After a full first term without any Supreme Court nominations, and almost no cooperation from the Court in regards to the New Deal, President Franklin D. Roosevelt decided to introduce a Court-packing plan into the Legislature that would allow him to add six new justices to the Court if necessary. The Bill failed in both the House and Senate but time allowed Roosevelt to have his chance to “pack” the court. Roosevelt nominated some of the best justices the Court has seen, and with their service the Supreme Court was forever changed.

On February 5, 1937, President Franklin Roosevelt submitted to Congress “The Judiciary Reorganization Act of 1937,” often simply called the Court-packing bill. The president hoped to circumvent the Court, which for years had been overturning New Deal programs, by appointing six new justices. However, the bill disguised its true intentions behind a veil of improving judicial efficiency. This misdirection backfired; the bill failed and Roosevelt’s popularity plummeted just months after a landslide reelection. This thesis examines the origins of the infamous Court-packing bill. It argues that Roosevelt was largely a background figure in the development of the plan, as he charged Attorney General Homer Cummings with finding a solution to the Court’s obstinacy. Cummings was the driving force behind the bill, particularly with regards to keeping it secret from other advisers and hiding its true intentions. Roosevelt’s most crucial mistake was in relying almost exclusively on his cunning attorney general.