Today in Supreme Court History: July 8, 1941

7/8/1941: Justice James Byrnes takes oath.

Justice James Byrnes

Comments

[Dan Schiavetta]

He should have been cloned. He was called on to fill every post except dogcatcher.

[Dilan Esper]

Yep, another utility man.

[Dan Schiavetta]

“There was another occasion during our stay at Yalta when things had not gone so smoothly. Mr. Roosevelt, who was host at a luncheon, said that he and I always referred to Stalin in our secret telegrams as ‘Uncle Joe’. I had suggested that he should tell him this privately, but instead the President made it into a jocular statement to the company. This led to a difficult moment. Stalin took offence. ‘When can I leave this table?’ he asked in anger. Mr. Byrnes saved the situation with an apt remark. ‘After all,’ he said, ‘you do not mind talking about Uncle Sam, so why should Uncle Joe be so bad?’ At this Stalin subsided.”

— Churchill, The Second World War, Volume VI, Triumph and Tragedy

[Rev. Arthur L. Kirkland]

Quite a resume (although some people these days will want to focus his overt racism).