Hughes, Charles Evans (1862-1948)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1948 Sep 2 p. 1

Birth date: 1862 Apr 11

text of obituary:

DEATH COMES TO 86 YEAR OLD FORMER CHIEF JUSTICE

ONE OF THE great American jurists, Charles Evans Hughes, passed away on Aug. 27 at Barnstable, Mass. after a long life of unusual accomplishment and influence. He was 86 years of age.

The former chief justice of the supreme court had been in failing health for some time, and death was due to a heart condition and infirmities of old age. With him at the end were his two daughters and a son, Charles Evans Hughes, Jr.

After serving a term a governor of New York, Hughes received his first appointment to the supreme court in 1910. During this term, he took his position with the liberal forces on labor and interstate commerce questions. Running against Woodrow Wilson for president in the critical days of 1916, he missed the presidency by only a few votes and it was not until the California returns were in that the decision swung to Wilson.

He served as secretary of state under Harding and Coolidge. However, his greatest fame was yet to come in the role of chief justice from 1930 to 1941. During this time he was a key figure in the change from a conservative to a liberal interpretation of the constitution, as applied to the new Deal legislation.