Chief Justice Frederick Vinson

Vinson Court:

Biography:

Major Cases: Dennis v. United States 1951                      Youngstown Sheet & Tube v. Sawyer 1952 (Epstein, 2001)

13th Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court

Born:January 22, 1890 in Louisa, Kentucky Died: September 8, 1953 in Washington D.C. Education: 1909 Centre College B.A.                  1911 Centre College Law School Employment: 1911-1917 private practice in Louisa, Kentucky                       1913 City Attorney in Louisa, Kentucky                       1917-1919 United States Army Private and Officer Trainee                       1919-1924 private practice in Louisa, Kentucky                       1921-1924 Commonwealth attorney, 32nd Judicial District of Kentucky                       1923-1929 United States Representative from Kentucky                       1929-1931 private practice in Ashland, Kentucky                       1931-1938 United States Representative from Kentucky                       1937-1943 appointed to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit                       1942-1943 Chief Judge of the United States Emergency Court of Appeals                       1943-1945 Director of the Office of Economic Stabilization                       1945 Administrator of the Federal Loan Administration                       1945 Director of the Office of War Mobilization and Reconversion                       1945-1946 United States Treasury Secretary                       1946-1953 appointed Chief Justice to the United States Supreme Court by President Truman                       1953 died in office

Chief Justice Vinson didn�t make an impact on the Supreme Court like the other Justices did.  Vinson and Stone were thought to be the worst Supreme Court Justices. (Schwartz, 1993)  Vinson�s Court ended the World War II Court Era that began with Chief Justice Hughes.       The major court case that shaped the Vinson court was Dennis v. United.  Dennis was part of the Communist Party and was arrested for conspiracy to overthrow the government. (Epstein, 2001)  This case created �clear and present danger�, if there was a thought that what a person�s actions or thoughts would create some sort of danger to the general populous then the government had the right to go in and arrest that person until they felt the danger was over. (Schwartz, 1993)  Vinson stated: �In each case [courts] must ask whether the gravity of the �evil�, discounted by its improbability, justifies such invasion of free speech as is necessary to avoid the danger.� (1993)  This court case reflected America�s attitude toward the cold war.       Even though Chief Justice Vinson didn�t leave his mark on United States Supreme Court Chief Justice history, he still had to make some major decisions about communism.  His era dealt with the development of the Cold War and the growing American fright of it.  Vinson served his years without incident and was even thought of as a nice guy. (1993)

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