ASSOCIATE JUSTICE ARTHUR J. GOLDBERG - TYPED LETTER SIGNED 01/04/1977 - HFSID 283535

ARTHUR GOLDBERG
He signs a typed 1977 letter, tactfully disputing a claim in Smithsonian Magazine that a Supreme Court Clerk was "high strung."
Typed Letter signed: "Arthur J. Goldberg". 1 page, 8½x11. No place, 1977 January 4. On personal letterhead to The Editor, The Smithsonian Magazine, Washington, D.C. In full: "The article and photographs in the January, 1977, issue of the Smithsonian Magazine relating to the Supreme Court were outstanding. The writing and pictures illuminated the workings of the Court and are a major contribution to public understanding of this important branch of our government. I and, I am sure, your other readers look forward to further material on this subject which is to be published in subsequent issues of the magazine. There is, however, a statement in Mr. Williams' excellent article about the Court which I would like to amplify on the basis of my personal experience. The statement relates to Mr. Michael Rodak, the distinguished Clerk of the Court. It characterizes Mr. Rodak as "high strung." In my three years of service as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, I had daily and close association with Mr. Rodak, who then was a Deputy Clerk, in matters relating to the business of the Court. I never found him to be high strung, but, on the contrary, found him, to borrow another word from Mr. Williams, "unflappable." The Court, in its history, has had many able and dedicated Clerks, and Mr. Rodak is not the least among them. Sincerely yours". A labor lawyer, Goldberg (1908-1990) served as President Kennedy's Secretary of Labor (1961-1962) before being appointed Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. In 1965, he was convinced by LBJ to give up his lifetime Supreme Court appointment to succeed the late Adlai E. Stevenson as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. Goldberg's frustration at the continuing escalation of the Vietnam War prompted him to resign his U.N. post in 1968. Michael Rodak, Jr., a graduate of Georgetown Law School, joined the staff of the US Supreme Court as an assistant clerk in 1956. He served as Chief Clerk from 1972 until his retirement in 1981. Three filing holes at left margin. Staple holes at upper left corner. Normal mailing fold creases. Pencil note (unknown hand) at upper right margin. Soiled, toned and lightly foxed. ½" tear at lower right fold.