ASSOCIATE JUSTICE ABE FORTAS - TYPED LETTER SIGNED 08/11/1965 - HFSID 32300

ABE FORTAS
The Supreme Court justice sends a letter expressing his permission to include excerpts
Typed Letter Signed: "Abe Fortas", 1p, 8½x11. Washington, D.C., 1965 August 11. On Arnold, Fortas & Porter stationery to Professor Myron L. Joseph, Carnegie Institute of Technology, Pittsburgh, giving him "permission to include the excerpts from my paper, 'Portents for New Antitrust Policy,'…in the revision of your book, Economic Analysis and Policy: Background Readings for Current Issues."  After two decades of private law practice, Fortas (1910-1982) was appointed to the Supreme Court by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1965. Fortas had successfully represented LBJ when Johnson's 84-vote victory in the 1948 Democratic Senate primary in Texas was challenged, and remained a confidante of President Johnson. In 1968, LBJ nominated Fortas to succeed Earl Warren as Chief Justice, but then withdrew the nomination. In 1969, "Life" magazine revealed that Fortas had accepted and then returned a fee of $20,000 from a charitable foundation controlled by the family of an indicted stock manipulator. Public opinion forced Fortas to resign from the bench on May 14, 1969, but denied any wrongdoing. It was the only time in U.S. history that a Supreme Court Justice resigned under public pressure.  Lightly creased. Light horizontal fold touches the descender of the "A" and "F". Fine condition.