Hugo L. Black: Cold Steel Warrior

by Howard Ball

During his thirty-four year tenure as a Justice of the Supreme Court, Hugo L. Black demonstrated, in the words of one of his colleagues, "a true passion for the Constitution." At a moment's notice, in front of visiting students or a clutch of legal dignitaries, the Judge would whip his tattered copy of the Constitution from his coat pocket, flip through it to a particular passage and then, in a high voice, read the passage con vivace . And though Black began his political career in Alabama as the candidate of the Ku Klux Klan--with their help in 1926 he became a U.S. Senator--thirty years later, he would argue forcefully for an end to segregation in the South.
In Hugo L. Cold Steel Warrior , distinguished writer Howard Ball draws from Black's extensive files in the Library of Congress and on interviews with his colleagues on the Court, his law clerks, and his family to illuminate the enigmatic career of a man who became one of the twentieth century's most vigilant defenders of freedoms and liberty. Ball's examination of Black's life reveals a consummate politician who kept, in a safe beside his desk, the names, addresses, and backgrounds of all those who gave Black support from the time he ran for the county solicitor's job in Jefferson County, Alabama, through his two terms as a U.S. Senator. A fervent New Deal advocate, Black lent his support to F.D.R.'s court packing plan, and was one of the few who stood with the President until the measure's defeat in 1937. Less than one month later, F.D.R. rewarded Black by nominating him to the Supreme Court. Soon after Black's confirmation by the Senate, the story of his Klan membership spread
across the nation, prompting Time magazine to write that "Hugo won't have to buy a robe, he can dye his white one black." One of Black's early opinions for the Court, however, changed most of the negative opinion about him. Writing for the majority in Chambers v. Florida , Black and his colleagues overturned charges against four African-American men unjustly accused of murder.
In addition to Black's political and judicial career, Ball captures some of the great legal minds at work--Earl Warren, Thurgood Marshall, Felix Frankfurter, William O. Douglas, John M. Harlan II, and William J. Brennan--and their encounters with the tough Justice who was an immovable force when engaged in a constitutional battle. From Brown v. Board of Education and the first tests of the power of the federal courts to implement the Brown decision, to the height of McCarthyism and the national hysteria about Communism, to New York Times v. United States , the famous Pentagon Papers case in 1971 (Black's last opinion for the Court which defended a newspaper's First Amendment rights), Black emerges as a staunch defender of federalism and the primacy of the First Amendment, a strict, literal interpreter of the Constitution, and always proud to be a member of the Supreme Court.
Throughout his life, Hugo Black's cockiness, sternness, and stubborn determination won him many critics. On every occasion, as Howard Ball shows, Black proved his critics wrong. He became a major presence in the Senate and one of the great Justices ever to sit on the Supreme Court.

Genres: Nonfiction

328 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1996

Reviews

[Jean · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ball writes in an academic scholarly fashion. The book is well written and meticulously researched. Since Black had his son burn all of his personal papers just before his death, Ball Had to rely on documents, letters, and interviews with family, friends, colleagues and law clerks. Ball also scoured the Library of Congress and other government archives.

Ball states be decided to do a biography on Hugo L. Black (1886-1971) as he was one of the six greatest Justices in the history of the Supreme Court. Black served thirty-six years on the Court. Ball discussed Black’s strong points as well as his weak points. Black was dedicated to the law and his study of history and put everything else secondary. Apparently, he was a cruel and strict father as well as a difficult man to work with. He served in the Army during WWI. Black was the product of growing up white in rural Alabama at the turn of the century. Ball goes into depth about his membership in the Ku Klux Klan. It is clear that he only joined to get elected to the Senate. He resigned as soon as he won the election. When reading biographies or history the reader must judge the person by the times he lived, not by ours today. Black should be judged on his support of the civil rights laws he voted for while on the Court. Black was a huge defender of the first amendment. He was considered one of the best writers on the Court. If you are interested in the Supreme Court, this is a must-read biography.

I read this as an e-book downloaded from Amazon to my Kindle app for my iPad. The book is 328 pages. It was published in 1996 by Oxford University Press.

[Rick Edwards · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ball's work is a good introduction to Black's life, if not wonderfully readable.

[Lori Gum · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a compelling individual but what boring writing! Luckily, Black's amazing American experience of transforming from Ku Klux Klan member to Supreme Court champion of Civil Rights transcends the prose of his joyless and stodgy biographer. However, the book does aptly and amply provide good, solidly researched information for any SCOTUS buff and the the analysis of his jurisprudence regarding Federalism, The First Amendment and Equal Protection provides a very useful foundation for understanding not only the history and precedents of the Court but also the present day decisions that have descended from such.