ASSOCIATE JUSTICE WILLIAM O. DOUGLAS - TYPED LETTER SIGNED 12/27/1952 - HFSID 178047

WILLIAM O. DOUGLAS
The highly vocal justice signs a typed letter thanking the recipient for his letter and a copy of his article
Typed Letter Signed: "Wm O Douglas" in blue ink as Associate Justice, 1p, 5¾x9. Washington, D.C., 1952 December 27. On Supreme Court letterhead. To "Dear Mr. Gordon". In full: "I thank you for your letter of December 15th and for your generous comment on the recent Bill of Rights television program on which I appeared. It was good of you to write me as you did and to send me the clipping of your article./ Yours faithfully". On December 15, 1791, Virginia was the eleventh state to ratify the first ten amendments, called the Bill of Rights, which then became part of the U.S. Constitution. William Orville Douglas (1898-1980) served as chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission from 1937 to 1939, during which time President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed him Associate Justice of the Supreme Court to succeed Louis D. Brandeis. Justice Douglas's service on the Court totaled 36 years and seven months, longer than any other justice up until that point. He retired in November 1975 and died five years later at the age of 81. He was strongly libertarian in his opinions, distrustful of establishments of all types, and considered himself a voice for the voiceless and powerless. Lightly creased. Horizontal fold touches the upper loops of signature. Otherwise, fine condition.