Charles Evans Hughes

Charles Evans Hughes (1862-1948), American jurist and statesman, thought by many to have been the greatest chief justice of the United States since John Marshall.

Hughes was born in Glens Falls, New York, on April 11, 1862. He was educated at Brown University and the law school of Columbia University. In 1884 he was admitted to the New York bar and practiced law in New York City for most of the following 22 years. In 1905, Hughes served as counsel for special committees of the New York state legislature investigating both the gas companies of New York City and the financial practices of life insurance companies in the state. He established a national reputation for fearless integrity, and his findings resulted in a reorganization of the state laws governing life insurance companies and became a model for subsequent similar inquiries.

In 1906 Hughes was elected governor of New York, defeating his Democratic opponent, newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst. He was reelected in 1908, and during his terms in office instituted many political reforms, including welfare and labor legislation. He eliminated much political corruption in both parties. In 1910 he resigned as governor to become an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, serving until 1916, when he became the Republican presidential candidate running against the incumbent Woodrow Wilson. Hughes lost the election by 594,188 popular votes and the narrow margin of 23 electoral votes.

In 1921, President Warren G. Harding appointed Hughes secretary of state. During his 4-year term of office, Hughes convened a naval disarmament conference and negotiated an agreement with 15 Latin American countries to form a commission to arbitrate disputes that could not be settled by ordinary diplomatic means. In 1926 Hughes returned to New York to head a commission that reorganized the administration of the state government. He served on the bench of the Permanent Court of International Justice from 1928 to 1930 and then became chief justice of the U.S.

Hughes presided over the Supreme Court during the critical depression years of the 1930s. Although considered a conservative in politics, as chief justice he supported many New Deal measures proposed by the liberal administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. For instance, Hughes wrote two 5-4 decisions of the Court, one upholding Roosevelt's refusal to pay government obligations in gold and the other approving the constitutionality of the National Labor Relations Act. He administered several rebuffs, however, to newly created government agencies, notably the National Labor Relations Board, for exceeding the authority granted to them and preempting the prerogatives of the judicial branch of government. He resigned from the bench in 1941. Hughes died in Osterville, Massachusetts, on August 27, 1948.