Arthur Goldberg | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Goldberg in 1971 | |
| 6thUnited States Ambassador to the United Nations | |
| In office July 28, 1965 – June 24, 1968 | |
| President | Lyndon B. Johnson |
| Preceded by | Adlai Stevenson II |
| Succeeded by | George Ball |
| Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States | |
| In office October 1, 1962 – July 25, 1965[1] | |
| Nominated by | John F. Kennedy |
| Preceded by | Felix Frankfurter |
| Succeeded by | Abe Fortas |
| 9thUnited States Secretary of Labor | |
| In office January 21, 1961 – September 20, 1962 | |
| President | John F. Kennedy |
| Preceded by | James P. Mitchell |
| Succeeded by | W. Willard Wirtz |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Arthur Joseph Goldberg (1908-08-08)August 8, 1908 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Died | January 19, 1990(1990-01-19) (aged 81) Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
| Relatives | Barry Goldberg (nephew) |
| Education | |
| Awards | .svg) Presidential Medal of Freedom (1978) |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Branch/service |  United States Army (1942–1945) United States Air Force (1946) |
| Rank |  Colonel |
| Unit |  Office of Strategic Services Air Force Reserve Command |
| Battles/wars | World War II Vietnam War |
Arthur Joseph Goldberg (August 8, 1908 – January 19, 1990) was an American statesman and jurist who served as the 9thU.S. Secretary of Labor, anAssociate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, and the 6thUnited States Ambassador to the United Nations.
Born inChicago,Illinois, Goldberg graduated from theNorthwestern University School of Law in 1930. He became a prominent labor attorney and helped arrange the merger of theAmerican Federation of Labor and theCongress of Industrial Organizations. DuringWorld War II, he served in theOffice of Strategic Services, organizing European resistance toNazi Germany. In 1961, PresidentJohn F. Kennedy appointed Goldberg as the Secretary of Labor. DuringVietnam, he served in theAir Force Reserve.
In 1962, Kennedy successfully nominated Goldberg to the Supreme Court to fill a vacancy created by the retirement ofFelix Frankfurter. Goldberg aligned with the liberal bloc of justices and wrote the majority opinion inEscobedo v. Illinois. In 1965, Goldberg resigned from the bench to accept appointment by PresidentLyndon B. Johnson as the Ambassador to the United Nations. In that role, he helped draftUN Resolution 242 in the aftermath of theSix-Day War. He ran forgovernor of New York in1970 but was defeated byNelson Rockefeller. After his defeat, he served as president of theAmerican Jewish Committee and continued to practice law.
Goldberg was born and raised onWest Side, Chicago, the youngest of eight children of Rebecca Perlstein and Joseph Goldberg,Orthodox Jewish immigrants from theRussian Empire. His paternal line derived from ashtetl called Zenkhov, inUkraine, while his mother's family was fromTetiev. Goldberg's father, a produce peddler, died in 1916, forcing Goldberg's siblings to quit school and go to work to support the family. As the youngest child, Goldberg was allowed to continue school, but worked jobs on the side, including as a vendor atWrigley Field and as a library clerk, to help support his family. He was childhood friends with future professional boxerJackie Fields.[2] Goldberg attended classes and lectures at theHull House, which aimed to educate recent European immigrants.[2] He graduated fromHarrison Technical High School[3] at the age of 16.
Goldberg's interest in the law was sparked by the noted murder trial in 1924 ofLeopold and Loeb, two wealthy young Chicagoans who were spared thedeath penalty with the help of their high-powereddefense attorney,Clarence Darrow. Goldberg attended the trial while he was a high school senior.[2] Goldberg later pointed to the case as inspiration for his opposition to the death penalty on the bench, since he had seen how inequality of social status could lead to unfair application of the death penalty.[2] Jewish Supreme Court JusticesLouis Brandeis andBenjamin Cardozo also served as inspiration to Goldberg from a young age.[4]
Goldberg, who worked part time as a construction worker, took night courses atCrane Junior College of theCity Colleges of Chicago andDePaul University. He later earned aB.S.L. (magna cum laude; 1929) andJ.D. (1930) degrees fromNorthwestern University.[5] Goldberg served as the Editor of theIllinois Law Review (now known as theNorthwestern Law Review) and helped Law DeanJohn Henry Wigmore write his third edition of the treatise on evidence.[2] Goldberg graduated from Northwestern law school in just 2.5 years and with the highest academic record ever at Northwestern. Being just 21-years-old, he was too young to pass the Illinois Bar.[4] However, he sued and successfully argued his own case to be admitted to the bar.[4]
In 1931, Goldberg marriedDorothy Kurgans. They had one daughter, Barbara Goldberg Cramer, and one son, Robert M. Goldberg (an attorney inAnchorage, Alaska).[6] He was the uncle of prolificblues rock keyboardistBarry Goldberg.[7]
During World War II, Goldberg joined theUnited States Army in 1942, wherein he served as acaptain and later amajor, and he served until the war ended in 1945.[8] He wanted to join the Marines, but was not physically fit enough.[4] Goldberg served as well in an espionage group operated by theOffice of Strategic Services, the precursor to theCIA,[4] serving as chief of the Labor Desk, an autonomous division of the American intelligence agency that was charged with the task of cultivating contacts and networks within the European underground labor movement during World War II. TheJewish Telegraphic Agency stated, "Goldberg's file notes that as both a civilian and a member of the Army, he supervised a section in theSecret Intelligence Branch of OSS to maintain contact with labor groups and organizations regarded as potential resistance elements in enemy-occupied and enemy countries. He organized anti-Nazi European transportation workers into an extensive intelligence network."[9]
During theVietnam War, Goldberg commissioned as acolonel in theAir Force Reserve but resigned in 1964 to avoid any appearance of conflict of interest after his appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court.[10][11]
Due to antisemitism, Goldberg was unable to work in Chicago's big law firms because they would not hire Jews. Instead, he started his legal career at Pritzger & Pritzger, a firm founded by German Jews.[4] However, he was uncomfortable with his work at Pritzger because the work mainly dealt with representing large businesses.[4]
Goldberg's interest in labor law spiked at the start ofThe Great Depression and in 1933 he left Pritzger to create his own boutique law firm, which was focused on labor law.[4] Goldberg joined theNational Lawyers Guild (NLG), a group that was advocating forThe New Deal, in the mid-1930s.[4] However, Goldberg, among others, resigned a few years later due to the NLG's growing association with the American Communist Party.[4]
Goldberg became a prominent labor lawyer and represented striking Chicago newspaper workers on behalf of theCongress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) in 1938. The strike went on for eight months and Goldberg spent almost everyday in court arguing on the worker's behalf. Eventually, the strike persuadedWilliam Randolph Hearst to recognize the newspaper union.[2] Appointed general counsel to the CIO in 1948 to succeedLee Pressman,[12] Goldberg served as a negotiator and chief legal adviser in the merger of theAmerican Federation of Labor and CIO in 1955. AFL-CIO is one of the US major labor unions representing America's workers and labor. Goldberg also served as general counsel of theUnited Steelworkers of America.[4]
Goldberg was an active participant in the National Citizens Political Action Committee and the CIO Political Action Committee. He supported the presidential campaigns ofFranklin D. Roosevelt andHarry Truman.[4] Goldberg initially supported SenatorJoseph McCarthy's efforts to investigate communism in the United States, but soon opposed those efforts after it became clear they threatened the organized labor movement.[4]
In 1960, Goldberg wanted his friendAdlai Stevenson to run for president, but Stevenson encouraged Goldberg to backHubert Humphrey.[4] Instead, Goldberg backed SenatorJohn F. Kennedy.[4] Goldberg served as a labor advisor to Kennedy's campaign and was influential in getting unions to back Kennedy.[4]
PresidentJohn F. Kennedy nominated Goldberg to beUnited States Secretary of Labor, where he served from 1961 to 1962. He was the third Jew to be named to a Cabinet position.[2] Goldberg wanted to be namedAttorney General, so he would improve his chances of getting nominated to the Supreme Court, but that spot went to Kennedy's brotherRobert.[4] As Labor Secretary, Goldberg encouraged Kennedy to increase the minimum wage, extend unemployment benefits, create job opportunities for the youth and invest in economically distressed areas.[4] Following Goldberg's advice, Kennedy established thePresident's Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity (PCEEO), which ensured employees are treated fairly regardless of "race, creed, color, or national origin."[4] Goldberg also championed the creation of the President's Advisory Committee on Labor-Management Policy.[4]
On August 31, 1962, Kennedynominated Goldberg as anassociate justice of theU.S. Supreme Court, to succeedFelix Frankfurter,[13] who was retiring. Earlier that same year, Kennedy had considered nominating Goldberg to succeedCharles Whittaker, but choseByron White instead. Frankfurter and Chief JusticeEarl Warren were consulted by the President beforehand and both gave their full support.[14]
He was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on September 25,[15] and served on the Court from October 1, 1962, until July 25, 1965.[1] Only one Senator,Strom Thurmond from South Carolina, opposed his nomination.[2] During his tenure, the seat Goldberg occupied on the Court came to be informally known as the "Jewish seat", as his two immediate predecessors—Frankfurter and, before him,Benjamin Cardozo—were also Jewish.[16] In more recent times, more than one justice of Jewish descent have served on the Court simultaneously. For example, the Supreme Court careers ofRuth Bader Ginsburg,Stephen Breyer, andElena Kagan overlapped.
As of 2024[update], Goldberg is the lastCabinet official to have also served on the Supreme Court.
Despite his short time on the bench, Goldberg played a significant role in the Court'sjurisprudence. Replacing Justice Felix Frankfurter, who was a center-right Justice, Goldberg's liberal views onconstitutional questions shifted the Court's balance toward a broader construction of constitutional rights.[4] A self-described judicial activist, Goldberg voted for a liberal outcome in 89 percent of cases before the Court.[2]
His best-known opinion came in his concurrence ofGriswold v. Connecticut (1965), arguing that theNinth Amendment supported the existence of an unenumeratedright of privacy. He argued that to determine if a right is a fundamental right, the court should look to whether the right involved is of such a character that it cannot be denied without violating those fundamental principles of liberty and justice which lie at the base of all America's civil and political institutions.[17]
Perhaps Goldberg's most influential move on the Court involved the death penalty. Goldberg argued in a 1963 internal Supreme Courtmemorandum that imposition of the death penalty was condemned by the international community and should be regarded as "cruel and unusual punishment," in contravention of theEighth Amendment. Finding support in this position from two other justices (William J. Brennan andWilliam O. Douglas), Goldberg published an opinion dissenting from the Court's denial ofcertiorari in a case,Rudolph v. Alabama, involving the imposition of the death penalty for rape, in which Goldberg cited the fact that only five nations responding to a UN survey indicated that they allowed imposition of the death penalty for rape, including the U.S., and that 33 states in the U.S. had outlawed the practice.
Goldberg's dissent sent a signal to lawyers across the nation to challenge the constitutionality of capital punishment in appeals. As a result of the influx of appeals, the death penalty effectively ceased to exist in the United States for the remainder of the 1960s and 1970s, and the Supreme Court considered the issue in the 1972 case ofFurman v. Georgia, where the Justices, in a 5 to 4 decision, effectively suspended the death penalty laws of states across the country on the ground of the capricious imposition of the penalty. That decision would be revisited inGregg v. Georgia (1976), where the justices voted to allow the death penalty under some circumstances; the death penalty for rape of an adult female victim, however, would be struck down inCoker v. Georgia (1977). In 2008, the death penalty for rape of children was ruled unconstitutional by a 5 to 4 decision (Kennedy v. Louisiana). Writing forThe New York Times,Adam Liptak said that Goldberg's dissent helped "create the modern movement for the abolition of the death penalty."[18]
Goldberg also wrote the majority opinions inEscobedo v. Illinois, which provided criminal defendants the right to counsel during interrogation under the Sixth Amendment andKennedy v. Mendoza-Martinez, which declared unconstitutional parts of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 that revoked citizenship for those that had fled the country in order to dodge the draft.[2]
Despite Goldberg's short tenure on the court, a number of hislaw clerks have gone on to become deeply influential.Stephen Breyer later became an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court and he held Goldberg's seat on the Court from 1994 until 2022.[19] Another of Goldberg's law clerks was Harvard law professorAlan Dershowitz. Since other justices would be unlikely to hire a Jewish clerk, Goldberg emphasized hiring Jewish clerks. Six out of eight of his law clerks were Jewish.[2]
In 1965, Goldberg was persuaded by Johnson to resign his seat on the court to replace the recently deceasedAdlai Stevenson II as theU.S. ambassador to theUnited Nations (UN). Johnson wanted to appoint his friend,Abe Fortas, to the court.[20] If any of hisGreat Society reforms were going to be deemed unconstitutional by the Court, he thought that Fortas would notify him in advance. Goldberg, who had declined an earlier offer to leave his position to beSecretary of Health, Education and Welfare, took Johnson's offer of the UN ambassadorship when Johnson discussed it with him onAir Force One to Illinois for Stevenson's funeral.[21] Goldberg was promised by Johnson that he would be a member of the President's cabinet and would be involved in all decisions involving ending the Vietnam War.[2]Bruce Allen Murphy, a professor atLafayette College, wrote in one of his books that Johnson also told Goldberg that he would consider putting him on his ticket as vice president in the1968 United States presidential election.[2]
Goldberg wrote that he resigned to have influence in keeping the peace inVietnam and that after the crisis had passed, he expected he would be reappointed to the Supreme Court by Johnson to replace the retiring Chief Justice Earl Warren. He also said, "I had an exaggerated opinion of my capacities. I thought I could persuade Johnson that we were fighting the wrong war in the wrong place [and] to get out."[22]: 348–351
David Stebenne, Goldberg's biographer, adds, "Many observers, then and later, found this answer hard to accept." He suggests, "Johnson must have had some influence over Goldberg that induced him [to resign from the Supreme Court]."Time reported in 1962 that Johnson knew that for a party thrown in Johnson's honor that year, a Goldberg aide, Jerry Holleman, solicited contributions from wealthy supporters of Johnson, includingBilly Sol Estes. Holleman accepted responsibility and there was no public awareness of Goldberg and Johnson's involvement.[23]
Johnson said of the Goldberg decision in his later-released audio tapes:
Goldberg would be able to answer the Russians... very effectively... He's got a bulldog face on him, and I think this Jew thing would takeThe New York Times-- all this crowd that gives me hell all the time-- and disarm them. And still have a Johnson man. I've always thought that Goldberg was the ablest man in Kennedy's Cabinet, and he was the best man to us.... Goldberg sold bananas, you know.... He's kind of like I am... He's shined some shoes in his day and he's sold newspapers, and he's had to slug it out...[21]
Goldberg chose to retain only one of Stevenson's aides, US AmbassadorCharles W. Yost, a career Foreign Service Office who was able to help Goldberg navigate the intricacies of United Nations procedures, and foreign affairs debates in the Security Council. While serving as UN Ambassador, Goldberg was successful at brokering peace between Greece and Turkey during theCyprus crisis of 1967 and helped diplomatically resolve a conflict betweenNorth Korea and the United States following the 1968Pueblo incident.[2]
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In 1967, Goldberg was a key drafter ofResolution 242, which followed the 1967Six-Day War betweenIsrael and theArab states. While interpretation of that resolution has subsequently become controversial, Goldberg was very clear that the resolution does not obligate Israel to withdraw from all of the captured territories. He stated that:
The notable omissions in language used to refer to withdrawal are the wordsthe,all, and theJune 5, 1967, lines. I refer to the English text of the resolution. The French and Soviet texts differ from the English in this respect, but the English text was voted on by the Security Council, and thus it is determinative. In other words, there is lacking a declaration requiring Israel to withdraw from the (or all the) territories occupied by it on and after June 5, 1967. Instead, the resolution stipulateswithdrawal from occupied territories without defining the extent of withdrawal. And it can be inferred from the incorporation of the wordssecure and recognized boundaries that the territorial adjustments to be made by the parties in their peace settlements could encompass less than a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from occupied territories [italics by Goldberg].[24]
Goldberg's role as the UN ambassador during the Six-Day War may have been the reason whySirhan Sirhan, the assassin ofRobert F. Kennedy, also wanted to assassinate Goldberg.[25]
Frustrated with the war in Vietnam, Goldberg resigned from the ambassadorship in 1968 and accepted a senior partnership with the New York law firmPaul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison. Longing to return to the bench, Goldberg later claimed that he wasEarl Warren's preference to succeed him when the chief justice announced his retirement in 1968, but President Johnson selectedAbe Fortas instead.[26] After Fortas's nomination was withdrawn in the face of Senate opposition, Johnson briefly considered naming Goldberg chief justice as arecess appointment before ruling out the idea.[22]: 373 On 15 October 1969, Goldberg was a featured speaker at theMoratorium to End the War in Vietnam march.[27]
With the prospect of a return to the Supreme Court closed to him by the election ofRichard Nixon, Goldberg contemplated a run for elected office. Initially considering a challenge toCharles Goodell's reelection to the United States Senate, he decided to run againstNew York GovernorNelson Rockefeller in1970.[2] Though the former justice initially polled well, his campaign was unsuccessful. Goldberg faced accusations of being a "carpetbagger" by the New York media and he faced a contested Democratic primary campaign againstHoward J. Samuels.[2] Although Goldberg won the Democratic primary, his poor skills as a campaigner and lack of knowledge about New York (while campaigning in Manhattan, he mistakenly claimed that he was in Brooklyn), coupled with Rockefeller's formidable advantages, resulted in a 700,000 vote margin of victory for the incumbent Republican.[22]: 375–8 At one point in the campaign, Goldberg told a voter, who commented that he wished he was still on the Court "so do I, sometimes."[2]Basil Paterson was his running mate as Lt. Governor. Paterson's son,David, later became Governor in 2008.
After his defeat, Goldberg returned to law practice in Washington, D.C., and served as President of theAmerican Jewish Committee.[28] In 1972, Goldberg returned to the Supreme Court as a lawyer, representingCurt Flood inFlood v. Kuhn. His oral argument was referred to by one observer as "one of the worst arguments I'd ever heard – by one of the smartest men I've ever known..."[29] Under PresidentJimmy Carter, Goldberg served as United States Ambassador to the Belgrade Conference on Human Rights in 1977, and was awarded thePresidential Medal of Freedom in 1978.
Goldberg was a member of theCouncil on Foreign Relations from 1966 until 1989.
Goldberg died in 1990. As a former member of theU.S. Army he was buried atArlington National Cemetery inVirginia.[30]
Just two days before Holleman confirmed that he had asked Estes and other Texans to pick up the tab for a January dinner Labor Secretary Arthur Goldberg gave for Lyndon Johnson, but said he backed off when he learned that Goldberg's policy was to pay for all such dinners himself. Goldberg promptly offered to produce canceled checks to prove he had paid for the dinner. Said Holleman of Billie Sol, in words reminiscent of a previous Democratic Administration: "I have not and I never will deny him as a friend."
| Legal offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States 1962–1965 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | United States Secretary of Labor 1961–1962 | Succeeded by |
| Diplomatic posts | ||
| Preceded by | United States Ambassador to the United Nations 1965–1968 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Democratic nominee forGovernor of New York 1970 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Liberal nominee forGovernor of New York 1970 | |
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Italics indicates acting | |||
Justices of theSupreme Court of the United States | |||||||
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