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FDR vs. the Men in Black (Collier's Magazine, 1941)
An article written by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882 – 1945) in which he rants on about all the triumphs of his first two terms, repeating in several places how much better his administration was than the one that preceded him, how popular he was with the voters and emphasizing throughout that the Federal Government had tremendous potential as a force for good during the Great Depression, but it's efforts were blocked at every turn:
"For a dead hand was being laid upon this whole program of progress - to stay it all.
It was the hand of the Supreme Court of the United States...former Supreme Court Justices McReynolds, Van Devanter, and Butler, whose judgments were all consistently against New Deal measures."
Click here to see an anti-New Deal cartoon.
| FDR on His Efforts to Pack the Court (Collier's Magazine, 1941)
In writing the attached article for COLLIER'S, FDR made his feelings clear that he felt a deep sense of urgency to alleviate the collective pain spreading across the nation as a result of the Great Depression. Believing that it was the Supreme Court that was prolonging the agony of the American unemployed, FDR quickly began to examine all his options as to how he could best secure a majority on the court:
"Here was one man, not elected by the people, who by a nod of the head could apparently nullify or uphold the will of the overwhelming majority of a nation of 130,000,000."
"Time would not allow us to wait for vacancies. Things were happening."
| FDR, Congress and the Plan to Pack the Supreme Court (Collier's Magazine, 1947)
Attached is an article by James A. Farley (1888 – 1976), who in 1933 was appointed by F.D.R. to serve as both the Postmaster General as well as the Chairman of the Democratic National Committee. During the Thirties, Farley was also FDR's go-to-guy in all matters involving politics on Capitol Hill, and he wrote the attached article two years after Roosevelt's death in order to explain how the Court-packing scheme was received in Congress and how his relationship with FDR soon soured.
"Boss," I asked him, "why didn't you advise the senators in advance that you were sending them the Court bill?"
"Jim, I just couldn't," he answered earnestly. "I didn't want to have it get to the press prematurely..."
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