Charles Evans Whittaker | |
|---|---|
 Whittaker,c. 1956 | |
| Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States | |
| In office March 25, 1957 – March 31, 1962 | |
| Nominated by | Dwight D. Eisenhower |
| Preceded by | Stanley Forman Reed |
| Succeeded by | Byron White |
| Judge of theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit | |
| In office June 5, 1956 – March 24, 1957 | |
| Nominated by | Dwight D. Eisenhower |
| Preceded by | John Caskie Collet |
| Succeeded by | Marion Charles Matthes |
| Judge of theUnited States District Court for the Western District of Missouri | |
| In office July 8, 1954 – June 21, 1956 | |
| Nominated by | Dwight D. Eisenhower |
| Preceded by | Albert L. Reeves |
| Succeeded by | Randle Jasper Smith |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Charles Evans Whittaker (1901-02-22)February 22, 1901 |
| Died | November 26, 1973(1973-11-26) (aged 72) Kansas City,Missouri, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 3 |
| Education | Kansas City School of Law (LLB) |
Charles Evans Whittaker (February 22, 1901 – November 26, 1973) was anAssociate Justice of the United States Supreme Court from 1957 to 1962. After working in private practice inKansas City,Missouri, he was nominated for theUnited States District Court for the Western District of Missouri. In 1956, PresidentDwight D. Eisenhower nominated Whittaker to theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. In 1957, he won confirmation to theSupreme Court of the United States, thus becoming the first individual to serve as a judge on a federal district court, a federal court of appeals, and the United States Supreme Court. During his brief tenure on theWarren Court, Whittaker emerged as a swing vote. In 1962, he had anervous breakdown and resigned from the Court. After leaving the Supreme Court, he served as chief counsel toGeneral Motors and frequently criticized theCivil Rights Movement and theWarren Court.
Whittaker was born on a farm nearTroy,Kansas to Charles Edward Whittaker, a farmer, and Ida Eve Miller, a schoolteacher fromHagerstown,Maryland. He attended the nearby one-room Brush Creek School, and then theTroy High School until he dropped out in the ninth grade after his mother died on his sixteenth birthday. He spent the next three years working on a family farm, and also hunting and trapping. Whittaker developed an interest in law by reading newspaper articles about criminal trials. In the summer of 1920, he applied to the part-time evening program at the Kansas City School of Law (currently theUniversity of Missouri–Kansas City School of Law) and gained admission with the condition that he would finish his high school education after personally pleading with Oliver Dean, the president of the law school. He immediately enrolled at Manual High School inKansas City,Missouri and spent the next four years working during the day to support himself, while taking high school and law school courses in the evenings. Whittaker's law school classmates included future PresidentHarry S. Truman. Whittaker graduated in the class of 1924 with aBachelor of Laws having been admitted to the Missouri bar during his senior year.[1][2] Whittaker joined the law firm of Watson, Ess, Marshall & Enggas in Kansas City, Missouri, where he previously worked full-time as an office boy, and built up a practice incorporate law with theUnion Pacific Railroad,Montgomery Ward, and the City National Bank and Trust Company among his clients. He was a member ofTau Kappa Epsilon fraternity and developed close ties to theRepublican Party.[3]
Whittaker was nominated by PresidentDwight D. Eisenhower on May 11, 1954, to a seat on theUnited States District Court for the Western District of Missouri vacated by JudgeAlbert L. Reeves. He was confirmed by theUnited States Senate on July 7, 1954, and received his commission the next day. His service terminated on June 21, 1956, due to his elevation to the Eighth Circuit.[2]
Whittaker was nominated by President Eisenhower on March 16, 1956, to a seat on theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit vacated by JudgeJohn Caskie Collet. He was confirmed by the Senate on June 4, 1956, and received his commission the next day. His service terminated on March 24, 1957, due to his elevation to theSupreme Court of the United States.[2]
Whittaker was nominated by President Eisenhower on March 2, 1957, as anassociate justice of the Supreme Court, to succeedStanley Forman Reed. He was confirmed by the Senate on March 19, 1957, by a unanimous vote.[4] Whittaker took the judicial oath of office on March 25, 1957.[5] He thus became the first person to serve as a judge of aUnited States District Court, aUnited States Court of Appeals, and the Supreme Court of the United States.Samuel Blatchford also served at all three levels of the federal judiciary, but the court system was configured slightly differently at that time. Whittaker served as Circuit Justice of the Eighth Circuit and the Tenth Circuit for his duration of service on the Supreme Court.
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On the closely divided Supreme Court, Whittaker was a swing vote. According to Professor Howard Ball, Whittaker was an "extremely weak, vacillating justice" who was "courted by the two cliques on the Court because his vote was generally up in the air and typically went to the group that made the last, but not necessarily the best, argument."[6] Whittaker failed to develop a consistent judicial philosophy and reportedly felt himself not as qualified as some of the other members of the Court. After agonizing deeply for months over his vote inBaker v. Carr, a landmarkreapportionment case, Whittaker suffered anervous breakdown in the spring of 1962. At the behest of Chief JusticeEarl Warren, Whittaker recused himself from the case and retired from the Court effective March 31, 1962 due to a certified disability, citing exhaustion from the heavy workload and stress.[7]
As of 2025, Whittaker remains the only Supreme Court Justice appointed from Missouri. He is also the most recently appointed Justice to have receivedhis legal education froma public law school.
Effective September 30, 1965, Whittaker resigned his position as a retired Justice in order to become chief counsel toGeneral Motors. He also became a resolute critic of theWarren Court as well as theCivil Rights Movement, characterizing thecivil disobedience of the type practiced byMartin Luther King Jr. and his followers as lawless. He wrote a piece for theFBI Law Enforcement Bulletin that advised protesters to use courts instead of taking to the streets.[8] Whittaker died on November 26, 1973, atSt. Luke's Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri of a ruptured abdominalaneurysm.[9][10]
In 1928, Whittaker married Winifred R. Pugh. They had three sons: Dr. Charles Keith Whittaker, a neurosurgeon; Kent E. Whittaker, an attorney; and Gary T. Whittaker, a stockbroker.
The federal courthouse in downtown Kansas City, Missouri, which houses theUnited States District Court for the Western District of Missouri, is named in memory of Whittaker.
| Legal offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Judge of theUnited States District Court for the Western District of Missouri 1954–1956 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Judge of theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit 1956–1957 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States 1957–1962 | Succeeded by |
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