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Hugo Black: A Biography
Hugo Black's odyssey was long, varied, unlikely, and remarkably successful. It began in 1886 in the Alabama hill country and ended in 1971, when Americans were demonstrating in the streets. As a United States Senator from 1927 to 1937, and then for thirty-four years on the United States Supreme Court as its most passionate civil libertarian, Black fought for the rights and welfare of all people.
Here is the first full-scale biography of this commanding figure. Never before has the story been so richly told. Roger Newman reveals how much we did not know—about Black's activities in the Ku Klux Klan and the furor over his appointment by FDR to the Supreme Court. He takes us behind the scenes at the Court and into its secret conferences, showing us the preparation of opinions and explaining the relationships among the justices.
Black is seen as he was—a brilliant trial lawyer, the investigating senator called by one reporter "a walking encyclopedia with a Southern accent," and the wily politician and astute justice who led the redirection of American law toward the protection of the individual.
Black's story is also an American story, filled with vivid accounts of his friendships and often dramatic encounters with FDR, Harry Truman, Felix Frankfurter, William O. Douglas, Earl Warren, Lyndon Johnson, and William J. Brennan, Jr. Newman gives us a fascinating portrait of Black—the captivating charmer with the steel backbone and stronger will, and the self-taught, scholarly, cracker populist who termed himself "a rather backward country fellow."
More than a decade in the making, drawing upon an astonishing array of sources, including Black's family papers, to which Newman had exclusive access, and more than one thousand interviews, this moving, instructive biography is written with grace, sweep, and verve. A book to stand beside Beveridge's classic life of John Marshall and Catherine Drinker Bowen's popular Yankee from Olympus, Hugo Black is the extraordinary story of a man who bestrode his era like a colossus.
Here is the first full-scale biography of this commanding figure. Never before has the story been so richly told. Roger Newman reveals how much we did not know—about Black's activities in the Ku Klux Klan and the furor over his appointment by FDR to the Supreme Court. He takes us behind the scenes at the Court and into its secret conferences, showing us the preparation of opinions and explaining the relationships among the justices.
Black is seen as he was—a brilliant trial lawyer, the investigating senator called by one reporter "a walking encyclopedia with a Southern accent," and the wily politician and astute justice who led the redirection of American law toward the protection of the individual.
Black's story is also an American story, filled with vivid accounts of his friendships and often dramatic encounters with FDR, Harry Truman, Felix Frankfurter, William O. Douglas, Earl Warren, Lyndon Johnson, and William J. Brennan, Jr. Newman gives us a fascinating portrait of Black—the captivating charmer with the steel backbone and stronger will, and the self-taught, scholarly, cracker populist who termed himself "a rather backward country fellow."
More than a decade in the making, drawing upon an astonishing array of sources, including Black's family papers, to which Newman had exclusive access, and more than one thousand interviews, this moving, instructive biography is written with grace, sweep, and verve. A book to stand beside Beveridge's classic life of John Marshall and Catherine Drinker Bowen's popular Yankee from Olympus, Hugo Black is the extraordinary story of a man who bestrode his era like a colossus.
741 pages, Hardcover
First published October 11, 1994
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
March 21, 2022
In the winter of 1936-7, having just won a landslide re-election victory, President Franklin Roosevelt set his sights on a new goal: reshaping the Supreme Court of the United States. It was one that reflected Roosevelt’s frustration with the court’s decisions striking down major portions of his New Deal program. In response, the president sought to create new seats that would change the ideological makeup of the Supreme Court, yet the bill he announced in February 1937 faced what proved insurmountable headwinds. Then in May, Justice Willis Van Devanter gave Roosevelt the opportunity he sought by announcing his retirement from the bench, creating the first Court vacancy of his presidency.
To fill it, Roosevelt wanted to nominate someone who met key criteria: a candidate who was relatively young and from either the South or the West, a staunch New Dealer, and who in the aftermath of the politically debilitating battle over his Supreme Court “packing” plan could be confirmed quickly. These quickly led him to name Hugo Lafayette Black as his choice. During his two terms in the United States Senate, the feisty Alabama populist had made a name for himself with his support for New Deal legislation and his relentless investigation of lobbying by public utilities interests. Yet this proved only a prelude to a distinguished career on the Supreme Court, as over the course of his 34 years as a justice Black would reshape American jurisprudence in ways still felt today.
Any study of Black’s life thus faces the challenge of giving due coverage to both the political and legal aspects of his long career in public office. That Roger K. Newman succeeds in doing so is just one of the many merits of his excellent biography of the justice. It is with such close attention to both aspects of Black’s public service that he highlights so effectively the intersection between the two for his subject, demonstrating both how Black’s background shaped his jurisprudence and his lingering ambition for the presidency even years after his appointment to the Court.
Such achievements seemed unimaginable for someone of Black’s backcountry beginnings. The son of a small-town businessman and politician, young Hugo initially yielded to his mother’s urgings to pursue a medical degree before switching to the study of law. Moving to Birmingham, Black built a successful career specializing in personal injury cases, and served terms as both a police court judge and a county prosecutor. These offices only whetted Black’s ambition, and in 1926 he won election to the United States Senate. Key to his victory was his membership in the Ku Klux Klan, which Newman presents as a necessary association for an ambitious politician at that time. While the Klan’s support helped Black win a close primary, his membership bedeviled him throughout the rest of his public career, leading him, in Newman’s view, to disingenuously underplay his involvement in it.
Black’s time in the Senate coincided with the onset of the Great Depression, which allowed him to give full rein to his left-wing populism. Black’s support for the New Deal and his pursuit of wealthy corporate interests made him a hero to liberals nationally and won him Roosevelt’s favor. This combination of factors made him an irresistible choice for the president as a Supreme Court nominee, and overshadowed his Klan membership. While its revelation nationally after his confirmation created political difficulties, Black successfully navigated it prior to taking his seat on the bench, first with a nationally broadcast radio speech, then with his (unprecedentedly) public selection of a Catholic as his secretary, a Black Catholic as his messenger, and a Jewish law school graduate as his first clerk. Such performative actions helped him to weather the crisis.
Once on the bench, Black demonstrated quickly his commitment to civil liberties and the Constitution. Here he found himself at odds with the majority of the justices on the Court at that time, with even some of Roosevelt’s later appointees (such as Felix Frankfurter and Robert Jackson) favoring a limited reading of the Bill of Rights. Black soon found allies among other justices nominated by Roosevelt, most notably William O. Douglas. Newman’s chronicle of their long partnership is one of the best parts of the book, as he shows how it evolved from a close friendship early in their tenure to a relationship tempered by Black’s disapproval of Douglas’s messy private life and more activist jurisprudence. What kept them together throughout, though, was their regular association in dissent, where both often found themselves during their first two shared decades on the bench.
Though Newman notes that Black contemplated retirement in the early 1960s, Frankfurter’s resignation in 1962 and his replacement by Arthur Goldberg transformed the balance of the Court. Black soon found a majority of justices in favor of his categorical incorporation of the Bill of Rights into American law, which became the foundation of the Warren Court’s “revolution” in American jurisprudence. Black played a major part in the legendary verdicts of the era, including authoring the famous decisions in Engel v. Vitale and Gideon v. Wainwright. Yet it was his role in civil rights cases that earned him the most enmity from his former constituents, as Alabama’s legislature regularly voted to condemn the man whose nomination was once the pride of the state. Though Black lived long enough to witness the gradual end of segregation, he found himself out of step with the social movements of the later 1960s and was frustrated in his ambition to become the nation’s longest serving justice when ill health forced him to retire in September 1971, little more than a week before his death from a stroke.
Today Black enjoys a reputation as one of the greatest jurists ever to sit on the Supreme Court, and in Newman’s book he has a biography that does him justice. The product of over two decades of research, it provides a through account of his career that deftly interweaves his personal and public lives into a fluid narrative. Though not without his flaws – Newman probably oversells his subject’s presidential prospects in the 1940s and he doesn’t undertake the focused analysis of his jurisprudence that any study of Black requires – it is a superb work that provides a critical yet fair assessment of Black as a person and as a public servant. Anyone seeking to learn Black’s career and his constitutional legacy would be well advised to read this book, which is a model of a modern judicial biography.
To fill it, Roosevelt wanted to nominate someone who met key criteria: a candidate who was relatively young and from either the South or the West, a staunch New Dealer, and who in the aftermath of the politically debilitating battle over his Supreme Court “packing” plan could be confirmed quickly. These quickly led him to name Hugo Lafayette Black as his choice. During his two terms in the United States Senate, the feisty Alabama populist had made a name for himself with his support for New Deal legislation and his relentless investigation of lobbying by public utilities interests. Yet this proved only a prelude to a distinguished career on the Supreme Court, as over the course of his 34 years as a justice Black would reshape American jurisprudence in ways still felt today.
Any study of Black’s life thus faces the challenge of giving due coverage to both the political and legal aspects of his long career in public office. That Roger K. Newman succeeds in doing so is just one of the many merits of his excellent biography of the justice. It is with such close attention to both aspects of Black’s public service that he highlights so effectively the intersection between the two for his subject, demonstrating both how Black’s background shaped his jurisprudence and his lingering ambition for the presidency even years after his appointment to the Court.
Such achievements seemed unimaginable for someone of Black’s backcountry beginnings. The son of a small-town businessman and politician, young Hugo initially yielded to his mother’s urgings to pursue a medical degree before switching to the study of law. Moving to Birmingham, Black built a successful career specializing in personal injury cases, and served terms as both a police court judge and a county prosecutor. These offices only whetted Black’s ambition, and in 1926 he won election to the United States Senate. Key to his victory was his membership in the Ku Klux Klan, which Newman presents as a necessary association for an ambitious politician at that time. While the Klan’s support helped Black win a close primary, his membership bedeviled him throughout the rest of his public career, leading him, in Newman’s view, to disingenuously underplay his involvement in it.
Black’s time in the Senate coincided with the onset of the Great Depression, which allowed him to give full rein to his left-wing populism. Black’s support for the New Deal and his pursuit of wealthy corporate interests made him a hero to liberals nationally and won him Roosevelt’s favor. This combination of factors made him an irresistible choice for the president as a Supreme Court nominee, and overshadowed his Klan membership. While its revelation nationally after his confirmation created political difficulties, Black successfully navigated it prior to taking his seat on the bench, first with a nationally broadcast radio speech, then with his (unprecedentedly) public selection of a Catholic as his secretary, a Black Catholic as his messenger, and a Jewish law school graduate as his first clerk. Such performative actions helped him to weather the crisis.
Once on the bench, Black demonstrated quickly his commitment to civil liberties and the Constitution. Here he found himself at odds with the majority of the justices on the Court at that time, with even some of Roosevelt’s later appointees (such as Felix Frankfurter and Robert Jackson) favoring a limited reading of the Bill of Rights. Black soon found allies among other justices nominated by Roosevelt, most notably William O. Douglas. Newman’s chronicle of their long partnership is one of the best parts of the book, as he shows how it evolved from a close friendship early in their tenure to a relationship tempered by Black’s disapproval of Douglas’s messy private life and more activist jurisprudence. What kept them together throughout, though, was their regular association in dissent, where both often found themselves during their first two shared decades on the bench.
Though Newman notes that Black contemplated retirement in the early 1960s, Frankfurter’s resignation in 1962 and his replacement by Arthur Goldberg transformed the balance of the Court. Black soon found a majority of justices in favor of his categorical incorporation of the Bill of Rights into American law, which became the foundation of the Warren Court’s “revolution” in American jurisprudence. Black played a major part in the legendary verdicts of the era, including authoring the famous decisions in Engel v. Vitale and Gideon v. Wainwright. Yet it was his role in civil rights cases that earned him the most enmity from his former constituents, as Alabama’s legislature regularly voted to condemn the man whose nomination was once the pride of the state. Though Black lived long enough to witness the gradual end of segregation, he found himself out of step with the social movements of the later 1960s and was frustrated in his ambition to become the nation’s longest serving justice when ill health forced him to retire in September 1971, little more than a week before his death from a stroke.
Today Black enjoys a reputation as one of the greatest jurists ever to sit on the Supreme Court, and in Newman’s book he has a biography that does him justice. The product of over two decades of research, it provides a through account of his career that deftly interweaves his personal and public lives into a fluid narrative. Though not without his flaws – Newman probably oversells his subject’s presidential prospects in the 1940s and he doesn’t undertake the focused analysis of his jurisprudence that any study of Black requires – it is a superb work that provides a critical yet fair assessment of Black as a person and as a public servant. Anyone seeking to learn Black’s career and his constitutional legacy would be well advised to read this book, which is a model of a modern judicial biography.
May 13, 2016
Newman starts off one of the chapters by stating that ranking justices might not be one of America's favorite pastimes (too true) but if it was, then Black would be top notch. I would have to agree. I was first introduced to Black in a constitutional law class, I believe it was his Griswold dissent (good thing he wasn't around for Roe)! I was struck by how much he valued the law and our constitution. Black was a brilliant man, constantly thirsting for more information. I especially liked this part: "He was necessarily selective in his reading; he enjoyed novels but read fewer over the years, as he felt he could more fruitfully spend his thinking time on books from which he could gain knowledge, perspective or understanding." And the part about a friend telling him he had more confidence in his taste in literature than in his automobile driving made me smile. This is the first biography I've read of Black, but I do highly recommend it. I really got to know Black. The little things, like the fact that he was named after Victor Hugo, but also the important stuff, like how his mind worked. He valued frugality, because he felt that by amassing things outside of one's financial grasp would make them distracted by it and unable to pursue the more intelligent things in life. He read, because information was invaluable. He discussed, because it's important to test one's arguments, but also demanded that people see it his way because he was just that arrogant. An incredible man, and our nation is better because he served on the court.
February 26, 2008
Alabama has contributed many gifts to the United States. But none were greater than Hugo L. Black. Arguably the second greatest justice to ever serve on the United States Supreme Court (after, of course, William O. Douglas), Black was a key architect in the Court's glorious years under the leadership of Earl Warren.
Many of the freedoms, protections and guarantees of contemporary American life are the result of Justice Black's career on the Supreme Court. From the Civil Libertarian perspective, American history can be divided into two starkly different periods: before Hugo and after Hugo.
Few Americans have had so profound an impact on the life of our nation. And America is immeasurable better for it. This book documents why.
Many of the freedoms, protections and guarantees of contemporary American life are the result of Justice Black's career on the Supreme Court. From the Civil Libertarian perspective, American history can be divided into two starkly different periods: before Hugo and after Hugo.
Few Americans have had so profound an impact on the life of our nation. And America is immeasurable better for it. This book documents why.
October 13, 2020
A well deserved five stars for a thorough and in depth look at one of the great Supreme Court Justices. An unlikely candidate to serve on the court. A U.S. Senator from Alabama that owed his election to his being a member of the KKK to being one of the most liberal members to ever serve on the court. A genius at being able to get to the heart of the matter in any case. I have a new appreciation of his greatness after reading this well written biographies. I only wish that there more writers like Roger K. Newman.
July 14, 2025
This is a great book. Supremely readable. Robert Caro has nothing on Roger Newman. They are both gifted biographers of important and riveting figures whose life stories illuminate surprising subtleties of character and the grand sweep of 20th Century American history. Nonfiction storytelling of the first order.
Did I mention how timely it is with the current assaults on due process and free speech? Black's arguments—his impassioned and eloquently plain spoken dissents need to be common knowledge, declaimed in grade school, printed on bumper stickers, spray painted on subway trains.
Newman's biography is answering the question that drove me to this book: What combination of upbringing, curiosity, intelligence, reading, training, work habits, and personality made this "rather backward country fellow" so brilliant, so special?
One answer comes on p. 486 when Newman writes: "He drank ancient learning out of Enlightenment bottles and poured it into contemporary cups." As they said of Lincoln, he was "meant for the ages." Which is not to say this is a hagiography. We get a rich, complex view of an exemplary mind and life and disposition. Best book I've read in years.
Did I mention how timely it is with the current assaults on due process and free speech? Black's arguments—his impassioned and eloquently plain spoken dissents need to be common knowledge, declaimed in grade school, printed on bumper stickers, spray painted on subway trains.
Newman's biography is answering the question that drove me to this book: What combination of upbringing, curiosity, intelligence, reading, training, work habits, and personality made this "rather backward country fellow" so brilliant, so special?
One answer comes on p. 486 when Newman writes: "He drank ancient learning out of Enlightenment bottles and poured it into contemporary cups." As they said of Lincoln, he was "meant for the ages." Which is not to say this is a hagiography. We get a rich, complex view of an exemplary mind and life and disposition. Best book I've read in years.
December 8, 2012
Gets to be a bit repetitive. But, pretty fascinating subject: from a major southern plaintiff's rights lawyer (think John Edwards pre-politics); to KKK member; to US Senator and advocate for the New Deal; to Supreme Court justice / key member of Warren Court / civil libertarian (leader in 1st Amendment cases and one of the justices for Brown v. Board); to cranky old man Supreme Court justice who turned conservative and is one of J. Scalia's heroes. He did it all.
February 19, 2013
This was an excellent biography of a justice of the Supreme Court His 34 years of service on the court covered some of the most dramatic years in our nations history. His decisions and dissents have shaped the course of the United States as we know it today.
August 31, 2011
Best author ever!!!
August 13, 2016
Roger Newman's massive bio of Justice Hugo Black recounts the riveting story of an Alabama pol and klansman who transformed law w progressive rulings. A masterpiece
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews