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Felix Frankfurter and Reinhold Niebuhr: 1940-1964

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 April 2015

Daniel Rice
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Extract

By the time the correspondence between Felix Frankfurter (1882-1965) and Reinhold Niebuhr (1892-1971) was underway, both men were well established in their respective careers. Frankfurter, coming from a prestigious post at the Harvard Law School, took the oath of office as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court on January 30, 1939. Niebuhr, occupying the Chair of Christian Ethics at Union Theological Seminary in New York, had recently returned from Edinburgh where he had delivered the highly regarded Gifford Lectures soon to be published in two significant volumes, The Nature and Destiny of Man (1941-1943).

During the period of their correspondence Frankfurter emerged as a major voice in American jurisprudence and came to fulfill the prognostication of Harold Ickes who once told Franklin Roosevelt; “If you appoint Frankfurter, his ability and learning are such that he will dominate the Supreme Court for fifteen or twenty years to come.” Niebuhr, meanwhile, experienced a meteoric rise to prominence in both theological and political circles and stood as one of the towering figures in American life. His contributions to American intellectual history were vast and varied, making him both the most important theologian in the American tradition since Jonathan Edwards, and, in the words of Hans Morgenthau, “the greatest living political philosopher of America, perhaps the only creative political philosopher since Calhoun.”

Type
Correspondence Essay
Information
Journal of Law and Religion , Volume 1 , Issue 2 , 1983 , pp. 325 - 426
Copyright
Copyright © Center for the Study of Law and Religion at Emory University 1983

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References

1. 2 Ickes, H., The Secret Diary of Harold Ickes: 1936-39 540 (1954)Google Scholar.

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5. Id. at 21.

6. One example will suffice. American historian C. Van Woodward in writing of Niebuhr's concept of irony once commented: “I realize that Niebuhr's view of human strivings is based on theology, a subject definitely beyond my province. Whatever its theological implications—and I have frankly never explored them—the view has a validity apart from them that appeals to this historian.” Woodward, , The Burden of Southern History 173 (1960)Google Scholar.

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8. I have also taken the liberty of correcting typographical errors and occasional misspellings in the text of the Frankfurter-Niebuhr correspondence. In most cases the available letters are carbon copies, the originals of which we can assume underwent the necessary corrections. In addition, subsequent to the onset of his grave illness, Niebuhr laboriously worked one-handed at his own typewriter—a task which often resulted in understandable mistakes. One final word: Except where there is clear evidence that Frankfurter and Niebuhr signed their correspondence “Felix” or “Reinie”—which they often did—I have chosen to use their full names as signers of their respective letters.

9. Frankfurter to Niebuhr (Feb. 21, 1940) (Niebuhr Collection, Library of Congress), [hereinafter cited as NCLC].

10. For a brief account of Niebuhr's role in Tillich's move to the United States see Pauck, W. & Pauck, M., Paul Tillich: His Life and Thought 133ff (1976)Google Scholar.

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15. Welles to Frankfurter (Dec. 3, 1941) (FCLC, supra note 3).

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24. Frankfurter reminisced about the personal dynamics involved between himself, Brandeis, and Weizmann. See Frankfurter, supra note 7, at 178-88.

25. Frankfurter to Niebuhr, (Dec. 24, 1941) (FCLC, supra note 3).

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29. Jefferson, for example, wrote: “Whatsoever is lawful in the Commonwealth, or permitted to the subject in ordinary way, cannot be forbidden to him for religious uses: and whatever is prejudicial to the Commonwealth in their ordinary uses and therefore prohibited by the laws, ought not to be permitted to churches in their social rites …. This is the true extent of toleration.” Jefferson, T., Notes on Religion (dated 10, 1776)Google Scholar, in The Complete Jefferson, Containing his Major Writings, Published and Unpublished, Except his Letters 945 (Padiver, S., ed. 1943)Google Scholar.

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34. Supra note 31, at 39.

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37. Minersville District v. Gobitis, 310 U.S. 586, 594-96 (1940).

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63. Id. at 40-41.

64. Supra note 7, at 300-01.

65. Id. at 300.

66. Id. at 300-301.

67. Supra note 62, at 41.

68. Macleish, A. and Prichard, E. Jr., Law and Politics: Occasional Papers of Felix Frankfurter 1913-1938, 23–24 (1971)Google Scholar.

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71. Frankfurter to Niebuhr (April 10, 1953) (FCLC, supra note 3).

72. Niebuhr to Frankfurter (May 18, 1954) (FCLC, supra note 3).

73. Frankfurter, , Some Observations on the Nature of the Judicial Process of Supreme Court Litigation 98 Proc. of the Amer. Philosophical Soc. 233–239 (1954)Google Scholar.

74. Id. at 234.

75. Id. at 237.

76. Baker, supra note 54, at 308.

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78. Id. 201-202.

79. Frankfurter, supra note 73, at 233.

80. Baker, supra note 54, at 318-19.

81. Christopher Niebuhr to the author (Nov. 20, 1978).

82. Baker, supra note 54, at 319.

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87. Niebuhr to Eliot (Sept. 14, 1954) (NCLC supra note 9).

88. Eliot to Niebuhr (Sept. 27, 1954) (NCLC supra note 9).

89. Niebuhr to Eliot (Oct. 1, 1954) (NCLC supra note 9).

90. Niebuhr to Frankfurter (May 16, 1955) (NCLC supra note 9).

91. Niebuhr to Frankfurter (May 17, 1955) (FCLC supra note 3).

92. Frankfurter to Niebuhr (May 18, 1955) (FCLC supra note 3).

93. Frankfurter, supra note 62, at 190.

94. Niebuhr to Frankfurter (July 11, 1955) (FCLC supra note 3).

95. Frankfurter to Niebuhr (Dec. 28, 1956) (FCLC, supra note 3).

96. Niebuhr to Frankfurter (Dec. 31, 1956) (FCLC, supra note 3).

97. Oppenheimer to Niebuhr (Dec. 17, 1956) (NCLC supra note 9).

98. Niebuhr to Oppenheimer (Dec. 21, 1956) (NCLC, supra note 9).

99. Oppenheimer to Niebuhr (Jan. 18, 1957) (NCLC, supra note 9).

100. Muse, B., Virginia's Massive Resistance 39 (1961)Google Scholar.

101. Maston, T., Segregation and Desegregation: A Christian Approach 34 (1959)Google Scholar.

102. Frankfurter to Niebuhr (Feb. 6, 1957) (FCLC, supra note 3).

103. Niebuhr to Frankfurter (Feb. 8, 1957) (FCLC, supra note 3).

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110. Niebuhr to Frankfurter (Mar. 11, 1957) (FCLC, supra note 3.)

111. United States v. Automobile Workers, 352 U.S. 567 (1957).

112. Id. at 590-91.

113. Id. at 585.

114. Frankfurter to Niebuhr (Mar. 27, 1957) (FCLC, supra note 3).

115. Niebuhr to Frankfurter (Apr. 24, 1957) (FCLC, supra note 3).

116. Baker, supra note 54, at 179-91.

117. Frankfurter, supra note 62, at 206. Frankfurter's article first appeared in 104 U. PA. L. REV. (December, 1955).

118. Frankfurter, supra note 62, at 206.

119. Id. at 212.

120. Id. at 210, 212.

121. Niebuhr to Frankfurter (June 26, 1957) (FCLC, supra note 3).

122. Dennis v. United States, 341 U.S. 494, 555-56 (1951).

123. Yates v. United States, 354 U.S. 298, 318, 320-22 (1957).

124. Redford, E., American Government and the Economy 228 (1965)Google Scholar.

125. United States v. du Pont & Co., 353 U.S. 586, 610-11 (1957).

126. Niebuhr to Frankfurter (Oct. 14, 1957) (FCLC, supra note 3).

127. Frankfurter to Niebuhr (Oct. 16, 1957) (FCLC, supra note 3).

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129. Id. at 14.

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132. Id. at 31.

133. Id.

134. Niebuhr to Frankfurter (Oct. 18, 1957) (FCLC, supra note 3).

135. Welsh v. United States, 398 U.S. 333 (1970).

136. Id. at 344.

137. Frankfurter to Niebuhr (Oct. 27, 1958) (FCLC, supra note 3).

138. Niebuhr to Frankfurter (Oct. 30, 1958) (FCLC, supra note 3).

139. Niebuhr to Frankfurter (Jan. 3, 1959) (FCLC, supra note 3).

140. Niebuhr to Frankfurter (Feb. 13, 1959) (FCLC, supra note 3).

141. Frankfurter to Niebuhr (Mar. 10, 1960) (FCLC, supra note 3).

142. Frankfurter, supra note 7, at 68.

143. Id. at 75.

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145. Id. at 67-68.

146. Niebuhr, , The Church and the South African Tragedy, 20 Christianity and Crisis, 05 2, 1960, at 53Google Scholar.

147. Frankfurter to Niebuhr (May 24, 1960) (FCLC, supra note 3).

148. Niebuhr to Frankfurter (May 26, 1960) (FCLC, supra note 3).

149. New York Times, 05 22, 1960, part 4, p. 12Google Scholar.

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151. Niebuhr to Frankfurter (July 23, 1960) (FCLC, supra note 3).

152. Frankfurter to Niebuhr (Dec. 6, 1960) (FCLC, supra note 3).

153. Niebuhr to Frankfurter (Feb. 3, 1961) (FCLC, supra note 3).

154. Niebuhr to Frankfurter (Nov. 8, 1961) (FCLC, supra note 3).

155. Niebuhr to Frankfurter (Jan. 2, 1962) (FCLC, supra note 3).

156. Niebuhr to Frankfurter (Feb. 15, 1962) (FCLC, supra note 3).

157. Niebuhr to Frankfurter (Mar. 29, 19620 (FCLC, supra note 3).

158. Frankfurter, supra note 144, at 246-47.

159. Id. at 247-48.

160. Niebuhr to Frankfurter (Oct. 21, 1962) (FCLC, supra note 3).

161. Niebuhr to Frankfurter (Nov. 15, 1962) (FCLC, supra note 3).

162. Niebuhr, supra note 4, at 20-21.

163. Niebuhr to Frankfurter (Dec. 5, 1962) (FCLC, supra note 3).

164. Niebuhr to Frankfurter (Oct. 7, 1963) (FCLC, supra note 3).

165. Niebuhr to Frankfurter (Nov. 20, 1963) (FCLC, supra note 3).

166. Niebuhr to Frankfurter (Dec. 20, 1964) (FCLC, supra note 3).

167. Niebuhr, supra note 39, at 70.

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169. Id. at 24.

170. Niebuhr, supra note 39, at 69.