# James Clark McReynolds *American lawyer and judge; United States Attorney General and associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (1914–1941)* James Clark McReynolds (February 3, 1862 – August 24, 1946) was a Tennessee lawyer who became Woodrow Wilson's first attorney general and then sat as an associate justice of the [[Supreme Court of the United States]] from 1914 until he retired in 1941.[^1] He was born in Elkton, Kentucky, and trained at the University of Virginia School of Law. He was Assistant Attorney General under Theodore Roosevelt and built a reputation in antitrust litigation before Wilson brought him into the cabinet in 1913.[^2] In 1914 Wilson named him to the Court to fill the seat left by the death of [[Horace Harmon Lurton]].[^2] On the bench McReynolds authored 506 majority opinions and 157 dissents, 93 of them in cases involving the New Deal.[^3] He belonged to the conservative bloc known as the "Four Horsemen," whose members frequently voted against New Deal programs.[^3] On his retirement, [[James F. Byrnes]] took his seat.[^3] The Wikipedia article gives his time on the Court as 26 years in its lead and as 27 years in its section on his opinions. The pack carries no primary source to settle the figure, and this article states both.[^4] ## Early life McReynolds was born in Elkton, the county seat of Todd County, Kentucky. His parents were John Oliver and Ellen (née Reeves) McReynolds, and both belonged to the Disciples of Christ church. His father had business ventures and was a surgeon in the Confederate army during the Civil War.[^5] His birthplace was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.[^5] He attended Green River Academy and Vanderbilt University, where he was valedictorian in 1882.[^6] At the University of Virginia School of Law he studied under John B. Minor, whom the cached article describes as "a man of stern morality and firm conservative convictions". McReynolds completed the course in 14 months, finished first in his class, and received his law degree in 1884.[^6] He worked as secretary to U.S. Senator [[Howell E. Jackson]], who joined the Supreme Court in 1893. McReynolds practiced law in Nashville. For three years he was an adjunct professor of commercial law, insurance and corporations at Vanderbilt University Law School.[^7] In 1896 he ran for Congress as a "Goldbug" Democrat and lost. That year he led Tennessee's delegation to the Democratic National Convention, where he drafted the party's "sound money" plank.[^7] From 1903 to 1907 he was Assistant Attorney General under Theodore Roosevelt. He then left government service to join Guthrie, Cravath, and Henderson in New York City, a firm later renamed Cravath, Swaine & Moore.[^8] ## Attorney General While in private practice, McReynolds was retained by the federal government on antitrust enforcement. He litigated against the "tobacco trust" in *United States v. American Tobacco Co.* and against an anthracite coal monopoly in *United States v. Reading Co.*[^9] Wilson appointed him the 48th United States Attorney General on March 15, 1913. He held the office until he joined the Supreme Court in August 1914.[^9] The cached article reports that his manner was understood to have contributed to how briefly he served as attorney general.[^9] ## Supreme Court Wilson nominated McReynolds on August 19, 1914, to succeed Lurton. The [[United States Senate]] confirmed him on August 29 by a vote of 44–6, and he took the oath on October 12.[^10] The Supreme Court Building opened in 1935, during the Great Depression. McReynolds was one of most of the justices who did not move their offices into it. He kept working from an office in his apartment and objected that the government should not have spent so much on one building while the country was in economic turmoil.[^10] ### Important opinions The 506 decisions McReynolds wrote average just under 19 opinions per term of his tenure.[^11] He voted with [[George Sutherland]], [[Willis Van Devanter]] and [[Pierce Butler (judge)]] against much of Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal legislation, and the four were grouped together as the "Four Horsemen."[^11] He voted to invalidate the following measures:[^12] - the Tennessee Valley Authority, in *Ashwander v. TVA*; - the National Industrial Recovery Act, in *Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States*; - the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933, in *United States v. Butler*; - the Bituminous Coal Conservation Act of 1935, in *Carter v. Carter Coal Co.*; - the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. § 301 et seq., in *Steward Machine Co. v. Davis*, 301 U.S. 548 (1937). Most of the Court began upholding New Deal legislation in 1937. McReynolds kept voting against such measures after that shift.[^12] He wrote for the majority in *Meyer v. Nebraska*, *United States v. Miller*, *Adams v. Tanner* and *Pierce v. Society of Sisters*.[^13] ## Personality and conflicts The journalist Drew Pearson called McReynolds "Scrooge."[^14] Chief Justice [[William Howard Taft]] regarded him as selfish, prejudiced and mean. Taft wrote that "[H]e has a continual grouch, and is always offended because the court is doing something that he regards as undignified."[^14] Taft also called him the Court's most irresponsible member and wrote that "[i]n the absence of McReynolds everything went smoothly."[^14] Taft nonetheless described him as an "able man."[^15] According to the cached article, McReynolds judged Justice [[John Hessin Clarke]], also a Wilson appointee, to be too liberal and would not speak with him. When Clarke left the Court early, he named McReynolds's open antipathy as one factor.[^16] McReynolds did not sign the customary joint memorial letter given to departing justices. Taft wrote that this was "a fair sample of McReynolds's personal character and the difficulty of getting along with him."[^16] In 1929 McReynolds asked Taft to announce the opinions assigned to him, writing that "an imperious voice has called me out of town." The cached article states that duck-hunting season had opened and that he had gone to Maryland to shoot.[^17] It also records that in 1925 he left so abruptly on a similar trip that he did not notify the Chief Justice.[^17] ## Retirement McReynolds suffered a substantial hearing loss in 1925. According to the cached article, he intended to resign at that time but was dissuaded by friends, who called him "one of the few who have courageously stood for the rights of property and of the citizen."[^18] He retired on January 31, 1941, and took senior status.[^18] From 1915 he lived in the Rochambeau apartment complex in Washington, D.C. He left in 1935, when President Roosevelt requisitioned the building for New Deal use, and moved to 2400 Sixteenth Street.[^19] Clarke died in 1945 and [[Harlan F. Stone]] in 1946, which left McReynolds the last surviving member of the Taft Court.[^19] ## Death and legacy McReynolds never married. He died on August 24, 1946, and was buried in the Elkton Cemetery in Kentucky.[^20] His will directed, "let there be no service in Washington". No member of the Court attended his funeral, but the U.S. Marshal for the Supreme Court travelled to Elkton for it. His brother Robert had visited him in the hospital shortly before he died.[^20] In a tribute, *The Christian Science Monitor* called him "the last and lone champion on the Supreme Bench" against the expansion of federal power.[^21] He left his entire estate to charity.[^22] His largest bequest went to Children's Hospital in Washington, which he had supported for years. It included a new elevator, $10,000 (equivalent to $165,000 in 2025) and the residue of the estate.[^22] He left $10,000 and his judicial robe to Vanderbilt University, where he had been a trustee for 30 years. His books and opinions went to the Library of Congress.[^22] ## Papers McReynolds's papers are held mainly at the University of Virginia Law School.[^23] Related material is held in several other collections:[^23] - the [[Felix Frankfurter]] papers at Harvard University Law School; - the John Knox papers (1920–80) at the University of Virginia and Northwestern University; - the William Jennings Price papers at the University of Kentucky; - the [[Frank Murphy]] papers at the University of Michigan's Bentley Historical Library; - the Pierce Butler papers at the [[Minnesota Historical Society]]; - the Robert Boyte Crawford Howell papers at the Tennessee State Library and Archives; - the Homer Stille Cummings papers at the University of Virginia. ## Notes [^1]: Wikipedia contributors, *James Clark McReynolds* (revision 1374303840, retrieved 2026-10-26) — birth and death dates; offices of attorney general and associate justice; service on the Court from 1914 to 1941. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Clark_McReynolds [^2]: Wikipedia contributors, *James Clark McReynolds*, lead (revision 1374303840, retrieved 2026-10-26) — birthplace, legal education, Assistant Attorney General service, antitrust reputation, 1913 appointment, 1914 nomination to the Lurton vacancy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Clark_McReynolds [^3]: Wikipedia contributors, *James Clark McReynolds*, lead (revision 1374303840, retrieved 2026-10-26) — 506 majority opinions, 157 dissents, 93 against the New Deal; "Four Horsemen" bloc; succession by James F. Byrnes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Clark_McReynolds [^4]: Wikipedia contributors, *James Clark McReynolds*, lead and "Important opinions" (revision 1374303840, retrieved 2026-10-26) — the lead gives 26 years on the bench; the opinions section gives 27. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Clark_McReynolds [^5]: Wikipedia contributors, *James Clark McReynolds*, "Early life" (revision 1374303840, retrieved 2026-10-26) — birthplace, parents, church membership, father's Confederate service, 1976 National Register listing of the birthplace. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Clark_McReynolds [^6]: Wikipedia contributors, *James Clark McReynolds*, "Early life" (revision 1374303840, retrieved 2026-10-26) — Green River Academy; Vanderbilt valedictorian in 1882; study under John B. Minor; law degree in 1884. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Clark_McReynolds [^7]: Wikipedia contributors, *James Clark McReynolds*, "Early life" (revision 1374303840, retrieved 2026-10-26) — secretary to Senator Howell E. Jackson; Nashville practice; Vanderbilt adjunct professorship; 1896 candidacy and "sound money" plank. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Clark_McReynolds [^8]: Wikipedia contributors, *James Clark McReynolds*, "Early life" (revision 1374303840, retrieved 2026-10-26) — Assistant Attorney General from 1903 to 1907; move to Guthrie, Cravath, and Henderson. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Clark_McReynolds [^9]: Wikipedia contributors, *James Clark McReynolds*, "Attorney General" (revision 1374303840, retrieved 2026-10-26) — antitrust retainers; appointment on March 15, 1913, as 48th Attorney General; service until August 1914; account of his short tenure. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Clark_McReynolds [^10]: Wikipedia contributors, *James Clark McReynolds*, "Supreme Court" (revision 1374303840, retrieved 2026-10-26) — nomination on August 19, 1914; 44–6 confirmation on August 29; oath on October 12; refusal to move into the 1935 building. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Clark_McReynolds [^11]: Wikipedia contributors, *James Clark McReynolds*, "Important opinions" (revision 1374303840, retrieved 2026-10-26) — per-term opinion average; "Four Horsemen" with Sutherland, Van Devanter and Butler. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Clark_McReynolds [^12]: Wikipedia contributors, *James Clark McReynolds*, "Important opinions" (revision 1374303840, retrieved 2026-10-26) — votes in *Ashwander*, *Schechter*, *Butler*, *Carter* and *Steward Machine*; continued opposition after 1937. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Clark_McReynolds [^13]: Wikipedia contributors, *James Clark McReynolds*, lead (revision 1374303840, retrieved 2026-10-26) — majority opinions in *Meyer*, *Miller*, *Adams* and *Pierce*. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Clark_McReynolds [^14]: Wikipedia contributors, *James Clark McReynolds*, "Personality and conflicts" (revision 1374303840, retrieved 2026-10-26) — Pearson's label; Taft's assessments and quoted letters. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Clark_McReynolds [^15]: Wikipedia contributors, *James Clark McReynolds*, "Personality and conflicts" (revision 1374303840, retrieved 2026-10-26) — Taft's description of him as an "able man." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Clark_McReynolds [^16]: Wikipedia contributors, *James Clark McReynolds*, "Personality and conflicts" (revision 1374303840, retrieved 2026-10-26) — relations with Clarke; the unsigned memorial letter; Taft's comment. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Clark_McReynolds [^17]: Wikipedia contributors, *James Clark McReynolds*, "Personality and conflicts" (revision 1374303840, retrieved 2026-10-26) — the 1929 request and its stated reason; the 1925 departure. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Clark_McReynolds [^18]: Wikipedia contributors, *James Clark McReynolds*, "Retirement" (revision 1374303840, retrieved 2026-10-26) — 1925 hearing loss; friends' appeal; retirement on January 31, 1941; senior status. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Clark_McReynolds [^19]: Wikipedia contributors, *James Clark McReynolds*, "Retirement" (revision 1374303840, retrieved 2026-10-26) — Rochambeau residence 1915–1935; requisition of the building; new address; last surviving member of the Taft Court. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Clark_McReynolds [^20]: Wikipedia contributors, *James Clark McReynolds*, "Death and legacy" (revision 1374303840, retrieved 2026-10-26) — death on August 24, 1946; burial; will provision; attendance at the funeral; brother's visit. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Clark_McReynolds [^21]: Wikipedia contributors, *James Clark McReynolds*, "Death and legacy" (revision 1374303840, retrieved 2026-10-26) — *Christian Science Monitor* tribute. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Clark_McReynolds [^22]: Wikipedia contributors, *James Clark McReynolds*, "Death and legacy" (revision 1374303840, retrieved 2026-10-26) — bequests to Children's Hospital, Vanderbilt University and the Library of Congress. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Clark_McReynolds [^23]: Wikipedia contributors, *James Clark McReynolds*, "Papers" (revision 1374303840, retrieved 2026-10-26) — repositories holding his papers and related collections, including the Minnesota Historical Society. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Clark_McReynolds