Editing Learned Hand (section)

==World War II==

When war broke out in Europe in 1939, Learned Hand adopted an anti-isolationist stance. He rarely spoke out publicly, not only because of his position but because he thought bellicosity unseemly in an old man.<ref>{{Harvnb|Gunther|1994|p=485}}</ref> In February 1939, he became his court's senior circuit leader (in effect, [[Chief judge (United States)|chief judge]], although the title was not created until 1948). In this post, Hand succeeded [[Martin Manton]], who had resigned after corruption allegations that later led to Manton's criminal conviction for bribery.<ref>{{Harvnb|Schick|1970|p=5}}</ref> Not an admirer of Manton, Hand nonetheless testified at his trial that he had never noticed any corrupt behavior in his predecessor. Having sat in two cases in which Manton accepted bribes, Hand worried for years afterward that he should have detected his colleague's corruption.<ref>{{Harvnb|Gunther|1994|pp=503–509}}</ref>

Hand still regarded his main job as judging. As circuit leader, he sought to free himself and his judges from too great an administrative burden. He concentrated on maintaining good relations with his fellow judges and on cleansing the court of patronage appointments. Despite the Manton case and constant friction between two of the court's judges, [[Charles Edward Clark]] and [[Jerome Frank (lawyer)|Jerome Frank]], the Second Circuit under Hand earned a reputation as one of the best [[appellate courts|appeal courts]] in the country's history.<ref>{{Harvnb|Gunther|1994|pp=514–516, 521}}; {{Harvnb|Schick|1970|p=5}}</ref>

In 1942, Hand's friends once again lobbied for him to fill a Supreme Court vacancy, but Roosevelt did not appoint him. The president gave age as the reason, but philosophical differences with Hand may also have played a part.<ref>{{Harvnb|Griffith|1973|pp= 9–10}}</ref> Another explanation lies in one of Justice [[William O. Douglas]]'s autobiographies, where Douglas states that, despite Roosevelt's belief that Hand was the best person for the job, Roosevelt had been offended by the pressure Justice Felix Frankfurter placed on the president during a vigorous letter-writing campaign on Hand's behalf.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Ashworth|first1=Kenneth|title=Caught between the dog and the fireplug, or how to survive public service|date=2001|publisher=Georgetown University Press|location=Washington, Dc|isbn=0-87840-847-9|pages=70–71|quote=Douglas, qtd in Ashworth.}}</ref> D.C. circuit judge [[Wiley Blount Rutledge]], whom Roosevelt appointed, died in 1949, while Hand lived until 1961.<ref>{{Harvnb|Vile|2003|p=324}}</ref> In a February 1944 correspondence with Frankfurter, Hand expressed a low opinion of Roosevelt's new appointees, referring to Justice [[Hugo Black]], Justice Douglas, and Justice [[Frank Murphy]] as "Hillbilly Hugo, Good Old Bill, and Jesus lover of my Soul".<ref>Letter from Learned Hand to Felix Frankfurter (Feb. 6, 1944) (available in Felix Frankfurter Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.). Quoted in [http://scholarship.law.duke.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3163&context=dlj Melvin I. Urofsky, ''William O. Douglas As a Common Law Judge''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170510101449/http://scholarship.law.duke.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3163&context=dlj |date=2017-05-10 }}, 41 Duke Law Journal 133, 135 n.18 (1991).</ref> Deeply disappointed at the time, Hand later regretted his ambition: "It was the importance, the power, the trappings of the God damn thing that really drew me on."<ref>{{Harvnb|Gunther|1994|pp=566–570}}; {{Harvnb|Dworkin|1996|p=335}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Margolick |first=David |date=1994-04-22 |title=At the Bar; After two decades' labor, a chronicle on the life of perhaps the finest judge ever. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/04/22/us/bar-after-two-decades-labor-chronicle-life-perhaps-finest-judge-ever.html |access-date=2023-03-22 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

Hand was relieved when the United States entered the war in December 1941. He felt free to participate in organizations and initiatives connected with the war effort, and was particularly committed to programs in support of Greece and Russia. He backed Roosevelt for the [[1944 United States presidential election|1944 election]], partly because he feared a return to isolationism and the prolonging of the wartime erosion of civil liberties.<ref>{{Harvnb|Gunther|1994|pp=535–541}}</ref> In 1943, the [[House Un-American Activities Committee]] or "Dies Committee", for example, had aroused his fears with an investigation into "subversive activities" by government workers. Hand's contemporary at Harvard College, [[Robert Morss Lovett]], was one of those accused, and Hand spoke out on his behalf.<ref>{{Harvnb|Gunther|1994|pp=541–543}}. Lovett was removed from his government job by an Act of Congress, but in 1946 the Supreme Court ruled his dismissal unconstitutional as a [[bill of attainder]].</ref> As the end of the war approached, there was much talk of international peace organizations and courts to prevent future conflict, but Hand was skeptical. He also condemned the [[Nuremberg trials|Nuremberg war-crimes trials]], which he saw as motivated by vengeance; he did not believe that "aggressive war" could be construed as a crime. "The difference between vengeance and justice," he wrote later, "is that justice must apply to all."<ref>{{Harvnb|Gunther|1994|pp=543–547}}</ref>

Hand had never been well known to the general public, but a short speech he made in 1944 won him fame and a national reputation for learnedness that lasted until the end of his life.<ref name="s16">{{Harvnb|Schick|1970|p=16}}</ref> On May 21, 1944, he addressed almost one and a half million people in [[Central Park]], New York, at the annual "[[I Am an American Day]]" event, where newly naturalized citizens swore the [[Pledge of Allegiance (United States)|Pledge of Allegiance]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Griffith|1973|pp=11–12}}</ref> He stated that all Americans were immigrants who had come to America in search of liberty. Liberty, he said, was not located in America's constitutions, laws, and courts, but in the hearts of the people. In what would become the speech's most quoted passage, Hand asked:

<blockquote>What then is the spirit of liberty? I cannot define it; I can only tell you my own faith. The spirit of liberty is the spirit which is not too sure that it is right; the spirit of liberty is the spirit which seeks to understand the minds of other men and women; the spirit of liberty is the spirit which weighs their interests alongside its own without bias; the spirit of liberty remembers that not even a sparrow falls to earth unheeded; the spirit of liberty is the spirit of Him who, near two thousand years ago, taught mankind that lesson it has never learned, but has never quite forgotten; that there may be a kingdom where the least shall be heard and considered side by side with the greatest.<ref>Qtd. in {{Harvnb|Gunther|1994|p=549}}</ref></blockquote>

Extracts of the speech appeared in ''[[The New Yorker]]'' on June 10. Several weeks later, ''[[The New York Times]]'' printed the whole text. ''[[Life (magazine)|Life]]'' magazine and ''[[Reader's Digest]]'' followed soon after.<ref name="s16" /> Hand's message that liberty is safeguarded by everyday Americans struck a popular chord, and he suddenly found himself a [[folk hero]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Griffith|1973|pp=11–13}}</ref> Though he enjoyed the acclaim, he thought it unmerited. His biographer [[Gerald Gunther]], noting the paradox of the agnostic Hand's use of religious overtones, suggests that the most challenging aspect of the speech was that the spirit of liberty must entertain doubt.<ref>{{Harvnb|Gunther|1994|pp=549–552}}</ref>