting of the Allied victors following the end of World War I to set the peace terms for the defeated Central Powers following the armistices of 1918. It took place in Paris in 1919 and involved diplomats from more than 32 countries and nationalities...
, Minton was in charge of a security detail guarding the negotiation hall and was able to meet Wilson. When the war ended, Minton remained briefly with the Army of Occupation in Germany before being discharged in August 1919. He chose to remain in Paris for several months to study Roman law
Roman law
Roman law is the legal system of ancient Rome, and the legal developments which occurred before the 7th century AD — when the Roman–Byzantine state adopted Greek as the language of government. The development of Roman law comprises more than a thousand years of jurisprudence — from the Twelve...
, international law
International law
Public international law concerns the structure and conduct of sovereign states; analogous entities, such as the Holy See; and intergovernmental organizations. To a lesser degree, international law also may affect multinational corporations and individuals, an impact increasingly evolving beyond...
, civil law
Civil law (common law)
Civil law, as opposed to criminal law, is the branch of law dealing with disputes between individuals or organizations, in which compensation may be awarded to the victim...
and jurisprudence
Jurisprudence
Jurisprudence is the theory and philosophy of law. Scholars of jurisprudence, or legal theorists , hope to obtain a deeper understanding of the nature of law, of legal reasoning, legal systems and of legal institutions...
in the Faculte de Droit at the Sorbonne
Sorbonne
The Sorbonne is an edifice of the Latin Quarter, in Paris, France, which has been the historical house of the former University of Paris...
. He returned home in March 1920. The first of Minton's three children, Sherman Jr.
Sherman A. Minton
Sherman Anthony Minton Jr. was a herpetologist and toxicologist, who conducted the earliest detailed modern studies of amphibians and reptiles in Pakistan. Born in New Albany, Indiana, he was the son of United States Senator and Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court Sherman Minton...
, was born while he was away. Minton's second son, John, and daughter, Maryanne, were born in 1921 and 1926, respectively.
Political career
When Minton returned home he reopened his law practice and decided to enter politics. He ran for office in Indiana's 3rd congressional districtIndiana's 3rd congressional district
Indiana's 3rd congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Indiana. Based in Fort Wayne, the district takes in the northeastern part of the state and includes Goshen....
, but lost the Democratic primary, despite significant campaigning and his war record. He lost to John Ewing
John Ewing (politician)
John Ewing was a member of the United States House of Representatives from Indiana.-Early life:He was born in County Cork, Ireland. As a child his family moved to the United States and settled in Baltimore, Maryland. In 1813 he moved to Vincennes, Indiana...
, 6,502 votes to 3,170, second place in a field of five candidates. After the loss, he briefly joined the Indiana law firm of Stonsenburg and Weathers, two politically active lawyers, before moving to Miami, Florida, where he joined another firm, Shutts & Bowen
Shutts & Bowen
Shutts & Bowen LLP is a Florida-based law firm with over 230 attorneys in six offices in the State of Florida and one office in Europe. Shutts & Bowen was founded in 1910. Frank B. Shutts came to Miami in 1909 and became the legal representative of Henry M. Flagler and the Florida East Coast...
. In January 1928, he left the Miami practice and returned to Stonsenburg and Weathers. He attempted to secure the Democratic nomination to run for Congress in 1930, but was again defeated, this time by the former state party chairman Eugene B. Crowe
Eugene B. Crowe
right|300px|thumb|Group of legislators leaves [[White House]] after asking [[Franklin Roosevelt]] for $80,000,000 for flood control in [[Ohio Valley]], March 7, 1938. front: l-r [[Joseph A. Dixon]], [[James G. Polk]], [[Eugene B. Crowe]], [[George William Johnson |G W Johnson]], [[Lawrence E....
.
The following year, Minton became a local commander of the American Legion
American Legion
The American Legion is a mutual-aid organization of veterans of the United States armed forces chartered by the United States Congress. It was founded to benefit those veterans who served during a wartime period as defined by Congress...
. The group had a large and active membership in the state at the time, and he used his position to encourage support of Democratic Party agenda. Paul McNutt was the national commander, and the two men became political allies. When McNutt became governor in 1930, he offered Minton a position at the head of a new utility regulation commission. As commissioner, Minton successfully imposed regulations that reduced state telephone bills by a combined total of $525,000. The cuts received widespread media coverage, and Minton was credited in the reports with the success.
Senate campaign
Becoming popular among the party leadership during his two years as commissioner, Minton was encouraged by party leaders to run for the United States SenateUnited States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
in 1934. At the state Democratic Party Convention he ran against Earl Peters, a former chairman of the state party. With the support of McNutt, Minton won the nomination on the third ballot with 827 votes to Peters' 586.
Minton launched a statewide campaign in August 1934 and began delivering speeches in defense of the New Deal
New Deal
The New Deal was a series of economic programs implemented in the United States between 1933 and 1936. They were passed by the U.S. Congress during the first term of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The programs were Roosevelt's responses to the Great Depression, and focused on what historians call...
. He blamed Republicans for the conditions of the Great Depression
Great Depression in the United States
The Great Depression began with the Wall Street Crash of October, 1929 and rapidly spread worldwide. The market crash marked the beginning of a decade of high unemployment, poverty, low profits, deflation, plunging farm incomes, and lost opportunities for economic growth and personal advancement...
. His opponent, incumbent Republican Senator Arthur R. Robinson
Arthur Raymond Robinson
Arthur Raymond Robinson was a United States Senator from Indiana.-Early life:Born in Pickerington, Ohio, Robinson attended the common schools, graduated from the Ohio Northern University in 1901, the Indiana University Law School at Indianapolis in 1910, and the University of Chicago in 1913...
, accused Minton of playing "Santa Claus" by trying to give everyone "presents". He also criticized Minton's support of the New Deal, which Robinson and Republicans called unconstitutional. Minton's initial campaign slogan was "You can't offer a hungry man the Constitution", a slogan he unveiled in a debate with Robinson in Corydon
Corydon, Indiana
Corydon is a town in Harrison Township, Harrison County, Indiana, United States, founded in 1808, and is known as Indiana's First State Capital. After Vincennes, Corydon was the second capital of the Indiana Territory from May 1, 1813, until December 11, 1816. After statehood, the town was the...
on August 11. He continued using the slogan, and on September 11, Minton delivered his infamous "You Cannot Eat the Constitution" speech,The speech was so named by newspapers who printed excerpts. In the speech Minton stated, "You cannot walk up to a hungry man today and say, 'Here have a Constitution'," and "you can't expect a farmer to dig himself out his debts with a Constitution." He finished his speech with. "let us keep our priorities realistic; in times like these the needs of the people take precedence over all else." (see: Radcliff, p. 40) in which he concluded the urgent needs of the masses outweighed the need to uphold the constitution. The speech backfired wildly and papers and opponents across the state called Minton's remarks traitorous. Minton stopped using the slogan and explained his position again using new terms, but his opponents continued to dog him over the issue. The Republicans also faulted popular governor McNutt and his reorganization of the government, and McNutt became more personally involved in the election. With the state party's more direct involvement, Minton won the election with fifty-two percent of the vote.
Lobby Investigation Committee
United States Senate Lobby Investigation Committee
The Senate Lobby Investigation Committee is a now defunct special committee that once operated within the United States Senate during the 1930s and 1940s with the purpose of investigating lobbyist activities...
chaired by Senator Hugo Black
Hugo Black
Hugo Lafayette Black was an American politician and jurist. A member of the Democratic Party, Black represented Alabama in the United States Senate from 1927 to 1937, and served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1937 to 1971. Black was nominated to the Supreme...
, that was set up to look into questionable lobbyist groups. According to professor of political science
Political science
Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...
Linda C. Gugin
Linda C. Gugin
Linda C. Gugin is a Professor of Political Science at Indiana University, active member of the Indiana Historical Society, and author and coauthor of many books related to legal history. She is a principal biographer of Sherman Minton.-References:...
, a Minton biographer, in practice the committee's investigations were politically motivated and directed against groups that were challenging New Deal legislation.
William Randolph Hearst
William Randolph Hearst
William Randolph Hearst was an American business magnate and leading newspaper publisher. Hearst entered the publishing business in 1887, after taking control of The San Francisco Examiner from his father...
, a prominent and wealthy media magnate, began using his newspapers to deride the committee's "reckless attacks on freedom". Minton led the effort to counter Hearst and delivered a speech criticizing his support of the Republican Party. In 1937, Senator Black was appointed to the Supreme Court and left the Senate, and Minton secured his post as chair of the committee. Minton immediately began a full scale investigation of the media conglomerate controlled by Frank E. Gannett, accusing him of publishing Republican Party propaganda. For several weeks, Minton delivered speeches against Gannett in the Senate, and Gannett responded in kind in his newspapers. Minton finally introduced legislation that would have made it "illegal to publish information known to be false". Gannett, and a large number of allies in newspapers and on radio, immediately began to charge Minton and the Democratic Party with an assault on the freedom of the press. Minton's allies in Congress asked him to withdraw the bill because of its political repercussions, and he dropped the matter.
Minton tried again to expose what he believed to be Republican control of the media. He led the committee to target a newspaper with national circulation, Rural Progress. Minton accused the publishers of improperly accepting large sums of money from corporations and the editors of undue influence from this money. The owner of the paper, Maurive V. Renolds, was summoned before the committee for a hearing, where Minton demanded to know why he was accepting money from corporations. When Renolds asked his manager, Dr. Glen Frank, to help him answer the questions, Minton and fellow Democratic senators began to shout Dr. Frank down. As he was saying that the money from the corporations was for advertising in the magazine, Minton beat his gavel and yelled, "This committee doesn't intend to permit you to use this as a forum to air your Republican views."
Minton did not realize that Frank was also president of the University of Wisconsin, and soon suffered retaliation for the way he had treated Frank. Frank went on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
radio stations around the country and lambasted Minton for his rudeness. He made lengthy arguments accusing Minton of attempting to violate the Bill of Rights
Bill of rights
A bill of rights is a list of the most important rights of the citizens of a country. The purpose of these bills is to protect those rights against infringement. The term "bill of rights" originates from England, where it referred to the Bill of Rights 1689. Bills of rights may be entrenched or...
. Minton was outraged, but the arguments had an effect among voters in Indiana. In 1938, he sought funding to launch a massive nationwide investigation of media conglomerates for proof of Republican interference in the press. Democratic Senator Edward R. Burke
Edward R. Burke
Edward Raymond Burke was a Nebraska Democratic Party politician.Burke moved to Sparta, Wisconsin with his parents and then Beloit, Wisconsin where he went to Beloit College. Burke graduated in 1906, moved to Chadron, Nebraska where he taught school until 1908. He graduated from Harvard Law...
led an effort to defeat the measure and privately accused Minton of damaging the Democrats' cause, which led Minton to leave the Lobby Investigation Committee.
Minton was a fierce partisan during his time in the Senate, and regularly abused his opponents verbally. Democratic Senator Huey Long
Huey Long
Huey Pierce Long, Jr. , nicknamed The Kingfish, served as the 40th Governor of Louisiana from 1928–1932 and as a U.S. Senator from 1932 to 1935. A Democrat, he was noted for his radical populist policies. Though a backer of Franklin D...
became one of Minton's favorite targets because of Long's often-threatened filibuster
Filibuster
A filibuster is a type of parliamentary procedure. Specifically, it is the right of an individual to extend debate, allowing a lone member to delay or entirely prevent a vote on a given proposal...
s. During one of the filibusters, Long threatened to join the Republican Party. After most senators had left the chamber, Minton remained for several hours to periodically taunt Long. After tiring of the taunts, Long launched a rebuttal from the podium, calling Minton a vicious politician whose positions would cost Minton re-election. The exchange was unusual for its tone and later made national news.
Minton was involved in many such exchanges, including a particularly fierce one with Republican Senator Lester J. Dickinson
Lester J. Dickinson
Lester Jesse Dickinson was a Republican United States Representative and Senator from Iowa. He was, in the words of Time magazine, "a big, friendly, white-thatched Iowa lawyer." In early 1936 he dreamed of winning the presidency...
in March 1936. Dickinson delivered a speech in the Senate castigating President Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
for carrying out what he termed illegal and unconstitutional acts. Minton responded with a range of accusations, some personal, against Dickinson and his "political naivety".
Court packing
In 1936, the United States Supreme Court ruled the Agricultural Adjustment ActAgricultural Adjustment Act
The Agricultural Adjustment Act was a United States federal law of the New Deal era which restricted agricultural production by paying farmers subsidies not to plant part of their land and to kill off excess livestock...
of 1933 unconstitutional. For the first time, Minton gave speeches criticizing the court for overriding the will of Congress. He accused the court of allowing itself to be influenced by political motives rather than the law. In response to the court ruling, Minton began drafting a bill which would allow the Supreme Court to declare a law unconstitutional only if seven out the nine justices supported the decision. In February 1937, before Minton introduced his bill, President Roosevelt introduced a plan of his own to deal with the Supreme Court. Roosevelt proposed adding more justices to the court and creating a mandatory retirement age; the changes would allow him to appoint an overwhelming majority to the court who be more sympathetic to his agenda, ensuring the safety of legislation passed by his party.
Minton was pleased with Roosevelt's bill and quickly became its leading supporter in the Senate. The measure was placed in an omnibus bill
Omnibus bill
An omnibus bill is a proposed law that covers a number of diverse or unrelated topics. Omnibus is derived from Latin and means "for everything"...
that was designed to reform judicial salaries and districting, among many other measures. Republicans quickly discovered the court packing provision and targeted the bill. Democrats had overwhelming super-majorities in Congress, and passage of the bill at first seemed assured. Minton's support of the bill helped him earn the position of Senate majority whip, allowing him to more effectively push for its passage. Minton delivered six radio addresses on behalf of his party in support of the bill, but public opinion could not be swayed in the Democrats' favor.
Minton received a death threat in the form of an envelope containing a shotgun shell and a message advising him to not vote for the court packing plan. Many Democrats, fearing their re-election prospects, joined with Republicans and defeated the bill. Minton was unhappy with the loss and it cost him considerable support among his voters, but as a result of his close connection with the bill and the leaders of his party, he gained more influence with the Democrats.
Although Minton supported the Roosevelt administration and became a regular guest at the White House, Minton did oppose the president on some measures. He voted to override a presidential veto of a grant of $2.5 billion USD ($ billion in 2010 dollars) in bonus pay for World War I soldiers (Bonus Army
Bonus Army
The Bonus Army was the popular name of an assemblage of some 43,000 marchers—17,000 World War I veterans, their families, and affiliated groups—who gathered in Washington, D.C., in the spring and summer of 1932 to demand immediate cash-payment redemption of their service certificates...
). He supported the Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill
Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill
The Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill, introduced by Representative Leonidas C. Dyer, a Republican from Saint Louis, Missouri, in the US House of Representatives in 1918, was directed at punishing lynchings and mob violence....
, which Roosevelt feared would cost the party support in the southern states. He also supported an extension of the Hatch Act of 1939
Hatch Act of 1939
The Hatch Act of 1939 is a United States federal law whose main provision is to prohibit federal employees in the executive branch of the federal government, except the President and the Vice President, from engaging in partisan political activity...
, a law that prevented federal employees from being forced to take part in state election campaigns, effectively lessening the influence of federal patronage.
As World War II neared, Minton took a cautious position on United States involvement. When the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
invaded Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
, Minton voted against granting a loan to Finland to help finance its defense efforts. He also opposed selling munitions and weapons to the Allies
Allies of World War II
The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...
or the Axis powers. He advocated and supported expanding the American military and believed that American entry into the war was inevitable, but should be delayed as long as possible. He voted in favor of the Smith Act
Smith Act
The Alien Registration Act or Smith Act of 1940 is a United States federal statute that set criminal penalties for advocating the overthrow of the U.S...
, which made it a crime to advocate the overthrow of the government, a law specifically targeted at communists and fascists in the United States. In his final year in office, there was considerable speculation in the press that Minton would be named to higher office by Roosevelt, including cabinet positions and the Supreme Court, but the speculations did not prove true.
Re-election campaign
Minton ran for re-election to his Senate seat in 1940. McNutt was challenging Roosevelt for the Presidential nomination, forcing Minton to choose between the administration and his allies in the state party. Minton sided with Roosevelt, which cost him McNutt's and the Indiana Democratic PartyIndiana Democratic Party
The Democratic Party of Indiana is a political party and affiliate of the United States Democratic Party in Indiana. The Indiana Democratic Party also hold three of Indiana's nine Congressional seats...
machine's support in his re-election bid.
The Republican presidential candidate, Wendell Wilkie, was also a native of Indiana, and Minton faced a difficult challenge to win re-election. He referred to Wilkie as a "sycophant for the rich and famous". Wilkie never responded to Minton's taunts, leaving Minton's opponent in the Senate race, Raymond E. Willis
Raymond E. Willis
Raymond Eugene Willis was a United States Senator from Indiana. Born in Waterloo, Indiana, he attended the public schools and graduated from Wabash College in 1896. He learned the printer's trade in Waterloo and moved to Angola, Indiana and engaged in the newspaper publishing business in 1898...
, to respond to Minton's charges. Willis had run for the Senate two years earlier but was defeated by Democrat Frederick Van Nuys
Frederick Van Nuys
Frederick Van Nuys was a United States Senator from Indiana. Born in Falmouth, he attended the public schools and graduated from Earlham College in 1898 and from the Indiana University School of Law - Indianapolis in 1900. He was admitted to the bar in 1900 and commenced practice in Shelbyville...
. Willis faulted Minton on a range of topics but focused on the legislation Minton supported while in the Senate. Willis claimed that much of the legislation was unconstitutional and Minton's positions were detrimental to the nation. Minton responded by pointing out Willis's connections to wealthy corporations and accused him of not caring for the people. Minton's campaign focused on the achievements of the New Deal programs. He claimed farm income in Indiana had doubled since 1932, and highlighted the passage of the Old Age Pension laws. His support for conscription and military preparedness for the coming war proved unpopular with voters and cost him considerable support, but according to historian William Radcliff it was Wilkie's favorite son
Favorite son
A favorite son is a political term.*At the quadrennial American national political party conventions, a state delegation sometimes nominates and votes for a candidate from the state, or less often from the state's region, who is not a viable candidate...
status, which led many Hoosiers to vote Republican, that proved to be the election's deciding factor. Despite Minton's heavy campaigning, he lost the close election to Willis by 5,179 votes out of over 1.5 million cast.
Roosevelt won the 1940 presidential election
United States presidential election, 1940
The United States presidential election of 1940 was fought in the shadow of World War II as the United States was emerging from the Great Depression. Incumbent President Franklin D. Roosevelt , a Democrat, broke with tradition and ran for a third term, which became a major issue...
. After Minton left office in March 1941, he was given a position in the Roosevelt administration as a reward for his loyalty during the court packing failure. He served as one of the president's advisers and a liaison between the White House and Congress. The extent of his duties is not fully known; Linda Gugin has speculated that he may have managed Roosevelt's patronage system. Minton was responsible for getting several officials appointed to high offices in the federal bureaucracy and numerous others appointed to lower ranking positions. He also convinced Roosevelt to support the creation of a Senate defense committee chaired by Truman, a position that brought Truman into the national spotlight and helped him gain the vice presidency.
Appointment
On May 7, 1941, Roosevelt announced Minton's nomination to the Chicago-based Seventh Circuit Court of AppealsUnited States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the courts in the following districts:* Central District of Illinois* Northern District of Illinois...
. The nomination received minimal news coverage, and Minton was confirmed unanimously by the Senate on May 12. Minton resigned from his post in the administration, but even after he began working on the court, Minton remained active in Democratic politics behind the scenes and was in regular correspondence with Roosevelt to make patronage suggestions.
Minton was sworn in on May 29, but the court was in recess at the time. He took his seat when it returned to session on October 7. The court had the highest court load of all the appellate courts in the nation at that time, averaging 40 cases per judge annually. The men on the court were close friends, and Minton developed a particularly close friendship with Judge J. Earl Major
J. Earl Major
James Earl Major was a U.S. Representative from Illinois and a United States federal judge.Born in Donellson, Illinois, Major attended the common and high schools of his native city....
; Major offered Minton financial assistance during his later illnesses. Major had been on the court for several years and held a judicial philosophy similar to Minton's. The two men regularly attended baseball games and were frequent guests in each other's homes.
World War II broke out shortly after Minton joined the court, creating a flood of cases in which legal precedent provided little guidance, including challenges to wartime measures, selective service laws, price controls, rationing and civil liberties. In the majority of these cases, the court affirmed the decisions of the district courts, but in several the court was required to establish a precedent. Minton stated on several occasions his personal preference to affirm the decisions of the lower courts. He believed that the court that heard the case and pronounced judgment was generally able to make a decision that was superior to appellate courts' decisions. He believed the appellate process should be reserved for the more serious cases and cases where the lower court had clearly made a mistake.
Jurisprudence
Minton was described by William Radcliff as a "faithful disciple of judicial restraint," an unexpected development when compared to his overtly partisan political career. Radcliff attributed Minton's conservative position to the distaste he developed for the courts when they overturned legislation passed while he was in the Senate. The courts actions led him to strongly believe in the limited exercise of judicial power when evaluating the constitutionality of governmental conduct. Much of the recently passed New Deal legislation was being tried in the courts for constitutionality and enforcement, putting Minton in the uncommon position of adjudicating cases depending on legislation he had helped write.During his time on the Seventh Circuit, Minton authored 253 of the court's opinions, including twelve dissenting opinions. Some of his opinions won praise; the editors of Tax Magazine commented favorably on Minton's opinions on tax law, calling them "direct Hoosier logic". Other court reporting papers made similar comments, applauding the manner in which he turned complex issues to simple questions that could easily be understood.
In the case of Sunkist v. Sunkist and Quaker Oats Co. v. General Mills, the court created a long standing precedent in their decision making it possible for different companies to use the same brand and product name as long as they produced dissimilar products. In another case, the court set a short-lived precedent allowing companies to artificially raise prices in local markets if the purpose was to artificially lower prices in another market to remain competitive. After Minton joined the U.S. Supreme Court, the decision was appealed to that body; Minton recused himself from the case, which the court decided to overturn. In another decision, Minton was in the majority that ruled under the Sherman Antitrust Act
Sherman Antitrust Act
The Sherman Antitrust Act requires the United States federal government to investigate and pursue trusts, companies, and organizations suspected of violating the Act. It was the first Federal statute to limit cartels and monopolies, and today still forms the basis for most antitrust litigation by...
that the New York Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company was a monopoly, ordering the company to break up its grocery business. Minton was also in the majority in several cases filed to enforce decisions made by the National Labor Relations Board
National Labor Relations Board
The National Labor Relations Board is an independent agency of the United States government charged with conducting elections for labor union representation and with investigating and remedying unfair labor practices. Unfair labor practices may involve union-related situations or instances of...
, usually to end worker strikes.
In the case of United States v. Knauer, the government was denying the wife of a United States citizen entry into the country because of her possible ties to Nazism. In a much criticized majority opinion which Minton co-authored with Judge Major, he stated that the "alien did not have any legal right—[her] status was a political decision to be made by officials in government." Many liberals condemned the court at the time of the decision. The case ruling was upheld by the Supreme Court in a 1946 appeal.
One of Minton's favorite cases was that of Modernistic Candies, Inc. v. Federal Trade Commission. The candy company produced a one-cent gumball dispenser in which almost all the gumballs were the same color. A few different-colored gumballs were included which, when dispensed, entitled the purchaser to a prize from the merchant who owned the machine. The FTC had an injunction put in place barring the company from producing the machines because they claimed it violated anti-gambling laws. Minton wrote the majority opinion and sided with the majority to keep the injunction in place, but dryly mocked the counsel for the defense and the gambling law, stating:
Counsel for the petitioner discussed at great length from a sociological point of view, of the age-old problem of the gambling instinct in the human being. According to his analysis, gambling pervades our entire economic system; thus insurance contracts are a gamble, stock and grain exchange transactions are gambles, and the farmer's dependence on weather is a gamble. Counsel's attempt to apply this analysis to the present case left us cold and unimpressed. He even reminded us that our great idol, Mr. Chief Justice John Marshall, in his day attended the horse races and wagered with his clergyman. In fact, they ran a book. As indicating how times have changed and how even our coarse nature has yielded to the protecting care of governmental policy, we confess we do not even know a bookmaker, clerical or otherwise, and our passes to the beautiful race tracks around Chicago lie in our desk unused.
Minton often lamented that he was required to "pronounce the law as it was written, but on no occasion [c]ould he make the law."
Clemency board and failing health
After Roosevelt's death and Truman's succession to the Presidency, Minton continued offering advice to the new administration on a range of topics, including patronage and political maneuvering. Truman appointed Minton as head of the War DepartmentUnited States Department of War
The United States Department of War, also called the War Department , was the United States Cabinet department originally responsible for the operation and maintenance of the United States Army...
Clemency Board, a panel of judges charged with overseeing reviews of decisions made by the courts-martial. The panel met every two weeks which, along with his responsibilities on the circuit court, kept Minton very busy and afforded him little rest, leading to a deterioration in his health. While yachting with President Truman on Memorial Day
Memorial Day
Memorial Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the last Monday of May. Formerly known as Decoration Day, it originated after the American Civil War to commemorate the fallen Union soldiers of the Civil War...
in 1945, Truman asked Minton to accept an appointment to the position of Solicitor General of the United States. Minton declined because of his health, but he told Truman he would be interested in a seat on the Supreme Court.
In September 1945, Minton suffered a heart attack while in Washington; he was hospitalized for three months at Walter Reed Hospital. After returning to work, he was forced to rest regularly due to gradually worsening anemia
Anemia
Anemia is a decrease in number of red blood cells or less than the normal quantity of hemoglobin in the blood. However, it can include decreased oxygen-binding ability of each hemoglobin molecule due to deformity or lack in numerical development as in some other types of hemoglobin...
, and he sought to lessen his workload. To further complicate his health, on August 5, 1949, Minton tripped over a stone in his yard and broke his leg. The injury forced him to walk with a cane for the remainder of his life.
Nomination and confirmation
At a September 15, 1949, news conference, Truman announced Minton's nomination to the Supreme Court, succeeding the deceased Justice Wiley Rutledge. Minton had already privately accepted the nomination several days earlier after a telephone conversation with Truman. Truman touted Minton's extensive law education and his years of experience on the circuit courts as the reason for his nomination.News of Minton's appointment received mixed reviews nationally. The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
said that Truman had allowed personal and political friendship to influence his choice. The New Republic
The New Republic
The magazine has also published two articles concerning income inequality, largely criticizing conservative economists for their attempts to deny the existence or negative effect increasing income inequality is having on the United States...
said "the President is again reverting to his deplorable habit of choosing men for high post because they happen to be his friends...". The Washington Post raised questions about Minton's ability to be confirmed by the Senate due to the power many of his foes held in the body. The Indianapolis Star offered a more sympathetic opinion, pointing out Minton's qualifications and the pride Indiana could take in having a native on the Supreme Court. The article noted that he would be the most educated justice on the court, should he be confirmed.
Indiana Senator William E. Jenner
William E. Jenner
William Ezra Jenner was a U.S. Republican Indiana State and U.S. Senator.Jenner was born in Marengo, Crawford County, Indiana. He graduated with a Law degree from Indiana University School of Law - Bloomington in 1930, and set up practice in Paoli, Indiana...
led opponents of Minton's nomination, including some of Minton's old foes, in an attempt to bring him before the body for hearings. Minton wrote a letter to the Senate Judicial Committee answering several of their questions, but refused to submit himself to a hearing. He mentioned his broken leg and hinted in his letter that it could be detrimental to his health to travel in his condition. He also stated that, as a sitting judge and former member of the Senate, it would be improper for him submit to a hearing. Although hearings had occurred irregularly in the past, it was not customary at that time to have a hearing on a nominee. During an absence of Jenners, Minton's allies worked to have the hearing request dropped and the Judicial Committee sent the measure to the full Senate in a vote of 9 to 2. Senator Homer Ferguson attempted to have the nomination returned to committee but the motion failed, 45–21. The long debate over Minton's appointment focused on his partisanship, support of the court packing plan during his time in the Senate, and poor health. His opponents launched numerous delaying tactics; the Senate session before the vote to confirm Minton lasted until midnight. His confirmation was approved 48-16 on October 3. , Minton remains the last member of Congress, sitting or former, to be appointed to the United States Supreme Court, and he is the only native of Indiana to be appointed to the court.Chief Justice John G. Roberts is the only other Supreme Court Justice from Indiana, but was not born in the state. See Demographics of the Supreme Court of the United States.
Judicial restraint
Minton's central judicial philosophy was to ascertain and uphold the original intentOriginal intent
Original intent is a theory in law concerning constitutional and statutory interpretation. It is frequently—and usually spuriously—used as a synonym for originalism generally; while original intent is indeed one theory in the originalist family, it has some extremely salient differences which has...
of legislation. He continued to take a broad view of governmental powers, demonstrated in his dissenting opinion in the case ofYoungstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer
Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer
Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer, , also commonly referred to as The Steel Seizure Case, was a United States Supreme Court decision that limited the power of the President of the United States to seize private property in the absence of either specifically enumerated authority under Article...
, which ruled unconstitutional President Truman's wartime seizure of several steel mills to avert a workers' strike. Of all the cases in which Minton was involved, he disagreed most with the Youngstown decision and "went into a tirade" during the conference where the decision was made. He argued that there "could be no vacant spot in power when the security of the nation is at stake." Despite his strong protest, he could not influence the Court to permit the president to seize the plants without congressional approval. Minton joined with Chief Justice Fred M. Vinson
Fred M. Vinson
Frederick Moore Vinson served the United States in all three branches of government and was the most prominent member of the Vinson political family. In the legislative branch, he was an elected member of the United States House of Representatives from Louisa, Kentucky, for twelve years...
and Justice Stanley Forman Reed
Stanley Forman Reed
Stanley Forman Reed was a noted American attorney who served as United States Solicitor General from 1935 to 1938 and as an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1938 to 1957. He was the last Supreme Court Justice who did not graduate from law school Stanley Forman Reed (December 31,...
in the dissenting opinion that the President had the authority through the war powers clause
War Powers Clause
Article I, Section 8, Clause 11 of the United States Constitution, sometimes referred to as the War Powers Clause, vests in the Congress the power to declare war, in the following wording:...
of the constitution.
Minton abhorred racial segregation and provided a solid vote to strike down the school segregation practices at issue in 1954's landmark case of Brown v. Board of Education
Brown v. Board of Education
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 347 U.S. 483 , was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court that declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students unconstitutional. The decision overturned the Plessy v. Ferguson decision of 1896 which...
; it was among the few decisions in which he sided against the government. According to William Radcliff, the majority opinion authored by Minton in the 1953 case Barrows v. Jackson was his most skillfully written opinion. He framed the complex question of the case as: "Can a racially restrictive covenant be enforced at law by a suit for damages against a co-covenantor who allegedly broke the covenant?" The Court decided the answer in the negative.
In the area of civil liberties, Minton adhered to the doctrine of "fundamental fairness
Palko v. Connecticut
Palko v. Connecticut, , was a United States Supreme Court case concerning the incorporation of the Fifth Amendment protection against double jeopardy.-Background:...
", a test established by the Supreme Court in 1937. In one decision, Minton stated that the right of free speech
Freedom of speech in the United States
Freedom of speech in the United States is protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and by many state constitutions and state and federal laws, with the exception of obscenity, defamation, incitement to riot, and fighting words, as well as harassment, privileged...
was not an absolute right, and could be regulated so as not to violate the rights of others. In United States v. Rabinowitz, Minton wrote the Court's opinion upholding a lower court ruling which allowed police to search automobiles without a warrant, provided there was probable cause to justify the search.
Minton voted to uphold anti-communist legislation during the period of the "red scare", siding with the majority in 1951's Dennis v. United States
Dennis v. United States
Dennis v. United States, , was a United States Supreme Court case involving Eugene Dennis, general secretary of the Communist Party USA, which found that Dennis did not have a right under the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States to exercise free speech, publication and assembly,...
, which upheld the conviction of the leader of the U.S. Communist Party
Communist Party USA
The Communist Party USA is a Marxist political party in the United States, established in 1919. It has a long, complex history that is closely related to the histories of similar communist parties worldwide and the U.S. labor movement....
. During the same period, the Court was split over the legality of governmental loyalty tests. Many agencies had programs in place to ensure members of the government were not communists. Minton's vote proved to be the deciding factor in cases regarding loyalty tests. In the case of Bailey v. Richardson, Minton's vote upheld the legality of the loyalty tests,In the case of Bailey v. Richardson the Court made a split decision resulting in the upholding of the lower Court's ruling by default. (see: Gugin (1997), p. 229) while in the decision he authored in the case of Joint Anti-Fascist Refugee Committee v. McGrath, he voted to uphold the plaintiff's position that he had been terminated illegally because of his support of fascist ideology. Minton's position gradually shifted to allowing the loyalty tests to take place, and in Adler v. Board of Ed. of City of New York he wrote the majority opinion allowing the tests and upholding New York's Feinberg Law.In the decisions in Adler v. Board of Ed. of City of New York, Minton wrote, "From time immemorial, one's reputation has been determined in part by the company he keeps. In the employment of officials and teachers of the school system, the state may very properly inquire into the company they keep, and we know of no rule, constitutional or otherwise, that prevents the state, when determining the fitness and loyalty of such persons, from considering the organizations and persons with whom they associate." (See: ) This proved to be the most important vote as it allowed the tests to be given with only minimal suspicion of a person's disloyalty to the government.
Because of Minton's previous Congressional partisanship, many liberals believed he would support their positions when on the Court. Throughout his tenure, Minton regularly disappointed them, leading many to rail against him. A lawyer writing for the New Jersey Law Journal labeled Minton a "spokesman against freedom", calling him "a man of conspicuous judicial shortcomings, whose votes against civil liberties exceeded those of any other man on the Court, and who wrote comparatively few opinions of other kinds." Linda Gugin pointed out that Minton was a disappointment to liberals because he consistently chose order over freedom. Gugin also concludes that Minton had the strongest commitment to judicial restraint and ideological neutrality of any justice, past or present.
Politics
Although Minton was on the Supreme Court, he remained casually involved in Democratic internal politics. He wrote Truman several letters criticizing Justices Robert H. JacksonRobert H. Jackson
Robert Houghwout Jackson was United States Attorney General and an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court . He was also the chief United States prosecutor at the Nuremberg Trials...
and Hugo Black, referring to Black as a demagogue. He also offered advice on dealing with Republican opposition in the Senate. In a 1954 letter, after Truman left office, he urged Truman to help focus public attention on the economy and away from communism, a threat he claimed the Republicans were exaggerating to avoid confronting their own problems.
After Truman's withdrawal from the 1952 presidential campaign
United States presidential election, 1952
The United States presidential election of 1952 took place in an era when Cold War tension between the United States and the Soviet Union was escalating rapidly. In the United States Senate, Republican Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin had become a national figure after chairing congressional...
, Minton made remarks indicating he had advised Truman to stay out of the contested New Hampshire primary election to begin with. In August 1956, a reporter asked Minton about his preferred candidate in the upcoming presidential election. Minton answered, "I have great confidence in Adlai Stevenson." He also remarked that Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...
was politically handicapped. Minton was lambasted in the media for his endorsement, which he attempted to retract a few days later after being advised to do so by other members of the Court.
Regular dissenter
Truman's other appointees to the Court provided consistent conservative votes, and during Minton's first years on the Court it was returned to the conservatism of the William Howard Taft era. While on the Court, Minton transformed from a New Deal senator into an almost reactionary judge as an ally of Justice Felix FrankfurterFelix Frankfurter
Felix Frankfurter was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.-Early life:Frankfurter was born into a Jewish family on November 15, 1882, in Vienna, Austria, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in Europe. He was the third of six children of Leopold and Emma Frankfurter...
. Empirical coding of votes shows that Minton was the most conservative justice on the Court during his first year, and remained in the conservative half of the court for the duration of his career.
Minton did not enjoy the limited influence of his judicial role in the later years of his term, when he was more frequently in the minority in voting on cases. After the deaths of Chief Justice Fred M. Vinson and Justice Robert Jackson, Minton found himself with little support for many of his opinions, which led him to begin considering retirement.
The shifting position of the Court led to personal animosity between members of its two wings. Despite his disappointment over the Court's positions on some issues, Minton remained popular among his colleagues on the Court as he didn't take sides in their personal disagreements; he proved a soothing presence during a period marked by bitter personal feuds between strong personalities such as William O. Douglas
William O. Douglas
William Orville Douglas was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. With a term lasting 36 years and 209 days, he is the longest-serving justice in the history of the Supreme Court...
and Felix Frankfurter.
Minton informed Eisenhower of his intention to retire in a letter on September 7, 1956, in which he dryly stated his retirement was authorized by law. Eisenhower responded with a brief note wishing him a happy retirement. Although he did not tell the president, Minton informed the members of the Court that his duties were too taxing on his health. His anemia had steadily worsened, slowing him physically and mentally. Minton served as a Justice until October 15, 1956, retiring after 7 years and 3 days of service. He was succeeded by William J. Brennan, Jr.
William J. Brennan, Jr.
William Joseph Brennan, Jr. was an American jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court from 1956 to 1990...
Retirement
Announcing his departure, Minton remarked, "There will be more interest in who will succeed me than in my passing. I'm an echo." Despite the health difficulties, Minton regretted his decision almost immediately.Minton returned to his New Albany home, where he took a much lighter workload. He gave occasional lectures at Indiana University and continued to give public speeches from time to time. For several years after retiring from the Supreme Court, Minton occasionally accepted assignments to serve temporarily on one of the lower federal courts. He received an honorary doctorate degree from the University of Louisville
University of Louisville
The University of Louisville is a public university in Louisville, Kentucky. When founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States and one of the first universities chartered west of the Allegheny Mountains. The university is mandated by the Kentucky General...
. He took many trips around the United States, and two trips to Europe. In England, he received an honorary doctorate from Oxford University in 1956.
Despite his failing health, Minton remained active in the Democratic Party. He was most concerned with President Eisenhower, who he believed was incompetent. He remained in regular correspondence with Truman, and the two met on several occasions at Democratic Party functions.
Death and legacy
In late March 1965, Minton was admitted to a hospital in New Albany, where it was found he was suffering internal bleedingInternal bleeding
Internal bleeding is bleeding occurring inside the body. It can be a serious medical emergency depending on where it occurs , and can potentially cause death and cardiac arrest if proper medical treatment is not received quickly....
. He died in his sleep early in the morning of April 9. Minton's wife was Catholic; his funeral was held at Holy Trinity Catholic Church and was attended by many dignitaries, including several sitting members of the Supreme Court, the governors of Indiana and Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
, and several members of Congress. He was buried in the Holy Trinity Cemetery adjacent to the church. Minton himself was nominally Catholic and had shunned Christianity for most of his life; he only began to occasionally attend mass
Mass (liturgy)
"Mass" is one of the names by which the sacrament of the Eucharist is called in the Roman Catholic Church: others are "Eucharist", the "Lord's Supper", the "Breaking of Bread", the "Eucharistic assembly ", the "memorial of the Lord's Passion and Resurrection", the "Holy Sacrifice", the "Holy and...
following his retirement. He left most of his personal papers and judicial records to the Truman Presidential Library.Four linear feet of Sherman Minton's papers are on deposit there. Various other papers are collected at a number of libraries around the country. Resources, research aids and bibliography, Sherman Minton, Federal Judicial Center
Federal Judicial Center
The Federal Judicial Center is the education and research agency of the United States federal courts. It was established by an Act of Congress in 1967, at the recommendation of the Judicial Conference of the United States....
. According to Sherman Minton, Jr., Minton's wife destroyed most of Minton's communications with Truman because she believed they were "undignified and occasionally profane." (See: Stewart, Margaret M., p. 304)
Minton is the eponym
Eponym
An eponym is the name of a person or thing, whether real or fictitious, after which a particular place, tribe, era, discovery, or other item is named or thought to be named...
of the Sherman Minton Bridge
Sherman Minton Bridge
The Sherman Minton Bridge is a double-deck through arch bridge spanning the Ohio River, carrying I-64 and US 150 over the river between Kentucky and Indiana. The bridge connects the west side of Louisville, Kentucky to downtown New Albany, Indiana.- History :...
, which carries Interstate 64
Interstate 64
Interstate 64 is an Interstate Highway in the Midwestern and Southeastern United States. Its western terminus is at I-70, U.S. 40, and U.S. 61 in Wentzville, Missouri. Its eastern terminus is at an interchange with I-264 and I-664 at Bowers Hill in Chesapeake, Virginia. As I-64 is concurrent with...
across the Ohio River
Ohio River
The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...
, connecting western Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
with New Albany, Indiana
New Albany, Indiana
New Albany is a city in Floyd County, Indiana, United States, situated along the Ohio River opposite Louisville, Kentucky. In 1900, 20,628 people lived in New Albany; in 1910, 20,629; in 1920, 22,992; and in 1940, 25,414. The population was 36,372 at the 2010 census. The city is the county seat of...
. Minton attended the dedication of the bridge at a 1962 ceremony. He is also the namesake of the annual Sherman Minton Moot Court Competition, held at the Indiana University Maurer School of Law. He is also honored (with Indiana Senator Homer E. Capehart
Homer E. Capehart
Homer Earl Capehart , American business innovator and politician, was born in Algiers, Indiana, in Pike County. During the First World War, he served as a Sergeant in the United States Army Supply Corps, but was never sent overseas.-Business career:Capehart attained fame as the father of the...
) — in the "Brutalist
Brutalist architecture
Brutalist architecture is a style of architecture which flourished from the 1950s to the mid 1970s, spawned from the modernist architectural movement.-The term "brutalism":...
" style designed by Woollen, Molzan and Partners
Woollen, Molzan and Partners
Woollen, Molzan and Partners is a US-based second-generation architecture, interior design, and planning firm. The company was founded in 1955 by Evans Woollen...
and with architectural art by Milton Glaser
Milton Glaser
Milton Glaser is a graphic designer, best known for the I Love New York logo, his "Bob Dylan" poster, the "DC bullet" logo used by DC Comics from 1977 to 2005, and the "Brooklyn Brewery" logo. He also founded New York Magazine with Clay Felker in 1968.-Biography:Glaser was born into a Hungarian...
— in the centrally located Minton-Capehart Federal Building on Indiana World War Memorial Plaza
Indiana World War Memorial Plaza
The Indiana World War Memorial Plaza is an urban feature located in Indianapolis, Indiana, originally built to honor the veterans of World War I. The five-city-block plaza was conceived in 1919 as a location for the national headquarters of the American Legion and a memorial to the state's and...
in Indianapolis
Indianapolis, Indiana
Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...
. A bronze bust of Minton was created and put on display in the Indiana Statehouse.
While some writers like Linda Gugin and legal historian William Radcliff have given high praise to Minton's logic in his written opinions, they point out that his positions had little long term impact. Other legal historians, like Bernard Schwartz, have more negative opinion of Minton's judicial career. Schwartz wrote that Minton "was below mediocrity as a Justice. His opinions, relatively few for his tenure, are less than third rate, characterized by their cavalier approach to complicated issues." Schwartz went on to say, "he ranks near the bottom of any list of Justices." Most of the precedents Minton helped establish were overturned by the Warren Court in the years immediately following his retirement. In total he wrote sixty-seven majority opinions along with several of the dissenting opinions. Gugin authored a work in rebuttal to Schwartz's harsh critique, saying that Minton's rulings were "predictable based on the principles of deference, precedent, and strict interpretation"; she attributed his poor ranking to the bias of reviewers in favor of judicial activism.
Minton's time on the court marked the end of a transitory period in the judiciary. Since Minton, justices have tended to serve increasingly longer terms on the court, which has had strong political science implications on the Supreme Court. The growing concept of judicial non-partisanship became the norm in American politics after Minton—he was the last member of Congress of be appointed to the court. Linda Gugin and Professor James St. Clair have noted that the federal courts have lost a valuable point of view by not having experienced legislators among their ranks.
Minton played an important role behind the scenes of the Court as a peacemaker between its two opposing factions. These attempts to keep the peace led Justice Frankfurter to remark that while Minton would never be remembered as a great justice, he would be remembered as a great colleague by his fellow justices.
Electoral history
See also
- Demographics of the Supreme Court of the United StatesDemographics of the Supreme Court of the United StatesThe demographics of the Supreme Court of the United States encompass the gender, ethnic, religious, geographic, and economic backgrounds of the 112 justices appointed to the Supreme Court. Certain of these characteristics have been raised as an issue since the Court was established in 1789. For its...
- List of Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States
- List of United States Supreme Court Justices by time in office
- United States Supreme Court cases during the Vinson Court
- United States Supreme Court cases during the Warren Court
- List of law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States
Further reading
- Abraham, Henry J., Justices and Presidents: A Political History of Appointments to the Supreme Court. (3rd ed., Oxford University Press, 1992). ISBN 0-19-506557-3.
- Atkinson, David N. "From New Deal Liberal to Supreme Court Conservative: The Metamorphosis of Justice Sherman Minton" Washington University Law Quarterly (1975): pp. 361–394.
- Braden, George D. "Mr. Justice Minton and the Truman Bloc," Indiana Law Journal (Winter 1951) 26: pp. 153–168.
- Corcoran, David Howard. (1977) “Sherman Minton: New Deal Senator.” PhD dissertation, University of KentuckyUniversity of KentuckyThe University of Kentucky, also known as UK, is a public co-educational university and is one of the state's two land-grant universities, located in Lexington, Kentucky...
. - Cushman, Clare, The Supreme Court Justices: Illustrated Biographies, 1789–1995 (2nd ed.) (Congressional Quarterly Books, 2001) ISBN 1-56802-126-7; ISBN 978-1-56802-126-3.
- Frank, John P., The Justices of the United States Supreme Court: Their Lives and Major Opinions (Leon Friedman and Fred L. Israel, editors) (New York: Chelsea House, 1995) ISBN 0-7910-1377-4, ISBN 978-0-7910-1377-9.
- Martin, Fenton S. and Goehlert, Robert U., The U.S. Supreme Court: A Bibliography, (Congressional Quarterly Books, 1990). ISBN 0-87187-554-3.
- Urofsky, Melvin I., The Supreme Court Justices: A Biographical Dictionary (New York: Garland, 1994). ISBN 0-8153-1176-1; ISBN 978-0-8153-1176-8.
- Wallace, Harry L. "Mr. Justice Minton—Hoosier Justice on the Supreme Court," Indiana Law Journal 34 (Winter 1959): pp. 145–205; (Spring 1959): pp. 377–424.
External links
- Photograph, Sherman Minton Home, Georgetown, Indiana.
- Sherman Minton Senate identification card with signature, University of LouisvilleUniversity of LouisvilleThe University of Louisville is a public university in Louisville, Kentucky. When founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States and one of the first universities chartered west of the Allegheny Mountains. The university is mandated by the Kentucky General...
. - Photograph, Sherman Minton grave site
