Charles Evans Whittaker

Charles Evans Whittaker
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
Charles Evans Whittaker
Born	Charles Evans Whittaker 22 2, 1901
Birthplace	Troy, Kansas, U.S.
Died	Template:Death date and age Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.
Nationality	American
Occupation	Jurist, attorney
Known for	Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court (1957–1962); first person to serve at all three levels of the federal judiciary
Education	Kansas City School of Law (LLB)
Children	3

Charles Evans Whittaker (February 22, 1901 – November 26, 1973) was an American jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1957 to 1962. Born on a farm near Troy, Kansas, Whittaker rose from modest rural beginnings—lacking even a high school diploma—to the highest court in the land, a trajectory that made him a singular figure in American legal history. He was the first person to serve successively as a judge on a federal district court, a federal court of appeals, and the Supreme Court of the United States. All three nominations came from President Dwight D. Eisenhower. During his five years on the Warren Court, Whittaker served as a frequent swing vote, often caught between the Court's liberal and conservative blocs. The pressures of the position contributed to a nervous breakdown in 1962, prompting his resignation. After leaving the bench, he became chief counsel to General Motors and emerged as a public critic of the Civil Rights Movement and the judicial philosophy of the Warren Court.

Early Life

Charles Evans Whittaker was born on February 22, 1901, near Troy, in Doniphan County, in the northeastern corner of Kansas. He grew up on a farm, where his family engaged in the agricultural work that characterized much of rural Kansas at the turn of the twentieth century. Whittaker's early life was shaped by the rigors of farm labor and the limited educational opportunities available in the region. He did not complete high school, a fact that would later distinguish his path to the legal profession as particularly unconventional.

Despite the absence of a formal secondary education, Whittaker demonstrated an early determination to pursue a career in law. He left the family farm as a young man and made his way to Kansas City, Missouri, where he would establish himself in the legal community. Whittaker's origins in rural Kansas remained a defining element of his public identity throughout his career; he was later noted as the only United States Supreme Court justice to come from either Missouri or Kansas. His upbringing instilled in him a reputation for hard work and self-reliance, qualities that characterized his decades-long legal career before his appointment to the federal bench.

Education

Whittaker attended the Kansas City School of Law (later the University of Missouri–Kansas City School of Law), where he earned his Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree. His admission to law school without a high school diploma was possible under the more flexible entrance requirements that existed at many American law schools in the early twentieth century. Upon completion of his legal studies, Whittaker was admitted to the Missouri bar and began his career in private legal practice in Kansas City. He was a member of Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity during his time in school.

Career

Private Practice

After completing his legal education, Whittaker entered private practice in Kansas City, Missouri, where he spent approximately three decades building a career as a corporate attorney. He joined the law firm of Watson, Gage, Ess, Groner & Barnett, one of the prominent firms in the Kansas City legal community. During his years in private practice, Whittaker developed expertise in corporate and commercial law, establishing a reputation as a capable and methodical attorney. His work brought him into contact with leading figures in Kansas City's business and political circles, connections that would later prove instrumental in his judicial appointments. He became active in Republican Party politics in Missouri, aligning himself with the political network that would eventually bring him to the attention of the Eisenhower administration.

Federal District Court

On July 8, 1954, Whittaker received his first judicial appointment when President Dwight D. Eisenhower nominated him to serve as a judge on the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri. He succeeded Judge Albert L. Reeves on the bench. His tenure on the district court was relatively brief, lasting approximately two years. During this period, Whittaker handled a range of federal cases and earned a reputation as an efficient and conscientious trial judge. His performance on the district court impressed the Eisenhower administration sufficiently to merit a rapid promotion to the appellate level.

Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals

On June 5, 1956, Whittaker was elevated to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, again through nomination by President Eisenhower. He succeeded Judge John Caskie Collet on that court. His service on the Eighth Circuit was even shorter than his district court tenure, lasting less than a year before he received the call to the Supreme Court. During his brief time on the appellate bench, Whittaker participated in decisions that further demonstrated his judicial temperament and legal acumen. His rapid ascent through the federal judiciary—from district court to circuit court to the Supreme Court in the span of approximately three years—was historically unprecedented and remains a notable feature of his career.

Supreme Court of the United States

On March 2, 1957, President Eisenhower nominated Whittaker to the Supreme Court of the United States to succeed Associate Justice Stanley Forman Reed, who had retired. The nomination was confirmed by the United States Senate, and Whittaker took the oath of office on March 25, 1957, becoming the ninety-first justice to serve on the Court. His appointment made him the first individual in American history to have served at all three levels of the federal judiciary: district court, court of appeals, and the Supreme Court.

Whittaker joined the Court during one of the most consequential periods in its history. Under Chief Justice Earl Warren, the Court was engaged in reshaping American constitutional law in areas including civil rights, criminal procedure, legislative reapportionment, and the separation of church and state. The Warren Court era was marked by sharp ideological divisions, with liberal justices such as William O. Douglas, Hugo Black, and Warren himself frequently clashing with more conservative members of the bench.

During his five years on the Court, Whittaker occupied a position as a swing vote between the liberal and conservative factions. He was often described as agonized by the difficulty of the cases before him, struggling to reach definitive positions on the complex constitutional questions that dominated the Court's docket. His opinions were generally considered cautious and narrowly drawn, and he did not author any landmark majority opinions that significantly shaped the development of constitutional law. Legal scholars have noted that Whittaker's voting pattern was difficult to categorize neatly, as he shifted between the two camps depending on the case at hand.

The case of Baker v. Carr (1962), which addressed the question of whether federal courts could adjudicate challenges to legislative apportionment, proved particularly agonizing for Whittaker. The case raised fundamental questions about the political question doctrine and the role of the judiciary in policing the democratic process. Whittaker found himself unable to cast a decisive vote in the case, and the internal pressures of the deliberation contributed significantly to his deteriorating mental and physical health.

Nervous Breakdown and Resignation

By early 1962, the cumulative stress of serving on the Supreme Court had taken a severe toll on Whittaker's health. He suffered a nervous breakdown that incapacitated him and made it impossible for him to continue his judicial duties. On March 31, 1962, Whittaker resigned from the Supreme Court, having served just over five years. His tenure was one of the shortest in the Court's history.

Whittaker's resignation left a vacancy that President John F. Kennedy filled by nominating Byron White, the Deputy Attorney General, who was confirmed and took his seat on April 16, 1962. The circumstances of Whittaker's departure—driven by psychological rather than physical ailments—were unusual in the history of the Court and drew attention to the immense pressures placed upon Supreme Court justices. The Cato Institute later described his departure as a "crisis at the Supreme Court," noting the personal toll that the position exacted.

Post-Judicial Career

After his resignation from the Supreme Court, Whittaker did not retire from public life. He accepted a position as chief counsel to General Motors, one of the largest corporations in the United States, transitioning from the judiciary back into the corporate legal world from which he had come.

During the 1960s, Whittaker became an outspoken critic of the Civil Rights Movement and of the judicial activism associated with the Warren Court. He wrote and spoke publicly against what he perceived as judicial overreach and societal disorder. Whittaker contributed articles to the FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, in which he articulated his conservative views on law enforcement, civil disobedience, and the proper role of the judiciary. His post-retirement public commentary stood in contrast to the relatively quiet and uncertain judicial persona he had displayed during his years on the bench. Whittaker's criticism of civil rights protest and his defense of law-and-order principles positioned him within a broader conservative movement that was gaining strength in American politics during the 1960s.

Personal Life

Charles Evans Whittaker was a resident of Kansas City, Missouri, for most of his adult life. He had three children. He was affiliated with the Republican Party.

Whittaker's personal life was marked by the psychological difficulties that accompanied his Supreme Court service. The nervous breakdown he experienced in 1962 was a significant personal crisis that effectively ended his judicial career. After leaving the bench, he continued to live in the Kansas City area while serving in his corporate legal role with General Motors.

Charles Evans Whittaker died on November 26, 1973, in Kansas City, Missouri, at the age of 72.

Recognition

The Charles Evans Whittaker Courthouse, located at 400 East 9th Street in Kansas City, Missouri, serves as the federal courthouse for the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri—the same court on which Whittaker began his federal judicial career in 1954. The naming of the courthouse in his honor reflects his significance to the legal history of western Missouri and the Kansas City legal community.

Whittaker was recognized as a distinguished alumnus of Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity.

The Missouri Lawyers Media organization has maintained the "Whittaker Collection," a body of materials related to his life and career, recognizing his unique status as the only Supreme Court justice to have hailed from Missouri or Kansas.

His papers and records related to his judicial service have been the subject of archival research. The Eisenhower Archives maintain finding aids related to the Richard Miller Papers, which contain materials pertaining to Whittaker's nominations and judicial career.

Legacy

Charles Evans Whittaker's legacy in American legal history is complex. His unprecedented journey through all three levels of the federal judiciary—from district court to circuit court to the Supreme Court—remains a distinctive achievement. However, his relatively brief and troubled tenure on the Supreme Court, during which he did not author any landmark opinions, has led legal historians to rank him among the less influential justices in the Court's history.

Whittaker's experience on the Court has been cited as a cautionary example of the intense psychological pressures that the position of Supreme Court justice can impose. His nervous breakdown in 1962 brought public attention to the mental health challenges faced by individuals serving in the highest reaches of government, a subject that remained largely undiscussed in that era. WNYC Studios' podcast More Perfect featured Whittaker's story in its examination of the Baker v. Carr reapportionment case, highlighting the personal crisis that the case precipitated for him and the broader implications of the decision for American democracy.

His post-retirement transformation from a conflicted swing vote on the Warren Court into an outspoken conservative critic of civil rights activism and judicial liberalism illustrated the political tensions of the 1960s. Whittaker's public statements during this period reflected a perspective shared by many Americans who were uncomfortable with the pace of social change and the expanding role of the federal judiciary in American life.

The naming of the Charles Evans Whittaker Courthouse in Kansas City ensures that his name remains a visible part of the federal judicial landscape in the region where he spent most of his career. His story—from a Kansas farm without a high school diploma to the Supreme Court of the United States—continues to serve as a distinctive chapter in the history of the American judiciary.