William R. Day | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait,c. 1903–22 | |
| Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States | |
| In office March 2, 1903 – November 13, 1922 | |
| Nominated by | Theodore Roosevelt |
| Preceded by | George Shiras Jr. |
| Succeeded by | Pierce Butler |
| Judge of theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit andUnited States Circuit Courts for the Sixth Circuit | |
| In office February 28, 1899 – February 23, 1903 | |
| Nominated by | William McKinley |
| Preceded by | Seat established by 30 Stat. 803 |
| Succeeded by | John K. Richards |
| 36thUnited States Secretary of State | |
| In office April 28, 1898 – September 16, 1898 | |
| President | William McKinley |
| Preceded by | John Sherman |
| Succeeded by | John Hay |
| United States Assistant Secretary of State | |
| In office May 11, 1897 – April 27, 1898 | |
| President | William McKinley |
| Preceded by | William Woodville Rockhill |
| Succeeded by | John Bassett Moore |
| Personal details | |
| Born | William Rufus Day (1849-04-17)April 17, 1849 Ravenna, Ohio, U.S. |
| Died | July 9, 1923(1923-07-09) (aged 74) |
| Resting place | West Lawn Cemetery |
| Party | Republican |
| Spouse | |
| Relations | Robert H. Day (half-brother) Rufus P. Spalding (maternal grandfather) Zephaniah Swift Spalding (uncle) Anna Gunn (great-great-granddaughter) |
| Children | 4, includingWilliam L. andStephen A. |
| Parent |
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| Education | University of Michigan (BS) |
| Signature | _(cropped).jpg) |
William Rufus Day (April 17, 1849 – July 9, 1923) was an American diplomat and jurist who served as anassociate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1903 to 1922. Prior to his service on the Supreme Court, Day served asUnited States Secretary of State during the administration of PresidentWilliam McKinley. He also served as aUnited States circuit judge of theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and theUnited States Circuit Courts for the Sixth Circuit.
William Rufus Day was born on April 17, 1849, inRavenna,Ohio,[1][2] one of the children of Emily (née Spaulding) and JudgeLuther Day of theOhio Supreme Court.[3] His maternal grandfatherRufus P. Spalding was also a judge of the Ohio Supreme Court.[2] He graduated with aBachelor of Science degree from theUniversity of Michigan in 1870,[1] spent a year studying law with attorney and Judge George F. Robinson,[2][4] and then a year at theUniversity of Michigan Law School.[1] He was admitted to the bar on July 5, 1872, and settled inCanton, Ohio, where he began practicing law[1][2] in partnership withWilliam A. Lynch.[3] For twenty-five years, Day worked as a criminal defense and corporate lawyer in the growing industrial town while participating inRepublican politics.[3]
During these years, Day became a good friend ofWilliam McKinley.[3] Day became McKinley's legal and political adviser during McKinley's candidacies for theCongress, theGovernorship of Ohio, and thePresidency of the United States.[3] After he won the Presidency, McKinley appointed Day to beAssistant Secretary of State underSecretary of StateJohn Sherman.[1] Sherman was considered to be ineffective because of declining health and failing memory,[3] and in 1898, President McKinley replaced Sherman with Day.[1]
Five months later, Day vacated his cabinet position to helm the United States Peace Commission formed to negotiate an end to theSpanish–American War with Spain.[citation needed] After the Spanish–American War was declared, Day had argued that theSpanish colonies, other thanCuba, should be returned toSpain, contrary to McKinley's decision that the United States should take over from Spain control of thePhilippines,Puerto Rico, andGuam.[4] Day, however, negotiated peace with Spain on McKinley's harsher terms. Day was worried the terms McKinley was insisting on would be "humiliating" to Spain, and for that reason Spain would not agree to them. Ultimately Spain did submit to McKinley's "painfully harsh" terms.[4] His final diplomatic effort was to lead the United States Peace Commission toParis and sign thetreaty ending the war.[4] He was succeeded at the Department of State byJohn Hay.[4]
Day received arecess appointment from PresidentBenjamin Harrison to theUnited States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio on May 24, 1889, but declined the appointment.[1]
Day was nominated by PresidentWilliam McKinley on February 25, 1899, to theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and theUnited States Circuit Courts for the Sixth Circuit, to a new joint seat authorized by 30 Stat. 803.[1] He was confirmed by theUnited States Senate on February 28, 1899, and received his commission the same day.[1] His service terminated on February 23, 1903, due to his elevation to theUnited States Supreme Court.[1]
On February 19, 1903, Day was nominated by PresidentTheodore Roosevelt as anassociate justice of the Supreme Court, to succeedGeorge Shiras Jr.[5] Roosevelt had initially offered the position toWilliam Howard Taft, who declined in order to remain in his post asgovernor of the Philippines.[6] TheUnited States Senate confirmed the nomination on February 23, 1903,[5] and Day took the judicial oath of office on March 2, 1903.[7] He served as Circuit Justice for the Seventh Circuit from March 9, 1903, to March 17, 1912, and as Circuit Justice for the Sixth Circuit from March 18, 1912, to November 13, 1922.[1]
Day wrote 439 opinions during his tenure on the court, of which only 18 were dissents.[6] He distrusted large corporations and voted withantitrust majorities throughout his time on the court.[6] He sided with thegovernment in theStandard Oil,American Tobacco, andUnion Pacific cases in 1911 and 1912 and again in theSouthern Pacific case in 1922.[6]
Day delivered the opinion of the Court inWeeks v. United States, where the highest Court ruled that the warrantless seizure of documents from a private home violated theFourth Amendment prohibition against unreasonable searches and seizures, and evidence obtained in this manner isexcluded from use in federal criminal prosecutions.
After the death of Chief JusticeEdward Douglass White, Day proposed toPresident (and fellow Ohioan)Warren G. Harding a plan to crown his legal career by appointing him chief justice and serve for six months before retiring and letting former presidentWilliam Howard Taft become chief justice. Harding considered the proposal but Taft felt, when he learned of this plan, that a short-term appointment would not serve the office well, and that once confirmed by the Senate, the memory of Day would grow dim.
Day was an avidbaseball fan.[8] He would often leave the Court after oral argument and go straight toBoundary Field to watch theWashington Senators play. Day is recorded as asking his clerk for "regular updates" during the bench hearing ofStandard Sanitary Mfg. Co. v. United States about the final game of the1912 World Series.[9]
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Day retired from the court on November 13, 1922,[1] and briefly served as an Umpire of the Mixed Claims Commission to Adjudicate War Claims againstGermany.[1] He died on July 9, 1923, in his home in the Annex (now named Day Cottage) onMackinac Island inMichigan, aged 74.[1] He was interred atWest Lawn Cemetery in Canton.[10]
Day married Mary Elizabeth Schaefer, daughter of Louis Schaefer, of Canton on August 24, 1875. They were married until her death in 1912, and were the parents of four sons:William L., Rufus S.,Stephen A., and Luther.[2][3] His sons were appellate lawyers who litigated cases before the Supreme Court.[11] Through his son Luther, he is the great-great grandfather of the actressAnna Gunn.[12]
| Political offices | ||
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| Preceded by | United States Assistant Secretary of State 1897–1898 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | United States Secretary of State 1898 | Succeeded by |
| Legal offices | ||
| Preceded by Seat established by 30 Stat. 803 | Judge of theUnited States Circuit Courts for the Sixth Circuit 1899–1903 | Succeeded by |
| Judge of theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit 1899–1903 | ||
| Preceded by | Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States 1903–1922 | Succeeded by |
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