Chief Justice of the United States from 1946 to 1953
"Judge Vinson" redirects here. For the Florida judge, see
Roger Vinson
.
Fred M. Vinson
|
---|
|
|
|
In office
June 24, 1946 ? September 8, 1953
|
Nominated by
| Harry S. Truman
|
---|
Preceded by
| Harlan F. Stone
|
---|
Succeeded by
| Earl Warren
|
---|
|
In office
July 23, 1945 ? June 23, 1946
|
President
| Harry S. Truman
|
---|
Preceded by
| Henry Morgenthau Jr.
|
---|
Succeeded by
| John Wesley Snyder
|
---|
|
In office
May 28, 1943 ? July 23, 1945
|
President
| Franklin D. Roosevelt
|
---|
Preceded by
| James F. Byrnes
|
---|
Succeeded by
| William Hammatt Davis
|
---|
|
In office
December 15, 1937 ? May 28, 1943
|
Nominated by
| Franklin D. Roosevelt
|
---|
Preceded by
| Charles Henry Robb
|
---|
Succeeded by
| Wilbur Kingsbury Miller
|
---|
|
In office
January 24, 1924 ? March 3, 1929
|
Preceded by
| William J. Fields
|
---|
Succeeded by
| Elva R. Kendall
|
---|
Constituency
| 9th district
|
---|
In office
March 4, 1931 ? May 27, 1938
|
Preceded by
| Elva R. Kendall
|
---|
Succeeded by
| Joe B. Bates
|
---|
Constituency
| 9th district
(1931?1933)
8th district
(1933?1938)
|
---|
|
|
Born
| Frederick Moore Vinson
(
1890-01-22
)
January 22, 1890
Louisa, Kentucky
, U.S.
|
---|
Died
| September 8, 1953
(1953-09-08)
(aged 63)
Washington, D.C.
, U.S.
|
---|
Resting place
| Pinehill Cemetery, Louisa, Kentucky, U.S.
|
---|
Political party
| Democratic
|
---|
Spouse
|
|
---|
Children
| 2
|
---|
Education
| Centre College
(
BA
,
LLB
)
|
---|
Signature
| |
---|
|
Frederick "Fred" Moore Vinson
(January 22, 1890 ? September 8, 1953) was an American attorney and politician who served as the 13th
chief justice of the United States
from 1946 until his death in 1953. Vinson was one of the few Americans to have served
in all three branches of the U.S. government
. Before becoming chief justice, Vinson served as a
U.S. Representative
from
Kentucky
from 1924 to 1928 and 1930 to 1938, as a federal appellate judge on the
U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
from 1938 to 1943, and as the
U.S. Secretary of the Treasury
from 1945 to 1946.
[1]
Born in
Louisa
,
Kentucky
, Vinson pursued a legal career and served in the
U.S. Army
during
World War I
. After the war, he served as the Commonwealth's Attorney for the Thirty-Second Judicial District of Kentucky before winning election to the
U.S. House of Representatives
in 1924. He lost re-election in 1928 but regained his seat in 1930 and served in Congress until 1937. During his time in Congress, he became an adviser and confidante of Missouri Senator
Harry S. Truman
. In 1937, President
Franklin D. Roosevelt
appointed Vinson to be a judge on the D.C. Circuit. Vinson resigned from the appellate court in 1943, when he became the Director of the
Office of Economic Stabilization
. After Truman acceded to the presidency following Roosevelt's death in 1945, Truman appointed Vinson to the position of Secretary of the Treasury. Vinson negotiated the payment of the
Anglo-American loan
and presided over the establishment of numerous post-war organizations, including the
International Bank for Reconstruction and Development
(commonly called the
World Bank
) and the
International Monetary Fund
.
After the death of Chief Justice
Harlan F. Stone
in 1946, Truman appointed Vinson to the Supreme Court. Vinson dissented in the case of
Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer
, which ruled against the Truman administration's control of the nation's steel mills during a strike. He ordered a rehearing of the
Briggs v. Elliott
case, which was eventually combined into the case known as
Brown v. Board of Education
.
As of 2024, Vinson is the last chief justice to have been appointed by a Democratic president.
Early years
[
edit
]
Vinson, known universally as Fred, was born in the newly built, eight-room, red brick house in front of the
Lawrence County
jail
in
Louisa
,
Kentucky
, where his father served as the Lawrence County Jailer.
[1]
As a child he would help his father in the jail and even made friends with prisoners who would remember his kindness when he later ran for public office. Vinson worked odd jobs while in school. He graduated from Kentucky Normal School in 1909
[2]
and enrolled at
Centre College
, where he graduated at the top of his class with a
Bachelor of Arts
degree. While at Centre, he was a member of the Kentucky Alpha Delta chapter of
Phi Delta Theta
fraternity. He received a
Bachelor of Laws
from the now defunct College of Law.
[3]
He entered private practice in Louisa.
[4]
He first ran for and was elected to office as the City Attorney of Louisa.
[4]
[1]
Vinson joined the Army during
World War I
.
[4]
Following the war, he was elected as the
Commonwealth's Attorney
for the Thirty-Second Judicial District of Kentucky.
[4]
Vinson married Julia Roberta Dixon on January 24, 1924, in
Ashland
, Kentucky. They had two sons.
[1]
United States Representative from Kentucky
[
edit
]
In 1924, Vinson ran in a special election for
his district's seat in Congress
after
William J. Fields
resigned to become the
Governor of Kentucky
. Vinson was elected as a
Democrat
and then was reelected twice before losing in 1928. His loss was attributed to his refusal to dissociate his campaign from
Alfred E. Smith
's
presidential campaign
. However, Vinson came back to win re-election in 1930, and he served in Congress through 1937.
[1]
While he was in Congress he befriended
Missouri
Senator
Harry S. Truman
, a friendship that would last throughout his life. He soon became a close advisor, confidant, card player, and dear friend to Truman. After Truman decided against running for another term as president in the early 1950s, he tried to convince a skeptical Vinson to seek the Democratic Party nomination, but Vinson turned down the President's offer.
[5]
After being equally unsuccessful in enlisting General
Dwight D. Eisenhower
, President Truman eventually landed on
Governor of Illinois
Adlai Stevenson
as his preferred successor in the
1952 presidential election
.
In 1930, former congressman Vinson moved his law practice from
Louisa, Kentucky
thirty miles north to Ashland. With aspirations to return to Washington, D.C. as congressman, Vinson formed a circle of Ashland friends who could aid him politically and professionally. This group included his next door neighbor
Paul G. Blazer
.
Vinson returned to Washington, D.C. as congressman in 1931. Vinson would become a frontline supporter of President Roosevelt and his cabinet's New Deal revolution.
United States Court of Appeals
[
edit
]
Vinson was nominated by President
Franklin D. Roosevelt
on November 26, 1937, to an Associate Justice seat on the
United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia
(now the
United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
) vacated by Associate Justice
Charles Henry Robb
.
[4]
He was confirmed by the
United States Senate
on December 9 of that year, and received his commission six days later.
[4]
He was designated by Chief Justice
Harlan F. Stone
to serve as Chief Judge of the
Emergency Court of Appeals
.
[4]
His service terminated on May 28, 1943, due to his resignation.
[4]
Secretary of the Treasury
[
edit
]
Vinson resigned from the bench to become Director of the
Office of Economic Stabilization
, an executive agency charged with fighting
inflation
.
[
citation needed
]
He also spent time as Federal Loan Administrator (March 6 to April 3, 1945) and director of War Mobilization and Reconversion (April 4 to July 22, 1945).
[
citation needed
]
He was appointed
United States Secretary of the Treasury
by President Truman and served from July 23, 1945, to June 23, 1946.
[
citation needed
]
His mission as Secretary of the Treasury was to stabilize the American economy during the last months of the war and to adapt the United States financial position to the drastically changed circumstances of the postwar world.
[
citation needed
]
Before the war ended, Vinson directed the last of the great
war-bond
drives.
[
citation needed
]
At the end of the war, he negotiated payment of the
British Loan of 1946
, the largest loan made by the United States to another country ($3.75 billion), and the
lend-lease
settlements of economic and military aid given to the allies during the war.
[
citation needed
]
In order to encourage private investment in postwar America, he promoted a tax cut in the
Revenue Act of 1945
.
[
citation needed
]
He also supervised the inauguration of the
International Bank for Reconstruction and Development
and the
International Monetary Fund
, both created at the
Bretton Woods Conference
of 1944, acting as the first chairman of their respective boards.
[
citation needed
]
In 1946, Vinson resigned from the Treasury to be appointed
Chief Justice of the United States
by Truman.
[
citation needed
]
Chief Justice
[
edit
]
Vinson was
nominated
by President
Harry S. Truman
on June 6, 1946, to become
Chief Justice of the United States
, following the death of
Harlan F. Stone
.
[4]
Vinson was recommended to Truman by former chief justice
Charles Evans Hughes
and former associate justice
Owen Roberts
. Both noted Vinson's experience in all three branches of the federal government, with Hughes telling Truman, "You have a Secretary of the Treasury who has been a Congressman, a Judge of the Court of Appeal, and an executive officer in President Roosevelt's and your cabinets".
[8]
He was confirmed by the
United States Senate
by a voice vote on June 20, 1946, received his commission on June 21,
[4]
and took the oath of office on June 24.
[9]
His appointment came at a time when the
Supreme Court
was deeply fractured, both intellectually and personally.
[10]
One faction was led by Justice
Hugo Black
, the other by Justice
Felix Frankfurter
.
[10]
Vinson was credited with patching this fracture,
[
according to whom?
]
at least on a personal level.
[
citation needed
]
He was the presiding officer of the
Conference of Senior Circuit Judges
(now the
Judicial Conference of the United States
) from 1946 to 1948, and presiding officer of the
Judicial Conference of the United States
from 1948 to 1953.
[4]
In addition to his chief justiceship, Vinson served as circuit justice for the Fourth Circuit and the District of Columbia Circuit from June 26, 1946, until his death on September 8, 1953.
[4]
In his time on the Supreme Court, he wrote 77 opinions for the court and 13
dissents
. His most dramatic dissent was when the court voided President Truman's seizure of the steel industry during a strike in a June 3, 1952, decision,
Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer
.
[
citation needed
]
His final public appearance at the court was when he read the decision not to review the conviction and death sentence of
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg
.
[
citation needed
]
After Justice
William O. Douglas
granted a stay of execution to the Rosenbergs at the last moment, Chief Justice Vinson sent special flights out to bring vacationing justices back to Washington in order to ensure the execution of the Rosenbergs.
[
citation needed
]
During his tenure as Chief Justice, one of his
law clerks
was future Associate Justice
Byron White
.
[
citation needed
]
The major issues his court dealt with included
racial segregation
,
labor unions
,
communism
and
loyalty oaths
.
[
citation needed
]
On racial segregation, he wrote that states practicing the
separate but equal
doctrine must provide facilities that were truly equal, in
Sweatt v. Painter
and
McLaurin v. Oklahoma State Regents
.
[
citation needed
]
The case of
Briggs v. Elliott
was before the Court at the time of his death.
[
citation needed
]
Vinson, not wanting a 5?4 decision, had ordered a second hearing of the case.
[
citation needed
]
He died before the case could be reheard, and his vote may have been pivotal.
[11]
Upon his death,
Earl Warren
was appointed to the Court and the case was heard again.
[
citation needed
]
When Secretary of State
Dean Acheson
came under fire from congressional Republicans for being "soft on communism" at the end of 1950 Vinson was briefly mentioned as the possible replacement as Secretary of State, which would have required his resignation from the court.
[12]
This, however, did not come about.
As Chief Justice, Vinson swore in Truman (in 1949) and
Dwight D. Eisenhower
(in 1953) as President.
Death and legacy
[
edit
]
Vinson died on September 8, 1953, of a
heart attack
at his Washington home. His body was interred in Pinehill Cemetery in Louisa, Kentucky.
[13]
[14]
An extensive collection of Vinson's personal and judicial papers is archived at the
University of Kentucky
in
Lexington
, where they are available for research.
[
citation needed
]
A portrait of Vinson hangs in the hallway of the chapter house of the Kentucky Alpha-Delta chapter of
Phi Delta Theta
(ΦΔΘ) international
fraternity
, at Centre College.
[
citation needed
]
Vinson was a member of the chapter in his years at Centre.
[
citation needed
]
Affectionately known as "Dead Fred", the portrait is taken by fraternity members to Centre football and basketball games and other events.
[
citation needed
]
The
Fred M. Vinson Birthplace
, in Louisa, Kentucky, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
[
citation needed
]
See also
[
edit
]
Notes
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
For biographical details see Hatcher (1967).
- ^
"Fred M. Vinson"
.
Oyez
.
Archived
from the original on 2017-02-11
. Retrieved
2017-06-27
.
- ^
St. Clair, James E.; Gugin, Linda C. (2002).
Chief Justice Fred M. Vinson of Kentucky: A Political Biography
. Lexington, KY: University Press of Kentucky. pp. 13?14.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
k
l
Frederick Moore Vinson
at the
Biographical Directory of Federal Judges
, a publication of the
Federal Judicial Center
.
- ^
Alonzo L. Hamby (1973).
Beyond the New Deal: Harry S.Truman and American Liberalism
. Columbia University Press. pp. 481?482.
- ^
Margaret Truman
,
Harry S. Truman
(1993), p. 330.
- ^
Video: Big Four Turns Down Austria on Tyrol, 1946/06/24 (1946)
.
Universal Newsreel
. 1946
. Retrieved
February 20,
2012
.
- ^
a
b
James E. St. Clair and Linda C. Gugin,
Chief Justice Fred M. Vinson of Kentucky: A Political Biography
Archived
2020-08-01 at the
Wayback Machine
, p. 169-171.
- ^
Vinson
michaelariens.com
Archived
2015-09-02 at the
Wayback Machine
- ^
"
Democrats 'Hope' In Acheson Case
",
Spokane Chronicle
(December 18, 1950), p. 2.
- ^
Christensen, George A. (1983).
"Here Lies the Supreme Court: Gravesites of the Justices"
.
Supreme Court Historical Society
1983 Yearbook
. Archived from
the original
on September 3, 2005.
- ^
Christensen, George A. (February 19, 2008). "Here Lies the Supreme Court: Revisited".
Journal of Supreme Court History
, Volume 33 Issue 1, Pages 17 - 41.
University of Alabama
.
Further reading
[
edit
]
- Abraham, Henry J.,
Justices and Presidents: A Political History of Appointments to the Supreme Court. 3d. ed.
(New York: Oxford University Press, 1992).
ISBN
0-19-506557-3
.
- Cushman, Clare,
The Supreme Court Justices: Illustrated Biographies,1789-1995
(2nd ed.) (Supreme Court Historical Society), (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) (Chelsea House Publishers: 1995)
ISBN
0-7910-1377-4
,
ISBN
978-0-7910-1377-9
.
- Hall, Kermit L., ed.
The Oxford Companion to the Supreme Court of the United States
. New York: Oxford University Press, 1992.
ISBN
0-19-505835-6
;
ISBN
978-0-19-505835-2
.
- HATCHER, JOHN HENRY.?"FRED VINSON: CONGRESSMAN FROM KENTUCKY, A POLITICAL BIOGRAPHY: 1890-1938" (PhD dissertation, University of Cincinnati?ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 1967.?6715964).
- Martin, Fenton S. and Goehlert, Robert U.,
The U.S. Supreme Court: A Bibliography
, (Congressional Quarterly Books, 1990).
ISBN
0-87187-554-3
.
- Pritchett, C. Herman,
Civil Liberties and the Vinson Court
. (The
University of Chicago
Press, 1969)
ISBN
978-0-226-68443-7
;
ISBN
0-226-68443-1
.
- St. Clair, James E., and Gugin, Linda C.,
Chief Justice Fred M. Vinson of Kentucky: A Political Biography
(
University Press of Kentucky
: 2002)
ISBN
0-8131-2247-3
;
ISBN
978-0-8131-2247-2
.
- Symposium, In Memoriam: Chief Justice Fred M. Vinson
, 49
Northwestern University Law Review
1?75, (1954).
- Urofsky, Melvin I.,
Division and Discord: The Supreme Court under Stone and Vinson, 1941-1953
(University of South Carolina Press, 1997)
ISBN
1-57003-120-7
.
- Urofsky, Melvin I.,
The Supreme Court Justices: A Biographical Dictionary
(New York: Garland Publishing 1994). 590 pp.
ISBN
0-8153-1176-1
;
ISBN
978-0-8153-1176-8
.
External links
[
edit
]
Wikisource
has original text related to this article:
- Frederick Moore Vinson
at the
Biographical Directory of Federal Judges
, a publication of the
Federal Judicial Center
.
- "Frederick Moore Vinson"
.
Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
.
- Frederick Moore Vinson Sr.
at
Find a Grave
- Biography
, at the U.S. Treasury Office of the Curator.
- Truman Presents Supreme Court Chief Justice Vinson With Historic Gavel, 1948
Shapell Manuscript Foundation
- Chief Justice Vinson Dies of Heart Attack
,
The New York Times
, September 8, 1953.
- Obituary,
The New York Times
, September 9, 1953,
Vinson Excelled In Federal Posts
.
- Oyez Project, Fred M. Vinson, United States Supreme Court.
- Supreme Court Historical Society, The Vinson Court.
|
---|
|
---|
- John Jay
(
1789?1795
,
cases
)
- John Rutledge
(
1795
,
cases
)
- Oliver Ellsworth
(
1796?1800
,
cases
)
- John Marshall
(
1801?1835
,
cases
)
- Roger B. Taney
(
1836?1864
,
cases
)
- Salmon P. Chase
(
1864?1873
,
cases
)
- Morrison Waite
(
1874?1888
,
cases
)
- Melville Fuller
(
1888?1910
,
cases
)
- Edward Douglass White
(
1910?1921
,
cases
)
- William Howard Taft
(
1921?1930
,
cases
)
- Charles Evans Hughes
(
1930?1941
,
cases
)
- Harlan F. Stone
(
1941?1946
,
cases
)
- Fred M. Vinson
(
1946?1953
,
cases
)
- Earl Warren
(
1953?1969
,
cases
)
- Warren E. Burger
(
1969?1986
,
cases
)
- William Rehnquist
(
1986?2005
,
cases
)
- John Roberts
(
2005?present
,
cases
)
| |
|
|
---|
*
Also served as Chief Justice of the United States
| |
|
|
---|
International
| |
---|
National
| |
---|
People
| |
---|
Other
| |
---|