Chief Justice Vinson and the Theory of Constitutional Government: A Tentative Appraisal 49 Northwestern University Law Review 1954-1955

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49 Nw. U. L. Rev. 3 (1954-1955)
Chief Justice Vinson and the Theory of Constitutional Government: A Tentative Appraisal

handle is hein.journals/illlr49 and id is 17 raw text is: Chief Justice Vinson and the Theory
of Constitutional Government:
A Tentative Appraisal
Francis A. Allen*
Scarcely any political question arises in the United States
that is not resolved, sooner or later, into a judicial question.-
de Toqueville, 1 Democracy in America 280 (Bradley, ed. 1948)
Whether all this can be reconciled in legal speculation is a
matter of no consequence. It is reconciled in policy: and poli-
tics ought to be adjusted, not to human reasonings, but to
human nature; of which reason is but a part and by no means
the greatest part.-Edmund Burke, Burke's Politics 54
(Hoffman and Levack, eds. 1949).
F RED M. VINSON presided over the Supreme Court of the
United States during the seven post-war years from 1946 to
1953. He is not unique in having held his high office in a period
of crisis. Such, of course, was the destiny of his two immediate
predecessors. And yet, it is perhaps more than a distorted per-
spective which leads one to suspect that the years of Vinson's
tenure were peculiarly laden with portent and significance. As
always, critical and characteristic issues of the period came to
the Court for decision. The way in which the Court sought to
resolve those issues forms an important part of the history of
the time. Chief Justice Vinson, accordingly, played a strategic role
at a crucial juncture in the life of the nation and of the Court. His
extraordinary human qualities and the importance of his services
in the other branches of government add to the interest and signi-
ficance of a notable career.
The purpose of these remarks is to attempt identification of
certain of the basic intellectual assumptions to which Chief Justice
Vinson held as judge. The formulation of even a tentative state-
ment is no small undertaking. Close study of the intellectual life
of any man soon involves the observer in mystery and paradox.
One is reminded of the statement appearing in Vinson's mem-
orial address in honor of his predecessor: Human personality is
a too richly varied and subtle thing to be captured within the
confines of a formula.' But the exploration of Vinson's thought
presents particular difficulties. These arise from a variety of
sources. In the first place, Vinson's judicial tenure was compara-
tively brief-seven years on the Supreme Court and some five
* Professor of Law, Harvard University.
1. See Proceedings in Memory of Mr. Chief Justice Stone, 333 U.S. v, xx
(1948).