During his two terms in office,PresidentHarry S. Truman appointed four members of theSupreme Court of the United States:Chief JusticeFred M. Vinson,Associate JusticeHarold H. Burton,Associate Justice Tom C. Clark, andAssociate Justice Sherman Minton.
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When Supreme Court Associate JusticeOwen J. Roberts retired in 1945, Truman decided to appoint aRepublican as a bipartisan gesture. Truman had first metHarold Hitz Burton in 1941, when Burton was elected to theUnited States Senate, where Truman was then serving. Burton served with Truman on the Senate investigative committee that oversaw the U.S. war effort duringWorld War II, and the two got along well.
On September 19, 1945, Truman nominated Burton, who was unanimously confirmed by theUnited States Senate on the same day byvoice vote, without hearing or debate.[1]
Chief JusticeHarlan Fiske Stone died in office on April 2, 1946. Rumors that Truman would appointRobert H. Jackson as Stone's successor led several newspapers to investigate and report on a controversy between Justice Jackson and JusticeHugo Black arising from Black's refusal to recuse himself inJewell Ridge Coal Corp. v. Local 6167, United Mine Workers (1945).[2][3] Black and Douglas allegedly leaked to newspapers that they would resign if Jackson were appointed Chief Justice.[3] On June 6, 1946, Truman nominatedFred M. Vinson, an old friend, as Stone's replacement. Vinson was confirmed by theUnited States Senate on June 20, 1946 by voice vote.[1]
The next vacancy occurred with the death of JusticeFrank Murphy on July 19, 1949. On August 2, 1949, Truman nominated Attorney GeneralTom C. Clark.The New York Times called Clark "a personal and political friend [of Truman's] with no judicial experience and few demonstrated qualifications."[4] Clark had held various position in the Justice Department during the Roosevelt Administration, and had met and become good friends with Truman during that time; when Truman became president, one of his first acts was to appoint Clark as Attorney General. After playing an active role in the effort to reelect Truman in 1948, Clark made clear to the White House that he was planning to return to Texas and the practice of law.[5] Following Justice Murphy's sudden death, however, Truman nominated Clark to fill the vacancy, partly to bolster the majority of Chief JusticeFred Vinson, a former cabinet colleague and friend of Clark who, since his 1946 appointment by Truman, had failed to unify the Court.[6]
Numerous attacks from across the political spectrum were leveled at the nomination.[7] Allegations included charges of “cronyism” and a lack of judicial experience. Policy objections focused on Clark's work at the center of Truman’s anti-communist agenda and, specifically, the Attorney General’s List of Subversive Organizations. Former Roosevelt cabinet members Henry Wallace andHarold Ickes also leveled broadsides, for both personal and ideological reasons.[8] Ickes said about Clark's nomination to the Court, "President Truman has not 'elevated' Tom C. Clark to the Supreme Court, he has degraded the Court."[9] Nevertheless, Clark was confirmed by theUnited States Senate on August 18, 1949 by a vote of 73–8.[1][10]
Truman's final opportunity to shape the Court came with the death ofWiley Blount Rutledge, also in 1949.Sherman Minton had previously served alongside Truman in the United States Senate, where the two had developed a close friendship. After Minton's 1940 Senate re-election bid had failed, President Roosevelt appointed him as a federal judge to theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. On September 15, 1949, Truman nominated Minton to the Supreme Court, and the nomination was confirmed by theUnited States Senate on October 4, 1949 by a vote of 48–16.[1][11]
Following is a list of individuals who were mentioned in various news accounts and books as having been considered by Truman for a Supreme Court appointment:
NOTE: At the time of Truman's presidency, the states of the Eleventh Circuit were part of the Fifth Circuit. The Eleventh Circuit was not created until 1981.
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