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The Supreme Court and World War I

One hundred seven years ago, World War I began on July 28, 1914, and did not end until November 11, 1918. The United States did not enter the war until April 1917.

The Supreme Court’s connections to the war, through the military service of its future members and through cases that wended their way to the Court as a result of the war are rich and complex.

Future Supreme Court Justices who served in the Armed Forces during World War I were:

Hugo Black, Captain, US Army

Harold Burton, Captain, US Army

Tom Clark, Sergeant, Texas National Guard

William O. Douglas, Private, US Army

Felix Frankfurter, Major, US Army

Sherman Minton, Captain, US Army

Frank Murphy, First Lieutenant, US Army

Stanley Reed, First Lieutenant, US Army

Fred Vinson, Private U.S. Army

Earl Warren, First Lieutenant, US Army

To commemorate the Centennial of World War I, the Society hosted a four-part Leon Silverman Lecture series focused on the Supreme Court and World War I.

The articles from that series are collected in the 2018, Vol 43, No 3 issue of the Journal of Supreme Court History: Order your copy today.

Signed copies of Professor Capozolla and Professor Weinrib’s books are available from the Gift Shop:

The Taming of Free Speech: America’s Civil Liberties Compromise

Uncle Sam Wants You: World War I and the Making of the Modern American Citizen