Description:

WILLIAM H. TAFT
(1857 - 1930) Twenty-seventh President of the United States and Supreme Court Chief Justice. TAFT DECRIES A SUPREME COURT RULING AND ATTACKS AN ANTI-TRUST OPINION BEFORE HIS APPOINTMENT. Superb content T.L.S. on personal letterhead, 1p. 4to., New Haven, May 6, 1920, to 'My dear Charley.' In part: '...I have your letter of May 3rd in respect to the Steel Company case. I want to see the decision in the coal case. I read Mckenna's opinion and a more unsatisfactory opinion I have never read. He now becomes one of the majority in the anthracite coal case, reverting to what I supposed was the fixed opinion of the court. In other words he has made the steel company an exceptional case and one not furnishing any basis for authority for future action. His attitude is a little bit like that which Dooley attributed to Brown in the insular cases, whose change from one side to the other created singular variations...Dooley [Mckenna] said that the judgement of the court in the insular cases was this: 'Four of the Judges say the Constitution do follow the flag, and four of the justices say it do not follow the flag...but I am the lad to tell you when it do and when it don't.' I shall write you more fully about this matter after I have seen the coal case opinion. Of course, the question of the position of the court will be affected by the views of Brandeis and McReynolds...' Lightly toned, creased, else fine. Joseph Mckenna (1843-1926) American politician and Supreme Court Justice who served in all three branches of government. The name 'Dooley' refers to a comic Irish bartender created by author Peter Finley Dunne, and Taft likely uses the name for Mckenna because of his Irish catholic background. Mckenna's opinion referenced was for 'U.S. vs. United States Steel Corporation', an anti-trust case, and in it he expressed a moderate approach stating that such decisions would be decided on case-by-case basis. This clearly did not sit well with Taft, an advocate of the Sherman Anti-Trust act, who believed monopolies in any form are detrimental to the country. Taft would be appointed as Chief Justice to the court one year later by Harding, and according to one biographer he 'was as aggressive in the pursuit of his agenda in the judicial realm as Theodore Roosevelt was in the presidential.' Joseph Mckenna would serve on the Taft court for another 5 years before he retired in 1926 due to his failing health.

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December 9, 2021 10:00 AM EST
Elkton, MD, US

Alexander Historical Auctions LLC

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