# William O. Douglas *Associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (1939–1975)* William Orville Douglas (October 16, 1898 – January 19, 1980) was an American jurist, born in [[Otter Tail County, Minnesota]], who sat as an associate justice of the [[Supreme Court of the United States]] from 1939 to 1975. President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed him in 1939, when he was 40. He remained on the Court for 36 years and 209 days, the longest tenure of any justice. He holds several other Court records, among them the largest number of opinions. On his retirement in 1975 he was succeeded by [[John Paul Stevens]].[^1] Before joining the Court, Douglas taught law at Columbia and Yale. He was also the third chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission.[^1] His majority opinion in *Griswold v. Connecticut* (1965) recognized a constitutional right to privacy. He also wrote *Skinner v. Oklahoma* (1942), *Brady v. Maryland* (1963) and *Harper v. Virginia State Board of Elections* (1966). He joined the unanimous decision in *Brown v. Board of Education* (1954). The Wikipedia article on Douglas describes his views as strongly progressive and civil-libertarian, and records that he is frequently called the most liberal justice in the Court's history.[^2] Members of the House of Representatives moved to impeach him twice, in 1953 and 1970. Neither attempt succeeded.[^3] ## Early life and education Douglas was born in Maine Township in 1898. His mother was Julia Bickford Fisk. His father, William Douglas, was an itinerant Presbyterian minister from Pictou County, Nova Scotia. The family relocated first to California and later to Cleveland, Washington. His father died in Portland, Oregon, in 1904, when Douglas was six. His mother then moved with her three children from town to town in the West before settling in Yakima, Washington.[^4] Douglas finished first in his class at Yakima High School. He won a full academic scholarship to Whitman College in Walla Walla. There he worked as a waiter and janitor during the term and picked cherries in summer. He also joined Beta Theta Pi and Phi Beta Kappa and competed on the debate team.[^5] ## Military service In the summer of 1918 Douglas attended a U.S. Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps encampment at the Presidio of San Francisco. That autumn he enlisted as a private in the Student Army Training Corps at Whitman. He served from October to December 1918 and was honorably discharged after the armistice of November 11, 1918 ended the war.[^6] ## Law school In 1922 Douglas travelled from Yakima to New York, earning his passage by tending sheep on a train bound for Chicago. A fraternity brother lent him $75, enough to enroll at Columbia Law School. When his money ran low, he took paid work preparing a correspondence course in law, which earned him $600 and kept him enrolled. In August 1923 he married Mildred Riddle in La Grande, Oregon. He received a Bachelor of Laws from Columbia in 1925, ranking second in his class.[^7] Douglas failed to obtain a clerkship with [[Harlan F. Stone]]. In the summer of 1925 he joined the Cravath law firm, where John J. McCloy hired him.[^7] ## Yale Law School Douglas left Cravath after four months. A move back to Yakima, a period without work and a second short stint at Cravath followed. He then taught at Columbia Law School. In 1928 he moved to the Yale faculty, where he specialized in commercial litigation and bankruptcy law and was associated with the legal realist movement. He accepted an offer from the [[University of Chicago]] and then withdrew after Yale named him a Sterling Professor.[^8] ## Securities and Exchange Commission Roosevelt nominated Douglas to the Securities and Exchange Commission in 1934. In 1937 he elevated Douglas to chairman, in place of James M. Landis.[^9] During these years Douglas befriended young New Dealers, among them Thomas Corcoran and [[Abe Fortas]]. Their circle came to include [[Lyndon Johnson]], then a first-term representative from Texas's 10th District.[^9] ## Supreme Court Justice [[Louis Brandeis]] retired in 1939. Roosevelt nominated Douglas to the seat on March 20; Douglas had been Brandeis's own preferred successor. The [[United States Senate]] confirmed him on April 4, 1939, by a vote of 62 to 4. All four votes against were cast by Republicans: Lynn J. Frazier, Henry Cabot Lodge Jr., Gerald P. Nye and Clyde M. Reed. He took the oath on April 17, 1939, at the age of 40.[^10] On the Court Douglas was frequently in conflict with [[Felix Frankfurter]], who favored judicial restraint. Douglas placed little weight on judicial consistency or stare decisis.[^11] ## Presidential politics In early 1944 Roosevelt declined to back Vice President Henry A. Wallace for renomination. Douglas then appeared on a short list of possible replacements. Others on the list were [[James F. Byrnes]], [[Sherman Minton]], Paul McNutt, Sam Rayburn, Alben W. Barkley and Harry S. Truman. On July 15 Roosevelt wrote to party chairman Robert E. Hannegan naming "Harry Truman or Bill Douglas" as his choice. Hannegan released the letter to the convention on July 20. Truman won the nomination on the second ballot, on which Douglas received two votes.[^12] Before the 1948 election, a movement to draft Douglas for the presidency did not succeed.[^1] ## Environmentalism In the 1950s a highway was proposed along the C&O Canal on the Maryland side of the Potomac River. Douglas opposed the plan. He challenged editors of the [[Washington Post]], whose editorial page supported it, to hike the 185-mile towpath with him. After the hike the paper changed its position and backed preservation. The canal was designated a National Historic Park in 1971.[^13] Douglas served on the Sierra Club's board of directors from 1960 to 1962. On November 18, 1967, he visited Kentucky's Red River Gorge, which faced a dam proposal. In May 1962 he canoed part of the Buffalo River in Arkansas with Neil Compton and the Ozark Society. He later worked to keep the Buffalo a free-flowing river.[^13] ## Travel writing Between 1950 and 1961 Douglas travelled widely in the Middle East and Asia. He wrote books on these journeys, including *Strange Lands and Friendly People* (1950), *Beyond the High Himalayas* (1952) and *Russian Journey* (1956). In his memoir *The Court Years*, he acknowledged criticism that he spent too much time away from the bench.[^14] ## Impeachment attempts On June 17, 1953, Representative William M. Wheeler of Georgia introduced a resolution to impeach Douglas. Douglas had briefly stayed the execution in the Rosenberg case. The resolution went to the Judiciary Committee the next day, and the committee ended its investigation on July 7, 1953.[^15] Douglas later became president of the Parvin Foundation, which was financed by benefactor Albert Parvin's sale of the Flamingo Hotel. House Minority Leader Gerald Ford made those ties a central target. In April 1970 Ford moved to impeach Douglas. House Judiciary Chairman Emanuel Celler handled the case, and the attempt did not result in Douglas's removal.[^16] ## Judicial record-setter Douglas set Court records that still stand. He served for more than thirty-six years (1939–75), longer than any other justice. Besides his opinions, he wrote some thirty books, and he gave more speeches than any other justice. He also had the most marriages (four) and the most divorces (three) of any sitting justice.[^17] ## Retirement On December 31, 1974, aged 76 and on vacation in the Bahamas, Douglas had a stroke that paralyzed his left leg. Seven of his colleagues voted to postpone to the next term any argued case in which his vote might be decisive; [[Byron White]] disagreed. Douglas retired on November 12, 1975, as the last sitting justice appointed by Roosevelt.[^18] He submitted his resignation to President Ford. Ford's reply cited Douglas's "more than thirty-six years as a member of the Supreme Court" and called that service "unequaled in all the history of the Court."[^18] ## In the Minnesota record ### Where - Born in Maine Township, Otter Tail County, [[Minnesota]]. The family left the state during his childhood.[^4] ### When - Born October 16, 1898; confirmed by the Senate April 4, 1939; retired November 12, 1975; died January 19, 1980.[^1][^10][^18] ## Notes [^1]: Wikipedia, *William O. Douglas* (revision 1377052514, retrieved 2026-10-26), lead section — birth and death dates; Court service 1939–1975; tenure of 36 years and 209 days; appointment by Roosevelt at age 40; Columbia, Yale and SEC chairmanship; most opinions; 1948 draft movement; succession by John Paul Stevens. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_O._Douglas [^2]: Wikipedia, *William O. Douglas* (revision 1377052514, retrieved 2026-10-26), lead section — *Griswold* and other opinions; joined *Brown*; description of his views. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_O._Douglas [^3]: Wikipedia, *William O. Douglas* (revision 1377052514, retrieved 2026-10-26), "Impeachment attempts" — two unsuccessful removal attempts. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_O._Douglas [^4]: Wikipedia, *William O. Douglas* (revision 1377052514, retrieved 2026-10-26), "Early life and education" — birthplace, parents, family moves, father's death in 1904, settlement in Yakima. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_O._Douglas [^5]: Wikipedia, *William O. Douglas* (revision 1377052514, retrieved 2026-10-26), "Early life and education" — valedictorian, Whitman scholarship, jobs, Phi Beta Kappa. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_O._Douglas [^6]: Wikipedia, *William O. Douglas* (revision 1377052514, retrieved 2026-10-26), "Military service" — 1918 ROTC encampment, Student Army Training Corps, discharge. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_O._Douglas [^7]: Wikipedia, *William O. Douglas* (revision 1377052514, retrieved 2026-10-26), "Law school" — 1922 journey, $75 loan, $600 earnings, 1923 marriage, 1925 LL.B., Cravath hiring. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_O._Douglas [^8]: Wikipedia, *William O. Douglas* (revision 1377052514, retrieved 2026-10-26), "Yale Law School" — Cravath departure, Columbia teaching, 1928 Yale appointment, Chicago offer, Sterling Professorship. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_O._Douglas [^9]: Wikipedia, *William O. Douglas* (revision 1377052514, retrieved 2026-10-26), "Securities and Exchange Commission" — 1934 nomination, 1937 chairmanship, New Deal associates. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_O._Douglas [^10]: Wikipedia, *William O. Douglas* (revision 1377052514, retrieved 2026-10-26), "Supreme Court" — nomination March 20, 1939; confirmation April 4, 1939, 62–4, with named Republican dissenters; oath April 17, 1939. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_O._Douglas [^11]: Wikipedia, *William O. Douglas* (revision 1377052514, retrieved 2026-10-26), "Relationships with others at Supreme Court" — conflict with Frankfurter; view of stare decisis. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_O._Douglas [^12]: Wikipedia, *William O. Douglas* (revision 1377052514, retrieved 2026-10-26), "Presidential politics" — 1944 short list, July 15 Roosevelt letter, July 20 release, second-ballot votes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_O._Douglas [^13]: Wikipedia, *William O. Douglas* (revision 1377052514, retrieved 2026-10-26), "Environmentalism" — C&O Canal hike and 1971 designation, Sierra Club board, Red River Gorge visit, Buffalo River. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_O._Douglas [^14]: Wikipedia, *William O. Douglas* (revision 1377052514, retrieved 2026-10-26), "Travel writing" — 1950–1961 travels, book titles, *The Court Years*. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_O._Douglas [^15]: Wikipedia, *William O. Douglas* (revision 1377052514, retrieved 2026-10-26), "Rosenberg case" — Wheeler resolution of June 17, 1953; referral; committee action of July 7, 1953. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_O._Douglas [^16]: Wikipedia, *William O. Douglas* (revision 1377052514, retrieved 2026-10-26), "1970 impeachment attempt fails" — Parvin Foundation, Ford's April 1970 motion, Celler. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_O._Douglas [^17]: Wikipedia, *William O. Douglas* (revision 1377052514, retrieved 2026-10-26), "Judicial record-setter" — tenure, books, speeches, marriages and divorces. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_O._Douglas [^18]: Wikipedia, *William O. Douglas* (revision 1377052514, retrieved 2026-10-26), "Retirement" — December 31, 1974 stroke; postponement vote; retirement November 12, 1975; Ford's reply. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_O._Douglas