“He travels fastest who travels alone”

The Formative Years of Robert H. Jackson

By: Angela Mauroni

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Abstract:

Robert H. Jackson served as U.S. chief prosecutor at the first Nuremberg Trial, having fought against an outright execution of the Nazi war criminals instead of putting them on trial. Although his position as chief prosecutor is a large piece of the legacy he left behind, the Supreme Court opinions he penned were significant as well. Jackson’s opinions always took into account the effects they would have on everyday people, advocating for civil rights and liberties while maintaining a safe society. What makes a man with such an eye for justice? The individualism instilled in him at an early age gave him a drive for defending the underdog as well as allow him to possess the foresight to see how his actions and the actions of others would have long-standing effects on civil rights and liberties. The interactions he had with everyone from his grandfather to his educators shaped him to be an individual and an advocate for justice, traits that were equally reflected in the cases he took while serving as an attorney in New York.

Introduction:

Robert H. Jackson is often remembered as the country lawyer who went on to become the only person to ever hold all three positions of Solicitor General, Attorney General, and Supreme Court Justice, as well as help develop the International Military Tribunal. Without the influence of his family and early career as an attorney, Jackson may not have become the individualistic and highly considerate man who wrote his own famously thorough opinions on the Court. Charles Evans Hughes once said that the Supreme Court “has vindicated the confidence...that you can find in imperfect human beings, for the essential administration of justice, a rectitude of purpose, a clarity of vision and a capacity for independence, impartiality and balanced judgment.”[2] Jackson embodied independence and balanced judgment. His clear thinking led to foresight beyond that displayed by many of his contemporaries, which stemmed from his family, education, and work in his early years.

Family Life:

Robert H. Jackson was named after his grandfather, Robert R. Jackson, who was “even-tempered, hearty, but very outspoken—a quality about him which his grandson admired.”[3] His grandfather regularly read multiple New York newspapers, unlike most of the people around him.[4] In using multiple news sources, and not all of them local, it is clear that he strove to gather all of the facts and make up his own mind on issues, rather than rely solely on the words of those around him. Robert R. Jackson invited his son and grandson to live with him when Robert H. Jackson was twelve, and, because Robert H. Jackson’s parents were so often busy working, he “spent much more time perhaps with [his] grandparents than [he] did with [his] parents.”[5] Because of the amount of time they spent together, Robert R. Jackson’s influence on his grandson was as strong as the influence Robert H. Jackson’s parents had, if not more. Jackson’s grandfather was one of the first to demonstrate to him independence and personal contemplation.

Jackson’s grandfather and his father, William Jackson, shared the quality of outspokenness, which surfaced often. They were Democrats living in the “intensely and sometimes bitterly Republican” area of New York.[6] The independent nature of Jackson’s grandfather transferred to William Jackson as well, who was described as a “salty sturdy individualist.”[7] William Jackson “constantly stressed the importance of independence” to his son, and Jackson developed the same individualistic nature as his father and grandfather. William Jackson often told his son to “[k]eep always in the position where you have a right to, and can, tell any man to go to hell.”[8] Although the Jacksons were heavily outnumbered when it came to political opinions, Jackson once said he never believed it alienated them, nor did they ever try to alienate others who did not agree with them.[9] They were “never given to proselyting or crusading to convince others,” but worked to collaborate.[10]

Even his mother, Angelina Houghwout Jackson, embodied independence, remaining “a self-reliant and self-sufficient woman” as she aged.[11] Jackson looked up to his mother’s strength and her ability to “make a little go a long way, to face difficulties without fear, and to do it all without help or self-pity.”[12] Angelina Jackson came from a long line of people who “were self-sufficient and self-reliant” as well, and who Jackson said “believed that it was up to them to take care of themselves…[They] sought no help and taught, insofar as they consciously taught anything, thrift, industry and self-reliance.”[13] Since William Jackson died in 1915, Angelina was a more constant figure in Jackson’s life. Having “never known her equal,” Jackson admired his mother’s resilient independence and determination.[14]

Meeting Justice(s):

One of the most consistent figures in Jackson’s earliest years was Jackson’s great-uncle, William Miles, who gave him his first introduction to legal figures. Miles babysat Jackson for the first seven years or so of his life, and was a justice of the peace for Spring Creek, New York for thirty years.[15] Because people were often coming to visit for legal advice, Jackson’s relationship with Miles brought him his first encounters with legal figures.[16] This exposure led Jackson to also see how the law operated in the rural area he called his home, since the justices were

not always models of judicial neutrality, yet they applied the law as it lived in the untrained minds of the people of their community. Rather than risk public disapproval, the justices of the peace would often consult their neighbors pretty generally before they made their decisions. But these local judges usually knew without asking how the community felt, and their decisions represented the community’s collective idea of the decent thing.[17]

From these justices, Jackson learned that judicial decisions affect everyday life, and cannot be made without consideration of those it will affect. However, despite the willingness of these justices to make decisions to appease others, Jackson never acted merely to keep others happy. He encouraged graduates during a 1930 high school commencement speech not to succumb to conformity or the influence of those around them, but to think and act as individuals:

You can benefit and serve mankind only as you hold yourself above it, face its hostility, scorn its contempt. If you are out to follow the crowd...you will go its pace, see what it sees and end where it ends. Only as you strike out on paths that lead a more solitary way will you come upon the delights of life.[18]

Jackson considered the effects judicial decisions would have on everyone, but maintained balance in his independence and support of individualism. Perhaps more importantly, he was able to recognize where some people took advantage of the idea of independence and manipulated it for their own gain. In recognizing the existence of these people, he defended his individualistic thinking by saying that

True individualism would teach that a man should have the product of his labor, so as to have an incentive to labor. The modern application of it is that a few men should have all they make and also all they can get from others through exploiting either the employer relation, or the investor relation. That is not individualism, that is itself destruction of individualism.[19]

In keeping with his deep belief in individualism, Jackson always kept a photo at his workplace of a man sitting alone at a desk with the Rudyard Kipling quote “He travels fastest who travels alone” underneath.[20] It is likely that Jackson’s familiarity with Kipling and other great authors that influenced him, came from his English teacher at Jamestown High School, Mary Willard. Many of the books she recommended to him emphasized individualism.

Mary Willard’s Influence:

Jackson, always enthusiastic and dedicated to his education, decided to take an extra year schooling at Jamestown High School.[21] Having read nearly all 500 books in the Frewsburg library, Jackson impressed Mary Willard both in his performance in her classroom and with how many books he had read.[22] Willard began encouraging him to read more great English authors, such as William Shakespeare and Rudyard Kipling.[23] As their friendship grew, Willard started inviting Jackson to dinner at least once a week at her home, which she shared with her sister, Vesta. Because Jackson was commuting to Jamestown everyday by trolley, Vesta offered a room for Jackson to stay in while he finished his studies.[24] Many of their nights were spent reciting literature by the fire, refining Jackson’s speech and building a relationship between Mary Willard and Jackson that lasted a lifetime.

Willard professed herself a “third mother,”[25] to Jackson,[26] and after Willard’s death, Jackson said that “[h]er influence would be hard to overestimate.”[27] While paying tribute to Willard during a speech after her death, he said she was “[s]trongly individual herself,” and that “she sought and encouraged independence, poise and indifference to social pressure which in this day so largely shapes conduct and governs opinion.”[28] Given the individualistic qualities that Jackson was raised on, it is no wonder that he respected these qualities in his educator as well.

Her continuing encouragement of balance and independence is further reflected in the readings she recommended for Jackson. While encouraging him not to partake in World War I in 1917, Willard suggested Jackson read a series of related pieces of literature, including Ralph Waldo Emerson’s “Self-Reliance” and Rudyard Kipling’s “If.”[29] “Self-Reliance” opens with the latin phrase “[n]e te quaesiveris extra,” meaning “[d]o not seek for things outside of yourself.”[30] Emerson’s collection of essays argues that independence is necessary for a successful life, and “the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude.”[31] Jackson’s praise of Willard after her death was centered around her individualism, so there is no doubt that readings like this one stuck with Jackson and were reflected in the traits he believed made a person successful. Jackson’s commencement speech in 1930 reflected themes of nonconformity as well, further supporting the idea that he was influenced by Emerson’s work. Kipling’s work had as much or more of an impact on Jackson, hence the picture he always kept in his possession. Though the quote “[h]e travels fastest who travels alone” is not in the poem, “If” contains similar themes to the quote and to “Self-Reliance,” exploring how to be a successful person. Kipling focuses on balancing any number of different situations and maintaining an individual sense, saying that “[i]f you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue, / Or walk with kings—nor lose the common touch...Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it.”[32] Both Emerson and Kipling encourage resistance from conformity, whatever the situation, and the maintenance of individual thought. Jackson continuously demonstrated individual thought and balance in decision-making.

Street Railway Strike of 1913:

His individualism was reflected in his practice as well as his personal habits. Jackson took cases that he knew would be a challenge, often defending unpopular clients. The first case he argued occurred before he had even been admitted to the New York Bar Association.[33] During the Street Railway Strike of 1913, Jackson served as counsel for 20 streetcar strikers who were accused of cutting down the trolley wire poles during a riot.[34] Although Jackson’s colleagues warned him that “businessmen wouldn’t hire a lawyer who represented unions” and that the case would “hurt his career,” Jackson agreed to help them when they asked.[35] He effectively defended them, winning his first case after discovering and arguing that the riot was company-inspired to alienate public sympathy from the strikers.[36] He revealed that the company employees testifying as witnesses against the defendants had also participated in the riot, and under New York law accomplices could not also be witnesses without having corroboration, which the company lacked.[37]

Jackson’s willingness to take a case defending unpopular clients, particularly when it was his first case and could have established a negative reputation for him, is just the first of many instances when Jackson acted independently from others, seeking fairness rather than personal gain.

Advocacy, the Underdog, and Nonconformity:

Despite the warnings of his peers, Jackson had no shortage of business after representing the strikers. He showed a continued disregard for warnings against unpopular clients, and represented just about anyone he pleased. Mostly, he “always liked the underdog’s side,” though he “had no great emotion about it and no conviction that the underdog is always right, like some people think.”[38] Jackson never saw himself as much of an advocate, but as someone who “liked a good fight.”[39] However, his inclinations toward individualism which led him to provide counsel to these underdogs made Jackson’s a legacy of upholding justice and defending whomever needed him in court.

Jackson and his fellow attorneys did not think it moral to wrong a client once a lawyer agreed to take their case. According to Jackson, “[a]ny unfairness, any taking advantage of a man was resented.”[40] However, as he demonstrated in the railway strikers case, Jackson’s actions were never based on what other people thought of it, but what he thought was fair, which often led to him defending unpopular clients whenever he pleased.