More than any Justice in the 20th century, William Orville Douglas involved himself deeply in the presidential politics of his day. In his thirty-six and a half years on the Court, Douglas advised presidents from Franklin D. Roosevelt to Lyndon B. Johnson, was four times himself seriously considered for the presidency or vice-presidency as well as numerous government and cabinet posts, and was four times threatened with impeachment. From his childhood admiration of the Western Progressives through his opposition to the Vietnam War and attempted impeachments, Douglas maintained close connections to the world of presidential politics, especially so during the thirteen years from his appointment to the Court in 1939 to the last year he was seriously considered a presidential contender, 1952. This is a study of Douglas's political maturation and his political activities as they relate to the presidency, including his involvement in the great political issues of his day, his role as potential presidential candidate, his views on presidential power, and his role as presidential advisor Scholars previously have presented Douglas as a behind-the-scenes schemer, a great puppeteer pulling the strings of political marionettes who promote him for political office. Douglas has been portrayed as a restless, dissatisfied jurist, a misplaced politician who, while perhaps not actively seeking office, hungered for the opportunity to serve as either president or vice president. Historians, biographers, and analysts of the Supreme Court all have attributed presidential ambitions to William O. Douglas. Never, though, has the extent and ramifications of that involvement been the subject of extended study This work offers a dramatic reinterpretation of Douglas's political ambitions. Research suggests that Douglas, though an intense and deeply-involved behind-the-scenes political player who freely, admittedly, and heavily imbibed in presidential politics throughout his Supreme Court career, wanted for himself neither the presidency nor the vice-presidency. There is no doubt that William O. Douglas played politics from the high court bench; it seems he did not, contrary to present historical consensus, pine for the Oval Office. This study offers a new, different, and hopefully more accurate appraisal of the presidential ambitions of William O. Douglas / acase@tulane.edu
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:TULANE/oai:http://digitallibrary.tulane.edu/:tulane_23583 |
| Date | January 1997 |
| Contributors | Moses, James Latham (Author), Maney, Patrick J (Thesis advisor) |
| Publisher | Tulane University |
| Source Sets | Tulane University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | Access requires a license to the Dissertations and Theses (ProQuest) database., Copyright is in accordance with U.S. Copyright law |
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