Today in Supreme Court History: September 8, 1953

9/8/1953: Chief Justice Fred Vinson dies.

Chief Justice Fred Vinson

 

Comments

[Eddy]

I hate to harp on this, but did Vinson die again three years later, like Levi Woodbury in your entry on him?

I "Woodbury" the hatchet, but you can't seem to make up your mind when he shuffled off this mortal coil.

[Nick Gillespie's Jacket]

Give it a rest. It was played out long before your tenth comment on it.

[CJColucci]

Felix Frankfurter said Vinson's death (which was on 9/8/53) "the first solid piece of evidence I've ever had that there really is a God.”

[Dr. Ed 2]

Eisenhower later stated that appointing Earl Warren -- who had been the REPUBLICAN Governor (and AG) of California was "the biggest mistake he made as President."

[Sarcastr0]

As is often the case, that quote is disputed.

[Sarcastr0]

On September 8, 1974, Ford pardoned Nixon.

Good idea/bad idea?

[Dr. Ed 2]

I don't think Ford had a choice -- the country had already been torn apart for two years, the economy was already going into the death spiral of stagflation, and two years of trial would have made things inexorably worse.

[Sarcastr0]

Ford didn't think so.

But you always have a choice.

[Dan Schiavetta]

For once, Josh cites a death that actually was important in Supreme Court history.