LBJ's nomination of Thurgood Marshall for Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, 6/13/1967. NARA ID 306369. Image from that day, 2803441.
#OTD 1967, MARSHALL CONFIRMED TO SUPREME COURT
By Miriam Kleiman, Public Affairs
President Johnson knew he a fight would ensue when he appointed Thurgood Marshall to be the first Black Justice to the Supreme Court. But LBJ loved a good fight and knew he had a good man. He said of Marshall, the great-grandson of a slave:
[H]e earned that appointment; he deserves the appointment. He is best qualified by training and by very valuable service to the country. I believe it is the right thing to do, the right time to do it, the right man and the right place. LBJ on Marshall.
Fun fact! Marshall's interest in law began in high school when, as punishment for a prank, the school's principal made him read the Constitution! Marshall he not only read it but began memorizing it!
Even before the Supreme Court, Marshall had made his mark in American law, having won 29 of the 32 cases he argued before the Supreme Court, most notably Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954). Marshall had also been appointed to the Second Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals by President John F. Kennedy in 1961 and U.S. Solicitor General by President Johnson in 1965.
LBJ with Thurgood Marshall in the Oval Office, 6/13/1967. NARA ID 2803439.
As an associate justice on the highest court in America, Marshall continued his lifelong fight against discrimination to protect the constitutional rights of the most vulnerable Americans. He retired from the Supreme Court in 1991 after 24 years on the bench and died on January 24, 1993. Upon Marshall’s death, President Clinton issued a Presidential Proclamation praising Marshall:
Perhaps no other American lawyer has had more impact on the current meaning and content of the U.S. Constitution. As the leading attorney for the N.A.A.C.P. Legal Defense and Education Fund, Justice Marshall’s twenty-nine victories before the U.S. Supreme Court breathed life into the text of the Fourteenth Amendment and guaranteed all Americans equality and liberty in their individual choices concerning voting, housing, education, and travel. As an appeals court judge, the Solicitor General of the United States and, finally, Supreme Court Justice, he worked tirelessly to expand and protect his vision of justice for America. As our Nation begins to chart its course for the next century, it is fitting that we pause to honor and remember the courageous, purposeful life of Thurgood Marshall.
Honoring Justice Thurgood Marshall: the right man and the right place, Pieces of History
This Week in Universal News: Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall is Sworn In, 1967, Unwritten Record.
“The Long Siege”: Thurgood Marshall’s Other Court Nomination Battle, Rediscovering Black History
Letters to JFK re: nomination/confirmation of Marshall to a Federal judgeship on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.
Read Marshall’s 1964 oral history at the Kennedy Presidential Library