RateItAll: The Opinion Network

The best. He was dignified, learned and experienced. He brought a lifetime of gravitas to the office.

After the great Chief Justice, John Marshall, Charles Evans Hughes is arguably the greatest ever Chief Justice of the United States. Blessed with a powerful mind (he was able to fully comprehend page-size paragraphs with just a mere glance), Hughes was the intellectual head of his Court- a Court which featured possibly the greatest minds to ever sit on the high bench, which included Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., Louis Brandeis, Benjamin Cardozo, Hugo Lafayette Black, William O. Douglas, Harlan Fiske Stone, Robert Jackson, and Felix Frankfurter. Without any doubt, his peers greatly respected Hughes. He was also a rock during this critical era when President Franklin D. Roosevelt tried to pass his Court-Packing plan to aid his 'New Deal' efforts, holding his ground and thereby reaffirming the old adage of no one being above the law. As the Chief, he embodied authority through his moral conduct and respect for America's great institutions. Yet, Hughes was known for his great personal sensitivity and courtesy towards the rest of his brethren, as Justice Willis Van Devanter suffered from frequent writer's block (he would alleviate the poor Justice's workload by taking on some of Devanter's assignments himself). As a prolific writer of the Court's opinions, Hughes understood the Constitution as being fluid to an ever-changing society. An astute court-manager, Hughes was firm and focused, never letting the weekly conferences between members of the brethren go astray from the case issues during discussion. As Justice Felix Frankfurter once remarked, watching this Zeus of a Chief Justice was akin to watching Toscanini lead his orchestra. Yes, Frankfurter's assessment is truly worthy of this great Chief Justice and his judicial performance.