Benjamin Nathan Cardozo, 1932-1938

BENJAMIN NATHAN CARDOZO was born in New York, New York, on May 24, 1870. He was admitted to Columbia University at the age of fifteen, was graduated in 1889, and earned a graduate degree in 1890. Cardozo studied law at Columbia University and was admitted to the bar in 1891 before obtaining a degree. He began practicing appellate law with his older brother, and remained in private practice for twenty-three years. In 1914, Cardozo was elected to the New York Supreme Court, the state’s trial bench. Later that year, the Governor of New York appointed him to a temporary position on the New York Court of Appeals. Cardozo was elected to a full term as an Associate Judge of the Court of Appeals in 1917, and in 1926 he became Chief Judge. His writings were used as a handbook for lawyers and his lectures at Yale Law school were expanded and published. On February 15, 1932, President Herbert Hoover nominated Cardozo to the Supreme Court of the United States. The Senate confirmed the appointment on February 24, 1932. Cardozo served on the Supreme Court for six years. He died on July 9, 1938, at the age of sixty-eight.