Richard Joseph Hughes (August 10 1909December 7 1992) was an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Democratic PartyThe Democratic Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. It is the oldest political party in continuous operation in the United States and it is one of the oldest parties in the world. In the U.S...
politicianA politician or political leader is an individual who is involved in influencing public decision making. This includes people who hold decision-making positions in government, and people who seek those positions, whether by means of election, coup d'état, appointment, electoral fraud, conquest,...
, who served as the
45th GovernorThe Governor of New Jersey is the chief executive of the U.S. state of New Jersey. The current holder of that office is Jon Corzine, who re-assumed executive powers on May 7, 2007 from acting Gov. Richard Codey, after recuperating from an automobile accident on April 12, 2007...
of
New JerseyNew Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered on the north by New York, and to the east by the Hudson River, Upper New York Bay, the Kill Van Kull, Newark Bay, the Arthur Kill, Raritan Bay, Sandy Hook Bay, Westchester County, New York City, Long Island, and...
, from 1962 to 1970 and as Chief Justice of the
New Jersey Supreme CourtThe New Jersey Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It has existed in three different forms under the three different state constitutions since the independence of the state in 1776...
from 1973-1979. To date, Hughes is the only person to have served New Jersey as both Governor and Chief Justice.
Born in 1909 in
Florence Township, New JerseyFlorence Township is a township in Burlington County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, the township population was 10,746....
, Hughes was a federal prosecutor at the U.S.
Richard Joseph Hughes (August 10 1909December 7 1992) was an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Democratic PartyThe Democratic Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. It is the oldest political party in continuous operation in the United States and it is one of the oldest parties in the world. In the U.S...
politicianA politician or political leader is an individual who is involved in influencing public decision making. This includes people who hold decision-making positions in government, and people who seek those positions, whether by means of election, coup d'état, appointment, electoral fraud, conquest,...
, who served as the
45th GovernorThe Governor of New Jersey is the chief executive of the U.S. state of New Jersey. The current holder of that office is Jon Corzine, who re-assumed executive powers on May 7, 2007 from acting Gov. Richard Codey, after recuperating from an automobile accident on April 12, 2007...
of
New JerseyNew Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered on the north by New York, and to the east by the Hudson River, Upper New York Bay, the Kill Van Kull, Newark Bay, the Arthur Kill, Raritan Bay, Sandy Hook Bay, Westchester County, New York City, Long Island, and...
, from 1962 to 1970 and as Chief Justice of the
New Jersey Supreme CourtThe New Jersey Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It has existed in three different forms under the three different state constitutions since the independence of the state in 1776...
from 1973-1979. To date, Hughes is the only person to have served New Jersey as both Governor and Chief Justice.
Biography
Born in 1909 in
Florence Township, New JerseyFlorence Township is a township in Burlington County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, the township population was 10,746....
, Hughes was a federal prosecutor at the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey, county court judge from 1948-1952, and a superior court judge from 1952-61. After serving as Governor of New Jersey, he served as the Chief Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court from 1973-1979, having been nominated for the post by his successor,
William T. CahillWilliam Thomas Cahill was an American Republican Party politician who served as the 46th Governor of New Jersey, from 1970 to 1974, and who represented New Jersey's 1st congressional district in the U.S...
. As Chief Justice, the court issued a unanimous ruling in the
Karen Ann QuinlanKaren Ann Quinlan was an important person in the history of the right to die controversy in the United States....
, allowing an individual the right to refuse medical treatment and the right of a guardian' to exercise that right if the patient cannot.
Hughes was a delegate to the
Democratic National ConventionThe Democratic National Convention is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 1852 national convention...
from New Jersey in
1948The 1948 Democratic National Convention was held at Convention Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from July 12 to July 14, and resulted in the nominations of incumbent Harry S Truman for President and U.S. Senator Alben W...
(as an alternate),
1968The 1968 Democratic National Convention of the U.S. Democratic Party was held at the International Amphitheatre in Chicago, Illinois, from August 26 to August 29, 1968...
and
1972The 1972 Democratic National Convention was the presidential nominating convention of the Democratic Party for the 1972 presidential election. It was held at Miami Beach Convention Center in Miami Beach, Florida on July 10-13, 1972....
.
Many credit the fact that then-President
Lyndon B. JohnsonLyndon Baines Johnson , served as the 36th President of the United States from 1963 to 1969 after his service as the Vice President of the United States from 1961 to 1963...
had a very close friendship with Hughes, as one reason that
Atlantic CityAtlantic City is a city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. Famous for its boardwalk, casino gambling, sandy beaches, shopping centers, view of the Atlantic Ocean, and as the inspiration for the board game Monopoly, Atlantic City is a resort community located on Absecon Island on the...
hosted the
1964 Democratic National ConventionThe 1964 National Convention of the Democratic Party of the United States took place at the Atlantic City Convention Center in Atlantic City, New Jersey, August 24 - 27, 1964. It resulted in the nomination of the incumbent Lyndon B. Johnson The 1964 National Convention of the Democratic Party of...
.
He died of
congestive heart failureHeart failure is a condition in which a problem with the structure or function of the heart impairs its ability to supply sufficient blood flow to meet the body's needs...
in 1992 in
Boca Raton, FloridaBoca Raton is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida incorporated in May, 1925. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 74,764; the 2006 population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau was 86,396. However, the majority of the people under the postal address of Boca Raton, about...
. He was interred at the St. Mary's Cemetery in
Trenton, New JerseyTrenton is the capital of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. As of 2007, the United States Census Bureau estimated that the City of Trenton had a population of 82,804....
.
The building in Trenton, New Jersey that houses the
New Jersey Department of Law and Public SafetyThe New Jersey Department of Law and Public Safety is a governmental agency in the U.S. state of New Jersey that focuses on protection of the lives and property of New Jersey residents and visitors. The department operates under the supervision of the New Jersey Attorney General...
(headed by the Attorney General), the chambers and offices of the
State Supreme CourtThe New Jersey Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It has existed in three different forms under the three different state constitutions since the independence of the state in 1776...
, and the administrative headquarters of the statewide court system, was dedicated in 1982 as the Richard J. Hughes Justice Complex, in his honor.
Several of Hughes' children have become prominent in New Jersey law and politics. His stepson,
Michael MurphyMichael Murphy is a New Jersey lobbyist and political consultant who ran for Governor in the Democratic primary in 1997 and had previously served as the Morris County Prosecutor. He is a scion of the powerful Murphy-Hughes political legacy...
, is a prominent lobbyist and was previously the
Morris CountyMorris County is a county located in the U.S. state of New Jersey, about 25 mi west of New York City. As of the United States 2000 Census, the population was 470,212, and grew to 493,160 as of the Census Bureau's 2006 estimate.. It is part of the New York Metropolitan Area...
Prosecutor. Murphy placed third in the 1997 Democratic primary for
Governor of New JerseyThe Governor of New Jersey is the chief executive of the U.S. state of New Jersey. The current holder of that office is Jon Corzine, who re-assumed executive powers on May 7, 2007 from acting Gov. Richard Codey, after recuperating from an automobile accident on April 12, 2007...
. A son of Richard Hughes, John Hughes, was a Magistrate Judge in the
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...
for the District of New Jersey, presiding in Trenton, before retiring in February 2009. Another son,
Brian M. HughesBrian M. Hughes is the County Executive for Mercer County and a former member of the county's Board of Chosen Freeholders....
, is the elected
County ExecutiveA county executive is the head of the executive branch of government in a county. This position is common in the United States.The executive may be an elected or an appointed position. When elected, he/she typically functions either as a voting member of the elected county government, or may have...
of
Mercer CountyMercer County is a county located in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Its county seat is Trenton, the state capital. It is officially part of both the New York metropolitan area and Delaware Valley, due to it being close to New York City and Philadelphia, as well as the Trenton-Ewing Metropolitan...
.
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