Charles Evans Hughes

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Charles Evans Hughes
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
In office October 10, 1910 – June 10, 1916
Preceded by	David Josiah Brewer
Succeeded by	John Hessin Clarke
44th United States Secretary of State
In office March 5, 1921 – March 4, 1925
Preceded by	Bainbridge Colby
Succeeded by	Frank B. Kellogg
11th Chief Justice of the United States
In office February 24, 1930 – June 30, 1941
Preceded by	William Howard Taft
Succeeded by	Harlan Fiske Stone
Born	April 11, 1862 Glens Falls, New York, USA
Died	August 27, 1948 (aged 86) Osterville, Massachusetts, USA
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Antoinette Carter Hughes
Profession	Politician, Lawyer, Professor, Judge

Charles Evans Hughes (April 11, 1862 – August 27, 1948) was Governor of New York, United States Secretary of State, Associate Justice and Chief Justice of the United States.

Hughes was a precocious youngster; at age 6 he found public school boring and confining, and submitted to his parents a plan of study for homeschooling, which his parents accepted. Shortly before his 12th birthday his family moved from his birthplace, Glens Falls, New York, to New York City, where his parents enrolled him in public school. He graduated from high school at age 13, second in his class. His father was a Methodist minister from Wales, converting to the Baptist persuasion following his arrival in the United States, and his son, Charles, followed the Baptist religion.

He went to Madison College (now Colgate University) for two years (where he became a member of Delta Upsilon fraternity), then transferred to Brown University, where he continued as a member of Delta Upsilon and graduated in 1881 at age 19, youngest in his class, receiving third-highest honors. For the next year he worked at Delaware Academy in Delhi, New York where he taught Greek, Latin, and algebra in order to earn money for law school. He entered Columbia University law school in 1882, and graduated in 1884 with highest honors.

In 1885 he met Antoinette Carter, daughter of a senior partner of the law firm where he worked, and married her in 1888. They had one son and two daughters, one of whom was Elizabeth Hughes Gossett, who later served as president of the Supreme Court Historical Society.

In 1891 he left the practice of law to become a professor at Cornell University Law School, but in 1893 he returned to his old law firm.

In 1905 he was appointed counsel to a New York state legislative committee investigating utility rates. His uncovering of corruption led to lower gas rates in New York City. As a result he was appointed to investigate the insurance industry in New York.

He served as Governor of New York from 1907–1910, defeating William Randolph Hearst in the 1906 election to gain the position and was the only Republican statewide candidate to win office. In 1908 he was offered the vice-presidential nomination by William Howard Taft, but declined it to run again for Governor.

In 1909 he led an effort to incorporate Delta Upsilon fraternity. It was the first fraternity to incorporate and he served as its first international president. Today several other fraternities have followed Hughes' lead by incorporating.

Subsequently he was appointed an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. He began his service in October 1910. He wrote for the Court in Bailey v. Alabama 219 U.S. 219 (1911), which held that involuntary servitude encompassed more that just slavery, and Interstate Commerce Comm. v. Atchison T & SF R Co. 234 U.S. 294 (1914), holding that the ICC could regulate intrastate rates if they were significantly intertwined with interstate commerce. On June 16, 1916, he resigned to be Republican candidate for election as President of the United States. In the U.S. presidential election, 1916 Hughes was defeated by Woodrow Wilson in a close election (23 electoral votes and 594,188 popular votes). The Election higned on California where Wilson managed to win by a mere 3,800 votes and its 13 Electoral Votes and thus Wilson was returned for a second term. Hughes returned to private law practice, again at his old firm, Hughes, Rounds, Schurman & Dwight, today known as Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP

In 1920 Hughes favored ratification of the treaty creating the League of Nations.

His next position in the United States government was as Secretary of State under Warren G. Harding and Calvin Coolidge from 1921–1925. As Secretary of State he convened the Washington Conference in 1921, regulating naval armament among the Great Powers. After leaving the State Department, he again rejoined his old partners at the Hughes firm, which included his son and future Solictor General Charles E. Hughes, Jr., and was one of the nation's most sought-after advocates. From 1925 to 1930, for example, Hughes argued over 50 times before the U.S. Supreme Court. From 1926 to 1930, Hughes also served as a member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration and as a judge of the Permanent Court of International Justice in The Hague, The Netherlands from 1928 to 1930. He was additionally a delegate to the Pan American Conference on Arbitration and Conciliation from 1928 to 1930. Herbert Hoover, who had appointed Hughes' son as Solicitor General in 1929, appointed Hughes Chief Justice of the United States in 1930, in which capacity he served until 1941.

As Chief Justice, he led the fight against Franklin D. Roosevelt's attempt to pack the Supreme Court. Hughes was considered a moderate conservative on the Court. He wrote the opinion for the Court in Near v. Minnesota 283 U.S. 697 (1931), which held prior restraints against the press are unconstitutional. He was often aligned with Justices Louis Brandeis, Harlan Fiske Stone, and Benjamin Cardozo in finding President Roosevelt's New Deal measures to be Constitutional. Although he wrote the opinion invalidating the National Recovery Administration in Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States 295 U.S. 495 (1935), he wrote the opinions for the Court in NLRB v. Jones & Laughlin Steel Corp. 301 U.S. 1 (1937), NLRB v. Friedman-Harry Marks Clothing Co., 301 U.S. 58 (1937), and West Coast Hotel v. Parrish 300 U.S. 379 (1937) which looked favorably on New Deal Measures.

For many years, he was a member of the Union League Club of New York and served as its president from 1917 to 1919. The Hughes Room in the club is named for him.

On August 27, 1948, he died in Osterville, Massachusetts.

Charles Evans Hughes Middle School (of Long Beach, CA) was named in his honor, as was the Hughes Range in Antarctica.

Contents 1 Trivia 2 See also 3 External links 3.1 Archives 3.2 Legal opinions as Chief Justice

[edit] Trivia

He is the only Chief Justice to have sworn in the same man as President three times - Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1933, 1937 and 1941)

[edit] See also

• United States Supreme Court cases during the Hughes Court

[edit] External links

• "Mr. Hughes Goes to War" (An alternate history where Hughes is elected President of the United States in 1916)

[edit] Archives

• Judge Manuscript Information: Charles Evans Hughes. List of archives with documents via Judges of the United States Courts. Retrieved April 15, 2005.
• Archives at the Supreme Court Historical Society

[edit] Legal opinions as Chief Justice

• Near v. Minnesota ex rel. Olson, 283 U.S. 697 (1931).
• Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States, 295 U.S. 495 (1935).
• NLRB v. Jones & Laughlin Steel Corp., 301 U.S. 1 (1937).
• West Coast Hotel v. Parrish, 300 U.S. 379 (1937)

Preceded by Frank W. Higgins	Governor of New York 1907 – 1910	Succeeded by Horace White
Preceded by David Josiah Brewer	Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States October 10, 1910–June 10, 1916	Succeeded by John Hessin Clarke
Preceded by William Howard Taft	Republican Party presidential nominee 1916 (lost)	Succeeded by Warren G. Harding
Preceded by Bainbridge Colby	United States Secretary of State March 5, 1921–March 4, 1925	Succeeded by Frank B. Kellogg
Preceded by William Howard Taft	Chief Justice of the United States February 24, 1930–June 30, 1941	Succeeded by Harlan Fiske Stone

Governors of New York This box: view • talk • edit

G Clinton • Jay • G Clinton • Lewis • Tompkins • Tayler • D Clinton • Yates • D Clinton • Pitcher • Van Buren • Throop • Marcy • Seward • Bouck • Wright • Young • Fish • Hunt • Seymour • Clark • King • Morgan • Seymour • Fenton • Hoffman • JA Dix • Tilden • Robinson • Cornell • Cleveland • Hill • Flower • Morton • Black • T Roosevelt • Odell • Higgins • Hughes • White • J Dix • Sulzer • Glynn • Whitman • Smith • Miller • Smith • F Roosevelt • Lehman • Poletti • Dewey • Harriman • Rockefeller • Wilson • Carey • Cuomo • Pataki • Spitzer

The White Court
1910:	J. M. Harlan | J. McKenna | O.W. Holmes | Wm. R. Day | Wm. H. Moody | H.H. Lurton | C.E. Hughes
1911:	J. M. Harlan | J. McKenna | O.W. Holmes | Wm. R. Day | H.H. Lurton | C.E. Hughes | W. Van Devanter | J.R. Lamar
1912–1914:	J. McKenna | O.W. Holmes | Wm. R. Day | H.H. Lurton | C.E. Hughes | W. Van Devanter | J.R. Lamar | M. Pitney
1914–1916:	J. McKenna | O.W. Holmes | Wm. R. Day | C.E. Hughes | W. Van Devanter | J.R. Lamar | M. Pitney | J.C. McReynolds

United States Secretaries of State

Jefferson • Randolph • Pickering • J Marshall • Madison • Smith • Monroe • Adams • Clay • Van Buren • Livingston • McLane • Forsyth • Webster • Upshur • Calhoun • Buchanan • Clayton • Webster • Everett • Marcy • Cass • Black • Seward • Washburne • Fish • Evarts • Blaine • Frelinghuysen • Bayard • Blaine • Foster • Gresham • Olney • Sherman • Day • Hay • Root • Bacon • Knox • Bryan • Lansing • Colby • Hughes • Kellogg • Stimson • Hull • Stettinius • Byrnes • G Marshall • Acheson • Dulles • Herter • Rusk • Rogers • Kissinger • Vance • Muskie • Haig • Shultz • Baker • Eagleburger • Christopher • Albright • Powell • Rice

Chief Justices of the United States of America
Jay • Rutledge • Ellsworth • Marshall • Taney • Chase • Waite • Fuller • White • Taft • Hughes • Stone • Vinson • Warren • Burger • Rehnquist • Roberts

The Hughes Court
February–March 1930:	O.W. Holmes | W. Van Devanter | J.C. McReynolds | L.D. Brandeis | Geo. Sutherland | P. Butler | E.T. Sanford | H.F. Stone
June 1930–1932:	O.W. Holmes | W. Van Devanter | J.C. McReynolds | L.D. Brandeis | Geo. Sutherland | P. Butler | H.F. Stone | O.J. Roberts
1932–1937:	W. Van Devanter | J.C. McReynolds | L.D. Brandeis | Geo. Sutherland | P. Butler | H.F. Stone | O.J. Roberts | B.N. Cardozo
1937–1938:	J.C. McReynolds | L.D. Brandeis | Geo. Sutherland | P. Butler | H.F. Stone | O.J. Roberts | B.N. Cardozo | H. Black
1938:	J.C. McReynolds | L.D. Brandeis | P. Butler | H.F. Stone | O.J. Roberts | B.N. Cardozo | H. Black | S.F. Reed
1939:	J.C. McReynolds | L.D. Brandeis | P. Butler | H.F. Stone | O.J. Roberts | H. Black | S.F. Reed | F. Frankfurter | Wm. O. Douglas
1940–1941:	J.C. McReynolds | H.F. Stone | O.J. Roberts | H. Black | S.F. Reed | F. Frankfurter | Wm. O. Douglas | F. Murphy