Wikipedia:Today's featured article/September 16, 2011



Sherman Minton (1890–1965) was a Democratic United States Senator from Indiana and an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He served as a captain in World War I, then launched a legal and political career. In 1934, Minton won election to the United States Senate. As part of the New Deal Coalition, he championed President Franklin D. Roosevelt's unsuccessful court packing plans in the Senate and became one of his top Senate allies. After Minton failed in his 1940 Senate re-election bid, Roosevelt appointed him as a judge to the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. After Roosevelt's death, President Harry Truman, who had developed a close friendship with Minton during their time together in the Senate, nominated him to the Supreme Court, where he served for seven years. An advocate of judicial restraint, Minton was a regular supporter of the majority opinions during his early years on the Court; he became a regular dissenter after President Dwight Eisenhower's appointees altered the Bench's composition. In 1956, poor health forced Minton's retirement, after which he traveled and lectured until his death in 1965. (more...)

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