William Henry Harbaugh (1920–2005)

1759 Lawyer's Lawyer: The Life of John W. Davis, by William H. Harbaugh (read 4 Jan 1983) I greatly enjoyed this book. Davis was born 13 Apr 1873 at Clarksburg, W.V., the son of a lawyer and of a woman who was reading Gibbon's Decline and Fall when she went into labor with him. He went to Washington & Lee, and his education does not seem to have been too much. He was elected to the House in 1910, re-elected in 1912 by 145 votes, and was appointed Solicitor-Gerneral in 1913. He served till 1918, was ambassador to England till 1921, then went into practice on Wall Sttreet. He was nominated in 1924 for President on the 103rd ballot. Thereafter he practiced law till he died on March 24, 1955, in S.C. This book was published 18 years after he died, and is a much, much better work than the biography of Charles Evans Hughes I read in August and September 1966--that book was a mere paean of praise. Hughes, per that book, did nothing wrong. This book tells the story of its subject far better, frankly pointing out that Davis was often wrong. Davis argued 140 cases in the U.S. Supreme Court--only Walter Jones (317) and Daniel Webster (185 to 200) having argued more. Indeed he had momentous cases, culminating in the Steel Seizure cases and the School Segregation cases--his last two. This book, though not written by a lawyer, brought back to my mind many familiar things.… (plus d'informations)