FDR appointed a Klansman to the Supreme Court (Today in History)

Grand Old Partisan ^ | August 17, 2008 | Michael Zak

[Colonel Kangaroo]

On this day in 1937, sixteen Republican Senators voted against confirming a former Ku Klux Klan member to the U.S. Supreme Court. Senator Hugo Black (D-AL) was known to have been in the KKK, but President Franklin Roosevelt and the Democratic Party kept the documentary proof hidden until after his confirmation.

[Colonel Kangaroo]

Another day in the history of the Democrats, the party which too often to this present time has specialized in fostering and exploiting divisions and resentments.

Senator Byrd must have been proud that day.

[nmh]

It figures. Another dam Demoncrat!

They act like they are god's gift to blacks and Demoncrats are the ones the look DOWN on BLACKS. A Demoncrat appointing a KKK person certainly tells me that.

[indcons]

Black’s story is interesting - he was a hardcore Dixiecrat who converted to a New Deal liberal in the Warren court. Toward the end of his life (and his term on the bench), he apparently saw the light and started voting as a conservative - especially on law and order cases.

[yarddog]

I once worked with a guy who was kin to Black. He despised him. Hugo Black was a liberal and surprisingly very much pro civil rights.

I think he was a terrible choice but the fact that he had once been a member of the KKK had nothing to do with it.

[johnthebaptistmoore]

Today, we are truly still feeling a lot of the long-term damage that FDR started after his “New Deal” became fully implemented. Down the road, LBJ’s social programs slowly made things throughout the U.S. even worse for the long-term! Thanks, FDR and LBJ!

[JimSEA]

Of course with Black's strict construction and opposition to substantive due process, combined with his position vis a vis the Bill of Rights and the 14th Amendment, Black was generally conservative and did a lot for actual civil rights for minorities. Another KKK alumni, Harry Truman, was instrumental in integrating the military.

Bobby Byrd's big problem is that he is an idiot with very flexible principles and a big, if eloquent, mouth.

[kbennkc]

The hypocrisy of the rats and Senator Byrd give ex klansmen a bad name . People can repent .

[isrul]

So the GOP was against diversity way back then.

[stainlessbanner]

Shucking for zak eh? Book sales must be down.

How is the chapter on Gov Jackson of Indiana (1925)?

[Leisler]

JFK allowed his PT boat to be run over by a larger, slower, less maneuverable craft. Naturally there was an investigation. 15 years later Kennedy appoints the investigating officer to the Supreme Court. Byron White.

[machogirl]

a democrat? a memeber of the klan? no way? that’s only republicans (sarcasm)

[SunkenCiv]

Hey, that’s diversity; President Barack Hussein Obama will get to appoint some Moslems to the Supreme Court.

[SunkenCiv]

Interesting, didn’t know that.

[Non-Sequitur]

Not entirely true. Two Democratic Senators, Royal Copeland and Edward Burke, advocated against Black's confirmation because of his alleged involvement with the Klan, which hadn't been confirmed. It raised quite a stink among his fellow senators, which was put to rest when Republican Senator Borah of Idaho said the story was without foundation. It wasn't until after the nomination was approved that the Pittsburh Post-Gazette broke the story.

It's also interesting to note the Klan Chapter that Black was a member of - Robert E. Lee Chapter Number 1 of Alabama.