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49 Nw. U. L. Rev. 26 (1954-1955)
Chief Justice Vinson and His Law Clerks

handle is hein.journals/illlr49 and id is 40 raw text is: Chief Justice Vinson and His Law Clerkst H OWEVER important his other public service, history will re- gard the seven years spent by Fred M. Vinson as Chief Justice of the United States as the most significant of a long and distin- guished public career. The Northwestern University School of Law enjoys the distinction of having provided, during that period, most of the men who were the Chief Justice's legal assistants, his daily associates and trusted confidants. The relationship of law clerk to Supreme Court Justice is neces- sarily a close and intimate one. A clerk is, of course, responsible only to his immediate employer. He receives his assignments directly from the Justice and submits his work directly to him. On the other hand, the Justice is dependent in a number of ways upon his clerks. The day-to-day relationship is usually one of close and friendly contact, of trust and confidence. Because the relationship between Chief Justice Vinson and his law clerks was unusually close, it seems appropriate that his clerks should record some of their experiences and observations in that capacity. In these few pages, all of the Northwestern graduates who served the Chief Justice endeavor to weave the threads of their personal experiences and observations. In this article, Chief Jus- tice Vinson will be spoken of simply as the Chief, the term by which he was always known by his clerks. Our first meeting with the Chief usually took place at an inter- view several months prior to our prospective terms as clerks. While this interview was usually a mere formality (we later learned that his decision to accept us had already been made), it was a vital first step in establishing the kind of Justice-clerk relationship that the Chief desired. Anyone who has felt the stately but coldly aus- tere atmosphere of the Supreme Court Building can appreciate our feelings as we entered the Chief's office for that first visit. It was the genius of the Chief that we were soon at ease. Reminiscences of our forerunners, Northwestern graduates who had served before us, generally opened the conversation. There might be a few min- utes spent on the current sports picture-particularly if the inter- view took place during the baseball season. Interspersed with these relaxing comments were, however, serious questions that gave the Chief some insight into our own abilities and attitudes. We learned early that the Chief was a good listener-but only if we had some- thing worthwhile to say. We each left these interviews with the feeling that their purpose was not so much to ascertain fitness for tThis article is a collective project, written by the Northwestern graduates who served as law clerks to Chief Justice Vinson. A table listing all of his clerks will be found at the conclusion of this article.