Van Devanter, Willis
As an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from to , Willis Van Devanter was considered the leading conservative justice of the era. Van Devanter's background in education, politics, and the law brought him to the bench, first as chief justice of the Wyoming Supreme Court and then as a U.S. circuit judge. In his twenty-six years on the U.S. Supreme Court, he consistently opposed the expansion of government power. His opposition was fiercest during the administration of President franklin d. roosevelt, when he joined three other conservative justices of the Supreme Court in fighting Roosevelt's legislative program, the new deal. Their like-minded opinions, which earned them the nickname the "Four Horsemen," led to a sharp confrontation with the president.
Born on April 17, , in Marion, Indiana, Van Devanter was the first of eight children born to Violetta Spencer and Isaac Van Devanter, a lawyer and abolitionist. He excelled in academics, graduating in from Indiana Asbury University (now DePauw University) with a near perfect record in history, math, Greek, and Latin. In he earned a bachelor of laws degree from the Cincinnati Law School and establis
Willis Van Devanter Edit Profile
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Willis Van Devanter was an American jurist. History remembers him as one of the Four Horsemen, the quartet of conservative justices on the Supreme Court who consistently defied the New Deal program of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and his Democratic Congress in the s.
Background
Mr. Van Devanter was born in Marion, Indiana, United States, on April 17, , the first of eight children born to Isaac Van Devanter and Violetta Spencer Van Devanter. His father was a lawyer who encouraged his eldest son to pursue the same calling.
Education
After attending schools in Marion, Willis Van Devanter enrolled at Indiana Asbury University (later to become DePauw University) but had to interrupt his studies after two years to earn a livelihood when his father became ill. Upon his father’s recovery, Willis Van Devanter was able to resume his academic career by enrolling in the University of Cincinnati Law School in , from which he graduated second in his class receiving Bachelor of Laws degree in
Career
Van Devanter joined his father’s law practice in the firm of Lace
Van Devanter, Willis (–)
Colleagues and contemporary observers agreed that Willis Van Devanter was enormously influential during his twenty-six years on the Supreme Court. Chief Justice william howard taft, who as President appointed him in , described his Wyoming associate as "my mainstay," "the most valuable man in our court," and the Justice who had "more influence" than any other. Justice louis d. brandeis, Van Devanter's ideological antipode, praised him as a "master of formulas that decided cases without creating precedents." Harvard's Professor felix frankfurter aptly dubbed him Taft's "Lord Chancellor."
Van Devanter's backstage prominence contrasted vividly with his well-known "pen paralysis." He rarely spoke for the Court in major constitutional cases. During his tenure, Van Devanter averaged only fourteen written opinions each year; during the s he averaged only three a year.
Van Devanter came to the Court after a career in Wyoming law and politics, followed by five years in the Interior Department. President theodore roosevelt appointed him to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals in ; eight years later, President Taft elevated him to the Supreme Court. Taft, himsel
Willis Van Devanter
Willis Van Devanter ()
Lived from to
Early Life
Willis Van Devanter was born in Marion, Indiana. Devanter earned an LL.B. from the Cincinnati Law School in , where he was a member of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity and the Knights of Pythias. After three years of private practice in Marion, he moved to the Wyoming Territory, where he served as city attorney of Cheyenne, Wyoming and a member of the territorial legislature. From to , Van Devanter served as an assistant attorney general in Washington, D.C., working in the Department of the Interior. Shortly after, in , President Theodore Roosevelt nominated him to a seat on the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Appointment to the Supreme Court
Van Devanter was nominated to serve as an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court of the United States by President William Howard Taft on December 12, During his twenty-five-year tenure on the bench, Van Devanter was known for having chronic writer’s block, which some characterized as “pen paralysis.” He wrote fewer opinions than any of his fellow justices&#;averaging just three a term during his last decade on the Court.
Van Devanter made his mark in opinions on
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