The Supreme Court Under Edward Douglass White 1910 1921

This volume chronicles a transformation in American jurisprudence that mirrored the widespread political, economic and social upheavals of the early 20th century. White's tenure coincided with a shift from a rural to an urban society and the emergence of the US as a world power.

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Elite, personable, and persuasive, Edward Douglass White, a ‘‘large and bearish man from Louisiana,’’ served on the United States Supreme Court for twenty-seven years. During his tenure, first as an associate justice (1894–1910) and then as the ninth chief justice (1910–1921), White significantly influenced American public law. Robert Highsaw’ s extensive judicial biography stresses White’s constitutional thought and philosophy. Several chapters discuss his early years in Louisiana, his training in Jesuit schools there and at Georgetown University, and his early legal career in New Orleans. The emphasis, however, remains on White’s theories and applications of the judicial and constitutional processes. Edward Douglass White “1ooked upon the American constitutional system as a model for a well-ordered society that must be preserved.” White’s concept of a federal system in which the national and state governments each operated within a defined sphere of powers underlay many of his opinions. White considered farm issues that developed after the closing of the western frontier, economic issues precipitated by a growing laboring class, and tense political issues of civil liberties that emerged during World War I. He played an important part in developing administrative law and was, perhaps, most responsible for strengthening dual federalism of commerce and taxing powers. His pragmatism, evidenced in the Insular cases where his doctrine of “incorporated” and “unincorporated” territories, synthesized American constitutional law with the political reality of American imperialism. White was a conservative, but unlike the conservative justices of the 1920s and 1930s whose intransigence produced the judicial revolution of 1937, he saw that injury to the Constitution might result from its consistent use as a barrier to social progress. Significantly, Edward Douglass White demonstrates that “the judicial revolution of 1937 and the ensuing decades of the Court’s history are meaningless unless we know what happened fifty or so years earlier.”

An in-depth examination of the U.S. Supreme Court under the 11-year reign of Chief Justice Edward Douglass White. The White Court: Justices, Rulings, and Legacy examines the workings and legacies of the Supreme Court during the tenure of Chief Justice Edward Douglass White. Through detailed discussions of landmark cases, this reference work explores the role the Court played in steering the country through an era of economic growth, racial discrimination, and international warfare. The White Court reveals how the Court established its greatest legacy, the "rule of reason," in antitrust cases against the American Tobacco Company and Standard Oil, and how it resolved controversies concerning the expansion of executive power during wartime. Individual profiles of the 13 White Court justices describe their rise to prominence and controversies surrounding their nominations, their work on the Court, judicial philosophies, important decisions, and overall impact.

An insightful, chronological—by chief justice—examination of the Supreme Court that enables students and readers to understand and appreciate the constitutional role the Court plays in American government and society. American citizens need to understand the importance of the Supreme Court in determining how our government and society operates, regardless of whether or not they agree with the Court's opinions. Unfortunately, the role and powers of the third branch of government are not well understood by the American public. After an introduction and overview to the history of the Supreme Court from 1789 to 2013, this book examines the Court's decisions chronologically by Chief Justice, allowing readers to grasp how the role and powers of the Court have developed and shifted over time. The chapters depict the Court as the essential agent of review and an integrated part of the government, regardless of the majority/minority balance on the Court, and of which political party is in the White House or controlling the House or Senate.