ASSOCIATE JUSTICE OF THE SUPREME COURT

The New Deal's Champion.

President Roosevelt's choice of Hugo Black to become an associate justice on the Supreme Court did not surprise those who were familiar with Black's political record as a senator from the state of Alabama. The very same month the president had revealed his preference for Black, he had been forced to accept the senate's defeat of his plan to increase the size of the Court. The opportunity presented by Justice Willis Van Devanter's retirement came as a particularly welcome relief to those in the president's party who opposed his "court-packing" plan. The opportunity to place a confirmed New Dealer on the high-court bench offered the hope that future consideration would be more favorable to New Deal legislation. As a supporter of the act creating the Tennessee Valley Authority and a highly visible senatorial advocate of President Roosevelt's Emergency Relief...