History of the United States II / Unit 11 USH2 1544 worked example, 60 to 90 seconds
The Court-Packing Plan
The idea
In nineteen thirty-seven, after his landslide, Roosevelt asked Congress for power to add a new justice for every sitting justice over seventy who had not retired, which would have enlarged the Supreme Court from nine members to fifteen. Opponents called it the court-packing scheme. Roosevelt argued it would clear the backlog of cases; the Yawp says it was designed to let him appoint up to six friendly justices.
In practice
Six justices over seventy, by Digital History's count, and a president offering generous pensions to retiring federal judges.
Where people slip
The plan failed in Congress. The anchor says the retirement of Justice Van Devanter and the sudden death of Senator Joe Robinson, who had championed the plan, all but signalled its defeat. Yet the anchor also says Roosevelt appeared to succeed in intimidating the justices, who went on to sustain the Wagner Act and Social Security; the Yawp calls the Court chastened. Whether the plan failed or worked depends on which result is counted: the bill was lost and the Court changed course. Digital History calls it a political disaster. Keep the anchor's word, appeared.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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