Byron R. White, 1962-1993

BYRON R. WHITE was born in Fort Collins, Colorado, on June 8, 1917, and raised in the nearby town of Wellington. He entered the University of Colorado in 1934 and was graduated in 1938. White attended Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar for one year and then enrolled in Yale Law School. White’s education was interrupted by the United States entry into World War II. He joined the Navy, serving in the South Pacific. After the War, he completed his legal studies at Yale and was graduated in 1946. Upon graduation, White received an appointment as clerk to Chief Justice Fred M. Vinson of the United States Supreme Court for the 1946-1947 term. He then returned to Colorado and practiced with a Denver law firm for fourteen years. In 1961, White was appointed Deputy Attorney General of the United States by President John F. Kennedy. White served in that position until March 30, 1962, when President Kennedy nominated him to the Supreme Court of the United States. The Senate confirmed the appointment on April 11, 1962. White took the oath of office on April 16, 1962. He retired after thirty-one years of service on June 28, 1993. Retired Justice Byron R. White died on April 15, 2002, in Colorado, at the age of eighty-four.