Frank Murphy; The Washington Years

Ann Arbor, MI: The University of Michigan Press, 1984. Presumed First Edition, First printing. Hardcover. Very good/Good. xii, 784, [2] pages. Illustrations. Notes. Bibliography. Index. This is the third, and final, volume of this multi-volume biography. Sidney Fine (October 11, 1920 - March 31, 2009) was a professor of history at the University of Michigan. He earned both an M.A. (1944) and Ph.D. (1948) in history from the University of Michigan. Fine was a specialist in modern American history, with interest in the history of the labor movement, the New Deal, and the history of Michigan and its political environment. He wrote and edited over fifteen books and many articles. He authored books on Frank Murphy, who served successively as Mayor of Detroit, Governor of Michigan, United States Attorney General, and Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. During World War II he served in the Army Reserve during three months of 1942 while the court was in recess. He served as the executive officer to the Chief of Staff of the United States Army George C. Marshall. He retired with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. Fine was twice the winner of the University of Michigan Press Award. He received the University of Michigan's Distinguished Faculty Achievement Award in 1969. Fine accepted a position as a UM instructor in 1948 and was appointed as an assistant professor, an associate professor, then a full professor in 1959. Dr. Fine was chairman of the department from 1969-1971. He was named the Richard Hudson Research Professor of History, the Andrew Dickson White Distinguished Professor of History, the Henry Russel Lecturer, and was named the "Professor of the Year" for the state of Michigan in 1986. William Francis Murphy (April 13, 1890 - July 19, 1949) was an American politician, lawyer, and jurist from Michigan. He was a Democrat who was named to the Supreme Court of the United States in 1940 after a political career that included serving as United States Attorney General, 35th Governor of Michigan, and Mayor of Detroit. He also served as the last Governor-General of the Philippines and the first High Commissioner to the Philippines. Born in "The Thumb" region of Michigan, Murphy graduated from the University of Michigan Law School in 1914. After serving in the United States Army during World War I, he served as a federal attorney and trial judge. He served as Mayor of Detroit from 1930 to 1933 before accepting his appointment as Governor-General of the Philippine Islands. He defeated incumbent Republican Governor Frank Fitzgerald in Michigan's 1936 gubernatorial election and served a single term as Governor of Michigan. Murphy lost re-election to Fitzgerald in 1938 and accepted an appointment as the United States Attorney General the following year.
In 1940, President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed Murphy to the Supreme Court to fill a vacancy caused by the death of Pierce Butler. Murphy served on the Court from 1940 until his death in 1949, and was succeeded by Tom C. Clark. Murphy wrote the Court's majority opinion in SEC v. W. J. Howey Co., and wrote a dissenting opinion in Korematsu v. United States. Murphy is perhaps best known for his vehement dissent from the court's ruling in Korematsu v. United States (1944), which upheld the constitutionality of the government's internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II. He sharply criticized the majority ruling as "legalization of racism." This was the first time the word "racism" found its way into a Supreme Court opinion.