Hughes, Charles Evans

Hughes, Charles Evans (b. Glens Falls, N.Y., 11 April 1862; d. Osterville, Mass., 27 August 1948) In 1884 Hughes became a Wall Street lawyer. A Republican reformer of the Progressive Era, he served as governor (1906–10), sat on the US Supreme Court (1910–16), lost the presidency in 1916 by just 23 electoral votes, returned to Wall Street, and—as secretary of state (1921–6)—was primarily responsible for the Washington naval conference’s success. He was made chief justice of the Supreme Court on 13 February 1930. He took a middle position on the constitutionality of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s legislative agenda. He dealt Roosevelt a severe blow by authoring Schechter Poultry Corporation v. United States, but wrote decisions to uphold key New Deal programs in Ashwander v. Tennessee Valley Authority and National Labor Relations Board v. Jones and Laughlin Steel Corporation. Other important decisions by Hughes include Near v. Minnesota (seeGitlow v. New York), second Scottsboro case, De Jonge v. Oregon, West Coast Hotel Company v. Parrish, Missouri ex rel. Gaines v. Canada, Coleman v. Miller, and Cox v. New Hampshire. He retired in 1941.