James Clark McReynolds

James Clark McReynolds (February 3, 1862–August 24, 1946) was an associate justice of the United States Supreme Court from September 5, 1914 to February 1, 1941.

Related Topics:
February 3 - 1862 - August 24 - 1946 - United States Supreme Court - September 5 - 1914 - February 1 - 1941

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Born at Elkton, Kentucky, he was graduated as valedictorian from Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee in 1882 and attended the University of Virginia law school. He was secretary to Senator Howell Edmunds Jackson, who later became an associate justice himself. McReynolds practiced law in Nashville. He ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 1886. Under Theodore Roosevelt he was Assistant Attorney General from 1903 to 1907, when he resigned to take up private practice in New York, New York.

Related Topics:
Elkton, Kentucky - Valedictorian - Vanderbilt University - Nashville, Tennessee - 1882 - University of Virginia - Howell Edmunds Jackson - Theodore Roosevelt - Assistant Attorney General - New York, New York

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In 1913, President Woodrow Wilson named him United States Attorney General and the next year appointed him to the Court. His opinions were terse and he did not often write dissents, considering it a waste of time. His fierce conservatism in the face of Franklin Roosevelt's legislation to fight the Great Depression led to him being labeled, with his conservative brethren, one of the Four Horsemen, along with George Sutherland, Willis Van Devanter and Pierce Butler. McReynolds, who despised Roosevelt, voted to strike down the Tennessee Valley Authority, the National Industrial Recovery Act and the Social Security Act and continued to vote against New Deal measures after the Court's 1937 "switch" to upholding New Deal legislation. With the death of Butler in 1939, McReynolds was the last of the Four Horsemen on the bench.

Related Topics:
Woodrow Wilson - United States Attorney General - Franklin Roosevelt - Great Depression - Four Horsemen - George Sutherland - Willis Van Devanter - Pierce Butler - Tennessee Valley Authority - National Industrial Recovery Act - Social Security Act

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McReynolds is widely considered one of the most unpleasant men to ever sit on the Court, being labeled "Scrooge" by Drew Pearson. He would not accept "Jews, drinkers, blacks, women, smokers, married or engaged individuals as law clerks." He was a blatant anti-semite and refused to sit near Louis Brandeis (the first Jew to sit on the Court) where he belonged on the basis of seniority for the Court's annual picture to be taken in 1924; Taft decided that no Court picture would be taken that year. McReynolds refused to speak to Brandeis for three years following his appointment and when Brandeis retired in 1939, did not sign the customary dedicatory letter sent to Court members on their retirement. During Benjamin Cardozo's swearing in ceremony he pointedly read a newspaper muttering "another one", and did not attend Felix Frankfurter's, exclaiming "My God, another Jew on the Court!" According to Knox, McReynolds never spoke to Cardozo at all. He was also a confirmed misogynist. Taft said McReynolds "seems to delight in making others uncomfortable."

Related Topics:
Drew Pearson - Anti-semite - Louis Brandeis - 1924 - Benjamin Cardozo's - Felix Frankfurter's - Misogynist

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However, McReynolds had a great love of children despite never marrying. As an example, he gave very generous assistance to thirty-three children who were victims of the German bombing of London in 1941 and left a sizeable fortune to charity. When the Supreme Court Building opened, McReynolds refused to move his office from his apartment into the new building.

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He resigned from the court in 1941 and lived in Washington, D.C. until his death there August 24, 1946. He is buried in the Elkton Cemetery, Elkton, Kentucky.

Related Topics:
Washington, D.C. - August 24 - 1946

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