Charles Evans Whittaker (February 22, 1901–November 26, 1973) was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court from 1957 to 1962.
Whittaker was born on a farm near
Troy, KansasTroy is a city in Doniphan County, Kansas, United States. The population was 1,054 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Doniphan County.Troy is part of the St. Joseph, MO–KS Metropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...
, and attended school until he dropped out in the ninth grade. He spent the next two years hunting, trapping and farming, but developed an interest in law by reading newspaper articles about criminal trials.
Charles Evans Whittaker (February 22, 1901–November 26, 1973) was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court from 1957 to 1962.
Early years
Whittaker was born on a farm near
Troy, KansasTroy is a city in Doniphan County, Kansas, United States. The population was 1,054 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Doniphan County.Troy is part of the St. Joseph, MO–KS Metropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...
, and attended school until he dropped out in the ninth grade. He spent the next two years hunting, trapping and farming, but developed an interest in law by reading newspaper articles about criminal trials. He applied to the Kansas City School of Law (currently the
University of Missouri–Kansas CityThe University of Missouri–Kansas City is an institution of higher learning located in Kansas City, Missouri, USA. Its main campus is in Kansas City's Rockhill neighborhood east of the Country Club Plaza...
School of Law) and gained admission with the condition that he first acquire a high school education. He spent two years working, and taking high school courses from a private tutor before enrolling. While he was a student at the school, from 1922-1924,
Harry S. TrumanHarry S. Truman was the 33rd President of the United States . As President Franklin D. Roosevelt's third vice-president and the 34th Vice President of the United States, he succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, when President Roosevelt died less than three months after beginning his...
was a classmate of his. He received his law degree in 1924.
Whittaker joined a law firm in
Kansas City, MissouriKansas City is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties. It is one of two county seats of Jackson County, the other being Independence, just to the city's east...
and built up a practice in
corporate lawCorporate law is the law of the most dominant kind of business enterprise in the modern world. Corporate law is the study of how shareholders, directors, employees, creditors, and other stakeholders such as consumers, the community and the environment interact with one another under the internal...
. He had close ties to the Republican party. This led to his first appointment as a judge on the
U.S. District Court for the Western District of MissouriThe United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri is the federal judicial district encompassing 66 counties in the western half of the State of Missouri...
on July 8, 1954. He then was nominated to the
Eighth Circuit Court of AppealsThe United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:* Eastern District of Arkansas* Western District of Arkansas...
on June 5, 1956.
Supreme Court
He developed a good reputation as a judge and less than a year later he was nominated Associate Justice of the Supreme Court by President Dwight Eisenhower, taking the oath on March 25, 1957. Whittaker thus became the first person to serve as a judge of a
United States District CourtThe 94 United States district courts are the general trial courts of the United States federal court system. Both civil and criminal cases are filed in the district court, which is a court of law, equity, and admiralty. There is a United States bankruptcy court associated with each United States...
, a
United States Court of AppealsThe United States courts of appeals are the intermediate appellate courts of the United States federal court system...
, and then the
Supreme CourtThe Supreme Court of the United States is the highest judicial body in the United States, and leads the federal judiciary. It consists of the Chief Justice of the United States and eight Associate Justices, who are nominated by the President and confirmed with the "advice and consent" of the Senate...
. (Justice
Samuel BlatchfordSamuel Blatchford was an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from April 3, 1882 until his death.-Early life:...
also served at all three levels of the federal judiciary, but the court system was configured slightly differently at that time.)
On the closely divided Supreme Court, Whittaker was a swing vote. Professor Howard Ball explains that Whittaker was an "extremely weak, vacillating" justice who was "courted by the two cliques on the Court because his vote was generally up in the air and typically went to the group that made the last, but not necessarily the best, argument."
Whittaker failed to develop a consistent judicial philosophy, and reportedly felt himself not as qualified as some of the other members of the court. After agonizing deeply for months over his vote in
Baker v. CarrBaker v. Carr, , was a landmark United States Supreme Court case that retreated from the Court's political question doctrine, deciding that reapportionment issues present justiciable questions, thus enabling federal courts to intervene in and to decide reapportionment cases...
, an important reapportionment case, Whittaker suffered a
nervous breakdownMental breakdown is a non-medical term used to describe an acute, time-limited disorder that presents primarily with features of depression or anxiety.-Definition:...
in the spring of 1962. At the behest of Chief Justice
Earl WarrenEarl Warren was the 14th Chief Justice of the United States and is to date the only person elected Governor of California three times. Prior to holding these positions, Warren served as a district attorney for Alameda County, California and Attorney General of California.His tenure as California...
, Whittaker retired from the Court effective March 31, 1962, citing exhaustion from the workload. Thereafter, Whittaker asked Warren to designate him to serve on temporary assignments as a judge of lower federal courts from time to time, but Warren consistently declined.
Final years
Effective September 30, 1965, Whittaker resigned his position as a retired Justice in order to became chief counsel to General Motors. He also became a resolute critic of the Warren Court as well as the
Civil Rights MovementThe Civil Rights Movement was a worldwide political movement for equality before the law occurring between approximately 1950 and 1980. It was accompanied by much civil unrest and popular rebellion. The process was long and tenuous in many countries, and most of these movements did not achieve or...
, decrying the
civil disobedienceCivil disobedience is the active refusal to obey certain laws, demands and commands of a government, or of an occupying power, without resorting to physical violence. It is one of the primary methods of nonviolent resistance...
of the type practiced by
Martin Luther King, Jr.Martin Luther King, Jr. was an American clergyman, activist and prominent leader in the African-American civil rights movement. His main legacy was to secure progress on civil rights in the United States and he is frequently referenced as a human rights icon today. King is recognized as a martyr...
and his followers as lawless. Like many conservatives, he criticized the
Civil Rights Act of 1964The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a landmark piece of legislation in the United States that outlawed racial segregation in schools, public places, and employment...
as unconstitutional.
Whittaker died in 1973 at St. Luke's Hospital in Kansas City of a ruptured abdominal
aneurysmAn aneurysm or aneurism , is a localized, blood-filled dilation of a blood vessel caused by disease or weakening of the vessel wall....
. He was survived by his wife, Winifred, and three sons, Charles Keith, Kent C. and Gary T.
The federal courthouse in
downtown Kansas CityCBD-Downtown is the central business district of Kansas City, Missouri and the Kansas City Metropolitan Area. It is located between the Missouri River in the north, to 31st Street in the south; and from the Kansas–Missouri state line east to Troost Avenue as defined by officials of the Kansas City,...
, Missouri, which houses the
United States District Court for the Western District of MissouriThe United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri is the federal judicial district encompassing 66 counties in the western half of the State of Missouri...
, is named in memory of Whittaker.
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