Henry Friendly
Henry Friendly | |||||||||||||
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Senior Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit | |||||||||||||
In office April 15, 1974 – March 11, 1986 | |||||||||||||
Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit | |||||||||||||
In office July 20, 1971 – July 3, 1973 | |||||||||||||
Preceded by | J. Edward Lumbard | ||||||||||||
Succeeded by | Irving Kaufman | ||||||||||||
Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit | |||||||||||||
In office September 10, 1959 – April 15, 1974 | |||||||||||||
Appointed by | Dwight D. Eisenhower | ||||||||||||
Preceded by | Harold Medina | ||||||||||||
Succeeded by | Ellsworth Van Graafeiland | ||||||||||||
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Personal details | |||||||||||||
Born | Henry Jacob Friendly July 3, 1903 Elmira, New York, U.S. | ||||||||||||
Died | March 11, 1986 New York City, U.S. | (aged 82)||||||||||||
Cause of death | Suicide by drug overdose | ||||||||||||
Political party | Republican[1] | ||||||||||||
Spouse |
Sophie Pfaelzer Stern
(m. 1930) | ||||||||||||
Education | Harvard University (AB, LLB) | ||||||||||||
Awards | Presidential Medal of Freedom (1977) | ||||||||||||
Henry Jacob Friendly (July 3, 1903 – March 11, 1986) was an American jurist who served as a federal circuit judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit from 1959 to 1986, and as the court's chief judge from 1971 to 1973.[2] Friendly was one of the most prominent U.S. judges of the 20th century,[3] and his opinions are some of the most cited in federal jurisprudence.[4][5]
Early life
Friendly was born in
Friendly demonstrated precocious abilities in reading and diction at a young age. By age seven, he could read any book intended for adults. His mother, Leah Hallo, was a serious and reserved bardolater with an excellent memory who became skilled at contract bridge. She played an intimate role in his upbringing, devoting herself to raising her son and taking him to see evening performances of Gilbert and Sullivan; Friendly later recalled, "there was absolutely nothing she wouldn't have done for me."[9] His father, by contrast, was strict and distant with an inclination towards perfection, impressing high standards of work upon him. Their marriage was initially an unhappy one, with Leah leaving at one point to move in with her sister, although Myer eventually persuaded her to return.[10] Regarding their collective relationship, Friendly remarked that "we didn’t have a very close family."[11]
The Friendly family resided in the primarily Christian, western side of Elmira, opposite of the eastern Jewish community. They held various civic positions in town, lived comfortably, and were known as active members of the local German-Jewish population.
As a child, Friendly was docile and obedient, gaining a reputation for his earnest behavior.
It was at Elmira that Friendly developed core
Education
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/09/1935_Photo_Elmira_Free_Academy_Debating_Society.png/262px-1935_Photo_Elmira_Free_Academy_Debating_Society.png)
Despite missing periods of school on family vacations, Friendly skipped three grades,
At age sixteen, Friendly matriculated at Harvard College in the fall, drawn by the school's expansive catalogue. He was a taciturn undergraduate who lacked social skills,[c] yet immersed himself with a focus in history, philosophy, and government, continuing to achieve superlative grades every year. He enjoyed the intellectual challenges of understanding history, a pursuit reinforced by Harvard's modern approach that emphasized the field's intellectual and political aspects.[21] Indicating his standing as one of the top eight students of the class, Friendly's performance won him election to the Phi Beta Kappa honor society. His successes in the classroom were noticed by his peers. Classmate Albert Gordon, a future businessman, later reflected upon his reputation: "we thought of him not only as the smartest in the class but the smartest at Harvard College."[22]
As a result of his studies in high school, Friendly leaned towards European history, taking courses with prominent scholars
Postgraduate years
Inspired by McIlwain, Friendly contemplated an academic life.[29] He intended to pursue a Ph.D. in medieval history after graduation, confounding his parents' wishes for him to enroll in Harvard Law School. Professor Frederick Merk, who had once judged an answer given by Friendly as worthy of publication in an academic journal, assured him of an appointment to the university's faculty.[30] After Harvard awarded Friendly a prestigious Shaw traveling fellowship for abroad study, he notified his parents of pursuing a doctorate; both then steered connections to contact Judge Julian Mack,[d] informing him "about this dreadful thing that was about to occur."[32] Following his recommendation, they arranged for Friendly to meet law professor Felix Frankfurter with the aim of dissuading him from pursuing a career in history. Frankfurter convinced Friendly to follow through the fellowship, which enabled postgraduate studies in Europe for a year,[e] then tentatively attend the Law School.[34][f]
From 1923 until 1924, Friendly sojourned in Europe. He witnessed the alarming inflation and social unrest that grappled the Weimar Republic, then traveled to Amsterdam and thirdly to Paris, where he attended the École pratique des hautes études for a few months. He found the lectures on law there unimpressive, admitting that "between the two, I much preferred history...if anything could give one a distaste for law that was it."[35] After stopping in Italy, his studies led him to the universities of Oxford and Cambridge in England. With the year "moderately successful" though still "somewhat dissatisfied," Friendly returned to the United States and entered Harvard Law School.[36]
Law school
In 1925, Harvard Law School was a growing institution which expanded to house 1,440 students. Under dean
Although he was not enrolled in any of his classes, Friendly was frequently invited by Frankfurter to join him. The professor made the young student one of his favorites, and it was due to Frankfurter that Friendly grew interested in federal jurisdiction and emerging field of administrative law. Other professors, struck by Friendly's command over the material, praised his ability.[40] They included Thomas Reed Powell, a proponent of legal realism, as well as formalists Samuel Williston and Joseph Beale, who often had to contend with the novel theories of Zechariah Chafee and Roscoe Pound.[41] After one examination, Calvert Magruder, Friendly's first-year teacher in contract law, left him a congratulatory note: "[I have] never run across as beautiful [an exam] book as yours in Contracts... [nor one with your] sense of values and emphasis, the logical construction of your answers, your compactness & facility of expression."[42]
Friendly finished first in his class his first year and was honored as a member of the
Along with the existing commitments to the law review, Friendly was an active member of the Ames Moot Court Competition, where he won the Marshall Prize for its best brief. Despite investing less time to schoolwork, he also came first in his class his second year.[46] That summer, he received an invitation from Frankfurter, who was teaching at Columbia Law School, to join him in New York City. Frankfurter had been living there with Emory Buckner; feeling that teaching would not sufficiently occupy him, he arranged for Friendly, along with classmates James Landis and Thomas Corcoran, to room together in the city. The group would make acquaintances with distinguished jurists Learned Hand, Augustus Noble Hand, Julian Mack, and Charles Culp Burlingham. After Buckner requested the assistance of two "bright young men," Frankfurter sent Friendly and Corcoran to aid him with his prosecution of Harry Daugherty at the New York U.S. Attorney's office.[47]
In 1927, Friendly graduated as
Clerkship under Brandeis
In Friendly's second year, Frankfurter notified him of his decision to appoint him as a law clerk to Justice Louis Brandeis on the Supreme Court.[60] Brandeis was aware of Friendly's intellectual achievements at Harvard; both he and Frankfurter foresaw a career for Friendly in the legal academy.[60] In Friendly's third year, Frankfurter changed course. He suggested that Friendly delay the clerkship to remain at Harvard for a fourth year to study, teach, and research for him.[61] Friendly declined, tired of law school. Buckner advised him to immediately proceed to the clerkship then be a practitioner.[62] The competing interests of Brandeis, Frankfurter, and Buckner struggled over the future of Friendly's career, quarreling over a life in the academy or in the private practice of law.[63][k] Ultimately, Friendly forewent a postgraduate year.[64] He decided to begin with Brandeis in the fall after graduation, and traveled to Washington, D.C., where a front-page story by The Christian Science Monitor described their association as "the two highest Harvard Law men to work together."[65]
The clerkship with Brandeis had a lasting impact on Friendly.[66][l] He admired the justice's encyclopedic knowledge of the law and held a deep respect for his intellect.[65] Brandeis, who spent long, isolated hours away from his clerk working, championed judicial restraint and often chose to defer to the legislatures.[68] Both obsessed over issues of federal jurisdiction, with Friendly helping Brandeis to avoid decision on those grounds as a "jurisdiction hound."[69] He recalled that Brandeis would think autonomously to form his own opinions: "neither bitter personal attack nor temporary defeat could shake Brandeis’ faith in the future, provided men would continue to fight."[68]
Playing important roles in complicated cases under Brandeis would aid Friendly in private practice and as a judge.
Private practice
While still a clerk for Brandeis, Friendly received an offer to be an
For 31 years, Friendly stayed in private practice, where his speciality evolved into a combination of administrative, common-carrier, and appellate law.[81][82] After passing the New York bar in 1928, the reputation he developed during his years as an attorney from 1928 to 1959 proved outstanding.[1] He had begun in September 1928 at Root, Clark, where he eventually was made a partner on January 2, 1937.[83][2]
The firm first assigned him as an assistant to
In 1931, Brandeis once again urged Friendly to join the faculty of Harvard Law School, this time with the additional support of Frankfurter, Roscoe Pound, Calvert Magruder, and Edward Morgan. When Friendly refused in order to remain in private practice, Brandeis and Frankfurter attempted to get him to join the Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC) as its assistant general counsel the next year at the invitation of Eugene Meyer. He turned down this office also, a decision which came as a disappointment to Frankfurter.[88] The Law School continued to make repeated requests for Friendly to join its faculty, all of which were ultimately unsuccessful.[89]
From 1931 until 1933,
John Harlan and I often remarked to each other that the Wendel Estate litigation was the most enjoyable forensic experience of our lives. It combined the elements of drama with—what is not always available—the financial resources needed to do a thoroughly professional job.[93]
Pan Am and Cleary, Gottlieb
Friendly was responsible for
With fellow associate