Taft, Holmes, and the 1920s court : an appraisal

Author / Creator

Burton, David H. (David Henry), 1925-2016

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Summary

"This study of William Howard Taft and Oliver Wendell Holmes delivers much more than the title suggests, yet the title remains appropriate. This is an account not only of their common membership on...

"This study of William Howard Taft and Oliver Wendell Holmes delivers much more than the title suggests, yet the title remains appropriate. This is an account not only of their common membership on the Court in the 1920s but an explanation, by means of a quasi-biographical method, of how they arrived at the summit of their careers as public men. By probing their Puritan influence, the foundations of much of what they believed and ruled upon as judges become clear and persuasive. Their public lives diverged, to be sure. Taft and Holmes both began as judges at the state level only to have Taft veer off in the direction of high-level administrative and elective offices." "Holmes, for his part, lived a much more sequestered life: five decades as a Massachusetts and then as a federal jurist. Holmes theorized about actualities, whereas Taft had known them directly. Somewhat surprisingly, Taft and Holmes could find common ground in a number of cases coming before them in the 1920s, but in controversial cases, such as Adkins v. Children's Hospital, they voted to uphold progressive legislation for women working in the District of Columbia. Down to 1927, in fact, Taft and Holmes either agreed or agreed to disagree. Thereafter, they were more often at cross purposes."--BOOK JACKET.

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