<--PREV Doc #424  |  Memorial Commission Home Page  |  First Term Table of Contents  |  Presidential Papers Home Page  |  Doc#  |  NEXT--> Doc #426 Document #425; September 22, 1953 To Edgar Newton Eisenhower Series: EM, AWF, Name Series ; Category: Personal and confidential The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, Volume XIV - The Presidency: The Middle Way Part III: The Space Age Begins; October 1957 to January 1958 Chapter 6: Building strength when there is "no perfect answer"   Dear Ed: If you could be here, of course I should like to talk with you at length about this whole subject of appointments, especially to the Supreme Court.1 So far as I can find out, there seems to be universal respect for Hughes, Taft, and Stone as Chief Justices.2 None of them had any great experience as a judge--indeed, they were principally known for efforts in work other than law. This did not apply to Stone, who was Dean of Columbia's Law School. But the point is that he was not a practicing lawyer, nor a judge. As I recall the life of John Marshall, the same applied to him.3 I cite these things just to suggest that a Governor with a good legal background just might be about the best type we could find--provided, of course, that he had a successful record of administration and experience and was nationally known as a man of integrity and fairness.4 Another thing that I am trying to get away from is excessive age in the appointee. I should like to get hold of someone who does not reach the voluntary retirement age of seventy in two years.5 As ever 1 Eisenhower and his brother Edgar had corresponded earlier about candidates to fill the vacancy on the Supreme Court following the death of Chief Justice Frederick M. Vinson (see no. 415). 2 Eisenhower was referring to ex-Governor Charles Evans Hughes, former U.S. President William Howard Taft, and Harlan Fiske Stone. 3 John Marshall, member of the Virginia Assembly, Federalist congressman, and Secretary of State, had served as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court from 1801 until 1835. 4 "I have such a low regard for the legal ability of most politicians," Edgar had written, "including governors, that I naturally strike them off any list of judicial appointments." "I used to look upon the Supreme Court of the United States in awe," he went on, "but, with a few exceptions, members appointed to that body in the last twenty years would look better on that pile of humus we used to make outside the barn door!" 5 For developments see nos. 457 and 795. Bibliographic reference to this document: Eisenhower, Dwight D. Personal and confidential To Edgar Newton Eisenhower, 22 September 1953. In The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, ed. L. Galambos and D. van Ee, doc. 425. World Wide Web facsimile by The Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial Commission of the print edition; Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996, http://www.eisenhowermemorial.org/presidential-papers/first-term/documents/425.cfm <--PREV Doc #424  |  Memorial Commission Home Page  |  First Term Table of Contents  |  Presidential Papers Home Page  |  Doc#  |  NEXT--> Doc #426

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