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Edward Douglass White Jr. (November 3, 1844 – May 19, 1921) was an American politician and jurist from
Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is bord ...
. White was a U.S. Supreme Court justice for 27 years, first as an associate justice from 1894 to 1910, then as the ninth chief justice from 1910 until his death in 1921. White is known for formulating the ''
Rule of Reason The rule of reason is a legal doctrine used to interpret the Sherman Antitrust Act, one of the cornerstones of United States antitrust law. While some actions like price-fixing are considered illegal ''per se', ''other actions, such as po ...
'' standard of
antitrust law Competition law is the field of law that promotes or seeks to maintain market competition by regulating anti-competitive conduct by companies. Competition law is implemented through public and private enforcement. It is also known as antitrust ...
. Born in
Lafourche Parish, Louisiana Lafourche Parish (french: Paroisse de la Fourche) is a parish located in the south of the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is Thibodaux. The parish was formed in 1807. It was originally the northern part of Lafourche Interior Parish, w ...
, White practiced law in
New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
after graduating from the University of Louisiana. He also attended the College of the Immaculate Conception, present-day Jesuit High School in New Orleans, class of 1865. His father,
Edward Douglass White Sr. Edward Douglass White (March 3, 1795 – April 18, 1847) was tenth Governor of Louisiana and a member of the United States House of Representatives. He served five non-consecutive terms in Congress, as an adherent of Henry Clay of Kentucky and ...
, was the 10th
Governor of Louisiana A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
and a Whig
US Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...
. White fought for the Confederacy during the
Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government polici ...
and was captured in 1865. After the war, White won election to the
Louisiana State Senate The Louisiana State Senate (french: Sénat de Louisiane) is the upper house of the state legislature of Louisiana. All senators serve four-year terms and are assigned to multiple committees. Composition The Louisiana State Senate is compose ...
and served on the
Louisiana Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Louisiana (french: Cour suprême de Louisiane) is the highest court and court of last resort in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The modern Supreme Court, composed of seven justices, meets in the French Quarter of New Orl ...
. As a member of the Democratic Party, White represented Louisiana in the United States Senate from 1891 to 1894. In 1894, President
Grover Cleveland Stephen Grover Cleveland (March 18, 1837June 24, 1908) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 22nd and 24th president of the United States from 1885 to 1889 and from 1893 to 1897. Cleveland is the only president in American ...
appointed White as an
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States An associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States is any member of the Supreme Court of the United States other than the chief justice of the United States. The number of associate justices is eight, as set by the Judiciary Act of ...
. In 1910, President
William Howard Taft William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) was the 27th president of the United States (1909–1913) and the tenth chief justice of the United States (1921–1930), the only person to have held both offices. Taft was elected pr ...
elevated him to the position of chief justice. The appointment surprised many contemporaries, as Taft was a member of the
Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa * Republican Party (Liberia) *Republican Party ...
. White served as chief justice until his death in 1921 when he was succeeded by Taft. He sided with the Supreme Court majority in '' Plessy v. Ferguson'', which upheld the legality of state segregation to provide "
separate but equal Separate but equal was a legal doctrine in United States constitutional law, according to which racial segregation did not necessarily violate the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which nominally guaranteed "equal protec ...
" public facilities in the United States, despite protections of the Fourteenth Amendment to equal protection of the laws. In one of several challenges to Southern states'
grandfather clause A grandfather clause, also known as grandfather policy, grandfathering, or grandfathered in, is a provision in which an old rule continues to apply to some existing situations while a new rule will apply to all future cases. Those exempt from t ...
s, used to disfranchise
African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...
voters at the turn of the century, he wrote for a unanimous court in ''
Guinn v. United States ''Guinn v. United States'', 238 U.S. 347 (1915), was a United States Supreme Court decision that found certain grandfather clause exemptions to literacy tests for voting rights to be unconstitutional. Though these grandfather clauses were superf ...
'', which struck many of them down. He also wrote the opinion in the '' Selective Draft Law Cases'', which upheld the constitutionality of
conscription Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to Ancient history, antiquity and it continues in some countries to th ...
.


Early life and education

White was born on November 3, 1845, on his family's sugar plantation near
Thibodaux Thibodaux ( ) is a city in, and the parish seat of, Lafourche Parish, Louisiana, United States, along the banks of Bayou Lafourche in the northwestern part of the parish. The population was 15,948 at the 2020 census. Thibodaux is a principal cit ...
, Louisiana, about thirty miles to the west of
New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
. His father,
Edward Douglass White Sr. Edward Douglass White (March 3, 1795 – April 18, 1847) was tenth Governor of Louisiana and a member of the United States House of Representatives. He served five non-consecutive terms in Congress, as an adherent of Henry Clay of Kentucky and ...
, was a lawyer and judge who had served as a U.S. Representative and as the
governor of Louisiana A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
. The elder White retired from Congress in 1843; his sugar plantation employed dozens of slaves. His wife was Catherine Sidney Lee Ringgold, the daughter of influential Washington, D.C., businessman and politician
Tench Ringgold Tench Ringgold (March 3, 1777July 31, 1844) was a businessman and political appointee in Washington, D.C. He was U.S. marshal of the District of Columbia, appointed by President James Monroe (18171825) and serving in the position through 1830, dur ...
; she was a descendant of the
Lee family The Lee family of the United States is a historically significant Virginia and Maryland political family, whose many prominent members are known for their accomplishments in politics and the military. The family became prominent in colonial Bri ...
, and the future chief justice was thus distantly related to Confederate general
Robert E. Lee Robert Edward Lee (January 19, 1807 – October 12, 1870) was a Confederate general during the American Civil War, towards the end of which he was appointed the overall commander of the Confederate States Army. He led the Army of Nor ...
. The couple had five children, of whom White Jr. was the youngest son. In April 1847, before his namesake son had reached his third birthday, White Sr. died. His wife remarried in 1850, wedding
French-Canadian French Canadians (referred to as Canadiens mainly before the twentieth century; french: Canadiens français, ; feminine form: , ), or Franco-Canadians (french: Franco-Canadiens), refers to either an ethnic group who trace their ancestry to Fre ...
immigrant merchant Andre Brousseau. The family moved to New Orleans the subsequent year. White attended a
Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...
school in New Orleans beginning at the age of six. Starting in 1856, he and his brother attended Mount St. Mary's College, near
Emmitsburg, Maryland Emmitsburg is a town in Frederick County, Maryland, United States, south of the Mason-Dixon line separating Maryland from Pennsylvania. Founded in 1785, Emmitsburg is the home of Mount St. Mary's University. The town has two Catholic pilgrim ...
. White enrolled in 1858 at
Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private research university in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll in 1789 as Georgetown College, the university has grown to comprise eleven undergraduate and graduate ...
, which biographer Robert Baker Highsaw characterized as "probably the best Catholic institution of higher learning in the United States". It was distinctly Jesuit as well: university president
John Early John Early may refer to: *John Early (educator) (1814–1873), Irish-American Jesuit educator *John Early (politician) John Early (March 17, 1828 – September 2, 1877) was a Canadian American politician. Coming to Rockford, Illinois, to practic ...
and a majority of the faculty were all members of the Society of Jesus. White's Jesuit training influenced his legal philosophy later in life, leading him to emphasize formal logical reasoning. At Georgetown, he studied the classics, the flute, and the violin; he also participated in the school's cadet corp. After the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and t ...
broke out, White left Georgetown without a degree, returning home.


Confederate soldier and Ku Klux Klan Membership

White's studies at Georgetown were interrupted by the Civil War. It has been suggested that he returned to Bayou Lafourche, enlisted in the
Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...
, and served under General Richard Taylor, eventually attaining the rank of
lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...
. This is questionable , as his widowed mother had remarried and was living with the rest of the family in New Orleans at the time. When he returned to Louisiana, it was probably to his primary home in New Orleans. An apocryphal account states that White was almost captured by Union troops near Bayou Lafourche in October 1862, but that he evaded capture by hiding beneath hay in a barn. It is possible that White enlisted in the Lafourche Parish militia, as its muster rolls are not complete. There is no documentation, however, that White served in any Confederate volunteer unit or militia unit engaged in campaigns in the Lafourche area. Another account suggests that he was assigned as an aide to Confederate General
William Beall William Nelson Rector Beall (March 20, 1825 – July 25, 1883) was a brigadier general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. He is most noted for his supply efforts on behalf of Confederate prisoners of war. Early li ...
and accompanied him to Port Hudson, Louisiana, which was besieged and captured by Union troops in 1863. White's presence at Port Hudson, when he was 18 years old, is supported by a secondhand account of a postwar dinner conversation he had with Senator Knute Nelson of Minnesota, a Union veteran of Port Hudson, and another recounted by Admiral
George Dewey George Dewey (December 26, 1837January 16, 1917) was Admiral of the Navy, the only person in United States history to have attained that rank. He is best known for his victory at the Battle of Manila Bay during the Spanish–American War, with ...
(then a Federal naval officer at Port Hudson), in both of which White referred to being part of the besieged forces. But White's name does not appear on any list of prisoners captured at Port Hudson. According to another account of questionable reliability, White was supposedly sent to a
Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...
prisoner of war camp A prisoner-of-war camp (often abbreviated as POW camp) is a site for the containment of enemy fighters captured by a belligerent power in time of war. There are significant differences among POW camps, internment camps, and military prisons. ...
. As practically all Confederate soldiers of enlisted rank of the Port Hudson garrison were paroled, and officers sent to prison in New Orleans and later to Johnson's Island, Ohio, this account is likely not true. When White was paroled, he supposedly returned to the family plantation to find it abandoned, the canefields barren, and the place nearly empty of most of its former slaves. The only documented evidence of White's Confederate service consists of an account of his capture on March 12, 1865, in an action in Morganza in Pointe Coupee Parish, which is contained in the
Official Records of the American Civil War The ''Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies in the War of the Rebellion'', commonly known as the ''Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies'' or Official Records (OR or ORs), is the most extensive collection of Ameri ...
, and his service records in the National Archives, noting his subsequent imprisonment in New Orleans and parole in April 1865. These records confirm his service as a lieutenant in Captain W. B. Barrow's company of a Louisiana cavalry regiment, for all practical purposes a loosely organized band of irregulars or "scouts" (guerrillas). One organizing officer of this regiment, which was sometimes called "Barrow's Regiment" or the "9th Louisiana Cavalry Regiment," was Major Robert Pruyn. Pruyn (a postwar mayor of Baton Rouge, Louisiana) served as courier relaying messages from Port Hudson's commander, General
Franklin Gardner Franklin Kitchell GardnerMiddle name Kitchell from his father, miswritten Franklin K. Gardner on his gravestone. (January 29, 1823 – April 29, 1873) was a Confederate major general in the American Civil War, noted for his service at the Siege ...
, to General Joseph E. Johnston, crossing the Union siege lines by swimming the
Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...
. Pruyn escaped from Port Hudson prior to its surrender in the same manner. According to another account, after White was paroled in April 1865 and following the surrender of the western Confederate forces, he ended his military career by walking (his clothing in rags) to a comrade's family home in Livonia in Pointe Coupee Parish. White's Civil War service was taken as a matter of common knowledge at the time of his initial nomination to the United States Supreme Court, and the ''Confederate Veteran'' periodical, published for the United Confederate Veterans, congratulated him upon his confirmation. White was one of three ex-Confederate soldiers to serve on the Supreme Court. The others were Associate Justices
Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar II (September 17, 1825January 23, 1893) was an American politician, diplomat, and jurist. A member of the Democratic Party, he represented Mississippi in both houses of Congress, served as the United States Sec ...
of Mississippi and
Horace Harmon Lurton Horace Harmon Lurton (February 26, 1844 – July 12, 1914) was an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States and previously was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and of th ...
of Tennessee. The Court's other ex-Confederate, Associate Justice
Howell Edmunds Jackson Howell Edmunds Jackson (April 8, 1832 – August 8, 1895) was an American attorney, politician, and jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1893 until his death in 1895. His brief tenure on the ...
, had held a civil position under the Confederate government. White's membership in the Ku Klux Klan is a matter of contention. Some authors, such Michael Newton, claim White was a "Reconstruction Era Klansman." Other reports question whether there is enough evidence to support that claim, though noting that membership in secret societies such as the KKK can be difficult to document. According to biographer Paul Finkelman: :Although the moviemaker D. W. Griffith claimed White endorsed his racist movie,
The Birth of a Nation ''The Birth of a Nation'', originally called ''The Clansman'', is a 1915 American silent epic drama film directed by D. W. Griffith and starring Lillian Gish. The screenplay is adapted from Thomas Dixon Jr.'s 1905 novel and play ''The Clan ...
(1915), and asserted that White had been in the Ku Klux Klan, there is no evidence to support either of Griffith's contentions. In 1877, White served on the Reception Committee of the Knights of Momus in New Orleans. The Knights'
Mardi Gras Mardi Gras (, ) refers to events of the Carnival celebration, beginning on or after the Christian feasts of the Epiphany (Three Kings Day) and culminating on the day before Ash Wednesday, which is known as Shrove Tuesday. is French for "Fa ...
parade was an attack on Reconstruction so extreme that it was widely condemned, and even denounced by the
Krewe of Rex Rex (founded 1872) is a New Orleans Carnival Krewe which stages one of the city's most celebrated parades on Mardi Gras Day. Rex is Latin for "King", and Rex reigns as "The King of Carnival". History and formation Rex was organized by New O ...
.


Political career

While living on his family's abandoned plantation, White began his legal studies. He enrolled at the University of Louisiana in New Orleans to complete his study of the law, at what is now known as the Tulane University Law School. He subsequently was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in New Orleans in 1868. He was also mentored as a young attorney by Edouard Bermudez, a New Orleans lawyer who later served as chief justice of the
Louisiana Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Louisiana (french: Cour suprême de Louisiane) is the highest court and court of last resort in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The modern Supreme Court, composed of seven justices, meets in the French Quarter of New Orl ...
. White served in the Louisiana State Senate in 1874, a year marked by interracial violence in political campaigns and elections. He also served on the
Louisiana Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Louisiana (french: Cour suprême de Louisiane) is the highest court and court of last resort in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The modern Supreme Court, composed of seven justices, meets in the French Quarter of New Orl ...
from 1878 to 1880. In 1891, the State Legislature elected him to the
United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and po ...
to succeed
James B. Eustis James Biddle Eustis (August 27, 1834September 9, 1899) was a United States senator from Louisiana who served as President Cleveland's ambassador to France. Early life Born in New Orleans, he was the son of George Eustis (1796–1858) and Cla ...
. During his time in state politics, White was politically affiliated with two-time governor
Francis T. Nicholls Francis Redding Tillou Nicholls (August 20, 1834January 4, 1912) was an American attorney, politician, judge, and a brigadier general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. He served two terms as the 28th Governor of Lou ...
(1876–1880; 1888–1892), a former Confederate general. He was Nicholls' campaign manager in the 1888 Louisiana gubernatorial election, which was riddled with fraud and the intimidation of African American voters to ensure Nicholls' election.


United States Supreme Court


Associate justice

White was nominated by President
Grover Cleveland Stephen Grover Cleveland (March 18, 1837June 24, 1908) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 22nd and 24th president of the United States from 1885 to 1889 and from 1893 to 1897. Cleveland is the only president in American ...
to be an associate justice of the
Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. Federal tribunals in the United States, federal court cases, and over Stat ...
on February 19, 1894, after the Senate had rejected his first two nominees:
William B. Hornblower William Butler Hornblower (May 13, 1851 – June 16, 1914) was a New York jurist who was unsuccessfully nominated to the United States Supreme Court by President Grover Cleveland in 1893. Early life and education William Butler Hornblower wa ...
and
Wheeler Hazard Peckham Wheeler Hazard Peckham (January 1, 1833 – September 27, 1905) was an American lawyer from New York and an unsuccessful nominee to the Supreme Court of the United States. Early life Peckham was born in Albany, New York, on New Year's Day, 1 ...
. In contrast to those nominations, the Senate confirmed White the same day on a
voice vote In parliamentary procedure, a voice vote (from the Latin ''viva voce'', meaning "live voice") or acclamation is a voting method in deliberative assemblies (such as legislatures) in which a group vote is taken on a topic or motion by responding vo ...
. He took the judicial oath of office a few weeks later, March 12, 1894. In 1896, White was a part of the 7–1 majority in '' Plessy v. Ferguson'', which upheld the constitutionality of
racial segregation Racial segregation is the systematic separation of people into racial or other ethnic groups in daily life. Racial segregation can amount to the international crime of apartheid and a crime against humanity under the Statute of the Intern ...
laws for public facilities as long as the segregated facilities were equal in quality. He also participated in the
Insular Cases The Insular Cases are a series of opinions by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1901 about the status of U.S. territories acquired in the Spanish–American War. Some scholars also include cases regarding territorial status decided up unt ...
of the early 20th century regarding the relationship of the United States to its
territories A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or a ...
acquired in the
Spanish–American War , partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence , image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg , image_size = 300px , caption = (clock ...
, where he concurred with the 5–4 decision in '' Downes v. Bidwell'' (1901) that the newly-annexed territories were not properly part of the United States for purposes of the Constitution in several ways. However, wrote White, the constitutional guarantees of a citizen's rights of liberty and property were applicable to all and "cannot be under any circumstances transcended."


Chief justice

On December 12, 1910, President
William Howard Taft William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) was the 27th president of the United States (1909–1913) and the tenth chief justice of the United States (1921–1930), the only person to have held both offices. Taft was elected pr ...
nominated White to become Chief Justice of the United States, following the death of
Melville Fuller Melville Weston Fuller (February 11, 1833 – July 4, 1910) was an American politician, attorney, and jurist who served as the eighth chief justice of the United States from 1888 until his death in 1910. Staunch conservatism marked his ...
. The appointment was unusual, as White was the first incumbent associate justice to be appointed as chief justice. (
John Rutledge John Rutledge (September 17, 1739 – June 21, 1800) was an American Founding Father, politician, and jurist who served as one of the original associate justices of the Supreme Court and the second chief justice of the United States. Additio ...
, a former associate justice, had been given a
recess appointment In the United States, a recess appointment is an appointment by the president of a federal official when the U.S. Senate is in recess. Under the U.S. Constitution's Appointments Clause, the President is empowered to nominate, and with the a ...
as chief justice in 1795). The wisdom of elevating an associate justice to chief justice was questioned, as were Taft's motives for selecting White. None the less, the Senate confirmed White the same day, and again on a voice vote. He became the nation's ninth chief justice on December 19, 1910. White was generally seen as one of the more
conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
members of the court. He originated the term "
Rule of Reason The rule of reason is a legal doctrine used to interpret the Sherman Antitrust Act, one of the cornerstones of United States antitrust law. While some actions like price-fixing are considered illegal ''per se', ''other actions, such as po ...
." He also joined the
Hammer v. Dagenhart ''Hammer v. Dagenhart'', 247 U.S. 251 (1918), was a United States Supreme Court decision in which the Court struck down a federal law regulating child labor. The decision was overruled by ''United States v. Darby Lumber Co.'' (1941). During the ...
decision, ruling that the federal government could not ban child labor. However, White also wrote the 1916 decision upholding the constitutionality of the Adamson Act, which mandated a maximum
eight-hour work day The eight-hour day movement (also known as the 40-hour week movement or the short-time movement) was a social movement to regulate the length of a working day, preventing excesses and abuses. An eight-hour work day has its origins in the 1 ...
for railroad employees. White's background as a Democrat, Confederate veteran and Southern lawyer might have predicted legal positions that would have sought to curtail federal power. Yet, surprisingly, White articulated nationalist positions in his decisions, much like President Taft. He supported expanded regulation and taxation by Congress. He was usually conservative in racial issues, as were most justices. However, he wrote the majority decisions in favor of civil rights in important cases. Late in life, he expressed sorrow at the entire Civil War experience and his role in it. As chief justice at a time when the Court's work was carried out with more than 8,000 cases brought each year before the court, and only a few clerks to work for all the members of the Court, White held weekly meetings with fellow jurists, assigned all the cases and wrote the majority opinions in 711 cases, as well as 155 dissenting opinions, all opposing income taxes. He wrote for a unanimous Court in ''
Guinn v. United States ''Guinn v. United States'', 238 U.S. 347 (1915), was a United States Supreme Court decision that found certain grandfather clause exemptions to literacy tests for voting rights to be unconstitutional. Though these grandfather clauses were superf ...
'' (1915), which invalidated the Oklahoma and Maryland grandfather clauses (and, by extension, those in other Southern states) as "repugnant to the Fifteenth Amendment and therefore null and void." Nevertheless, Southern states quickly devised other methods to continue their disfranchisement of blacks (and in some cases, many poor whites) that withstood Court scrutiny. In 1918, the '' Selective Draft Law Cases'' upheld the Selective Service Act of 1917, and more generally, upheld
conscription in the United States In the United States, military conscription, commonly known as the draft, has been employed by the U.S. federal government in six conflicts: the American Revolutionary War, the American Civil War, World War I, World War II, the Korean War, an ...
, which President Taft said was "one of his great opinions." During his tenure as chief justice, White swore in presidents
Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...
(twice) and Warren G. Harding. At the time of his death on May 21, 1921, he had served on the Court for a total of years, of them as chief justice. He was succeeded by former president Taft, who had elevated White to the chief justice seat, and who had long-desired the seat himself.


Personal life and death

White married Leita Montgomery Kent, the widow of Linden Kent, on November 6, 1894, in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. His wife was the daughter of Romonzo and Virginia High Montgomery; White proposed to her before her first marriage but was turned down, and proposed again after her first husband died in 1892. White's paternal ancestors were of Irish Catholic descent, and he was reared in that religion, a
Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...
his entire life. White died on May 19, 1921, at the age of 75. He is buried at the Oak Hill Cemetery in Washington, D.C.


Legacy and honors

*In 1914, he was awarded the
Laetare Medal The Laetare Medal is an annual award given by the University of Notre Dame in recognition of outstanding service to the Catholic Church and society. The award is given to an American Catholic or group of Catholics "whose genius has ennobled the a ...
by the
University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main c ...
, the oldest and most prestigious award for American Catholics. *A statue of White is one of the two honoring Louisiana natives in the
National Statuary Hall The National Statuary Hall is a chamber in the United States Capitol devoted to sculptures of prominent Americans. The hall, also known as the Old Hall of the House, is a large, two-story, semicircular room with a second story gallery along th ...
in the U.S. Capitol. *A statue of White was located in front of the
Louisiana Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Louisiana (french: Cour suprême de Louisiane) is the highest court and court of last resort in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The modern Supreme Court, composed of seven justices, meets in the French Quarter of New Orl ...
building in
New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
until it was removed in December 2020. The second statue was a local landmark on the New Orleans scene, created by Bryant Baker, who was selected for the commission by White's widow, and dedicated April 8, 1926. *In his honor, the Louisiana State University Law Center founded the annual Edward Douglass White Lectures. They have featured such distinguished speakers as Chief Justices Warren E. Burger and
William H. Rehnquist William Hubbs Rehnquist ( ; October 1, 1924 – September 3, 2005) was an American attorney and jurist who served on the U.S. Supreme Court for 33 years, first as an associate justice from 1972 to 1986 and then as the 16th chief justice from 1 ...
. *The play, ''Father Chief Justice: Edward Douglass White and the Constitution'' by Paul Baier, a professor at LSU Law Center, was based on White's life. *In 1995, White was posthumously inducted into the Louisiana Political Museum and Hall of Fame in Winnfield. *Edward Douglass White Council #2473 of the Knights of Columbus in Arlington, Virginia, was named in his honor, but dropped the name in August 2020. *The Chief Justice White Council #2586 of the Knights of Columbus in Bogota, New Jersey, is also named in his honor. *
Edward Douglas White Catholic High School Edward Douglas White Catholic High School, also known as E. D. White High School, is a private, Roman Catholic junior and senior high school in Thibodaux, Louisiana in the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux. It is named for Edward Douglass White, nin ...
in Thibodaux, Louisiana, was named for him. *During
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
the
Liberty ship Liberty ships were a class of cargo ship built in the United States during World War II under the Emergency Shipbuilding Program. Though British in concept, the design was adopted by the United States for its simple, low-cost construction. Ma ...
was built in
Brunswick, Georgia Brunswick () is a city in and the county seat of Glynn County in the U.S. state of Georgia. As the primary urban and economic center of the lower southeast portion of Georgia, it is the second-largest urban area on the Georgia coastline after S ...
, and named in his honor.


See also

* List of justices of the Supreme Court of the United States *
List of United States Supreme Court justices by time in office A total of 116 people have served on the Supreme Court of the United States, the highest judicial body in the United States, since it was established in 1789. Supreme Court justices have life tenure, and so they serve until they die, resign, re ...
* United States Supreme Court cases during the White Court


References


Notes


Citations


Sources

Retrieved on 2009-04-11 *"Chief Justice White Is Dead at Age 75 After an Operation." ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
''. May 19, 1921 *Floyd, William Barrow, ''The Barrow Family of Old Louisiana'', (Transylvania Printing Co., Lexington, Ky., 1963) *Highsaw, Robert B. (1981) ''Edward Douglass White: Defender of the Conservative Faith'', Baton Rouge, LA:
Louisiana State University Press The Louisiana State University Press (LSU Press) is a university press at Louisiana State University. Founded in 1935, it publishes works of scholarship as well as general interest books. LSU Press is a member of the Association of American Univ ...
, 1ISBN 0807124281. * Kent, Andrew. "The Rebel Soldier Who Became Chief Justice of the United States: The Civil War and its Legacy for Edward Douglass White of Louisiana." ''American Journal of Legal History'' (2016) 56#2 pp 209–264. *Klinkhammer, Marie. (1943) ''Edward Douglass White, Chief Justice of the United States''. Washington, D.C.:
Catholic University of America Press The Catholic University of America Press, also known as CUA Press, is the publishing division of The Catholic University of America. Founded on November 14, 1939, and incorporated on July 16, 1941,Roy J. Deferrari ''Memoirs of the Catholic Unive ...
. *Pratt, Walter F. (1999) ''The Supreme Court Under Edward Douglass White, 1910–1921.'' Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press. . *Reeves, William D., '' Paths to Distinction: Dr. James White, Governor E.D. White and Chief Justice Edward Douglass White of Louisiana.'' Thibodaux, La., 1999: Friends of the Edward Douglass White Historic Site. .


Further reading

*
''The White Court'', 1910-1921, History of the Court, Supreme Court Historical Society
* Finkelman, Paul. "White, Edward Douglass"

* * * *Mele, Joseph C. (Fall 1962) ''Edward Douglass White's Influence on the Louisiana Anti-Lottery Movement''. Southern Speech Journal 28: 36-43. *Reeves, William Dale. (1999) ''Paths to distinction: Dr. James White, Governor E.D. White, and Chief Justice Edward Douglass White of Louisiana''. Friends of the Edward Douglass White Historic Site. * *U.S. Supreme Court. (1921) ''Proceedings of the Bar and Officers of the Supreme Court of the United States in Memory of Edward Douglass White'', December 17, 1921. Washington: Government Printing Office.


External links


''Bust of Edward Douglass White''
Oyez. official Supreme Court media.
''The E. D. White Historic Site'', including the original plantation home, operated by the Louisiana State Museum''Edward Douglas White'', official Supreme Court media
Oyez. * , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:White, Edward Douglass 1845 births 1921 deaths 19th-century American judges 20th-century American judges American Civil War prisoners of war American people of English descent Burials at Oak Hill Cemetery (Washington, D.C.) Catholics from Louisiana Chief justices of the United States Confederate States Army officers Conservatism in the United States Democratic Party United States senators from Louisiana Georgetown University alumni Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States Laetare Medal recipients Lawyers from New Orleans Lee family of Virginia Democratic Party Louisiana state senators Justices of the Louisiana Supreme Court People from Thibodaux, Louisiana People of Louisiana in the American Civil War Philodemic Society members Politicians from New Orleans Tulane University Law School alumni United States federal judges appointed by Grover Cleveland United States federal judges appointed by William Howard Taft