Speeches By Robert H. Jackson
From his school days as a debater and orator through his law career, his service in the Roosevelt administration, his Supreme Court career and his work in the courtroom at Nuremberg, Robert H. Jackson loved public speaking and did it extremely well. Jackson’s speeches were always, and distinctively, his own: they reflect his deep learning in history and literature, his interesting and distinctive perspectives on issues, his instinct to be direct and, where appropriate to his subject, his optimism and sense of humor.
This page contains links, organized according to the different phases of Jackson's life and legal career, to some of his most notable public speeches.
For the complete collection of Jackson's published articles and speeches, and selected unpublished speeches, click the "Bibliography" tab on the left.
Speeches as Student & Law Apprentice
An Unappreciated Heritage
Jamestown High School Class Day
June 21, 1910
Speeches as Jamestown Lawyer, 1913-1934
Compulsory Incorporation of the Bar from the Country
Lawyer’s Viewpoint
Address before the Associations of the Bar of Western New York, Buffalo, NY
June 24, 1926 PDF
What Price “Due Process”?, 5 New York Rev. 435 (1927). PDF
Advocacy as a Specialized Career, 7 New York L. Rev. 77 (1929). PDF
Functions of the Trust Company in the Field of Law, 52 N.Y.S.B.A. Rep. 142 (1929) (address before the New York State Bar Association, New York, Jan. 18, 1929). PDF
The Future of the Bar, 3 Lincoln L. Rev. 41 (1930). PDF
Trial Practice in Accident Litigation, 15 Cornell L.Q. 194-204 (1930). PDF
Tribute to Mary Willard
Jamestown, NY
June 10, 1931
An Organized American Bar, 18 A.B.A. J. 383-86 (1932), 4 Mo. B.J. 138 (1933) (excerpts) (address before the Alabama State Bar, Birmingham, AL, April 15, 1932). PDF
Tribute to Milton J. Fletcher
Jamestown, NY
June 10, 1932
Speeches as Counsel, Bureau of Internal Revenue, 1934-1936
Changes in Treasury Tax Policy,
Address before the Federation of Bar Associations of Western New
York, Niagara Falls, NY
June 30, 1934 PDF
The Lawyer; Leader or Mouthpiece?
Address before the National Conference of Bar Association Delegates,
Milwaukee, WI
Aug. 27, 1934 PDF
Problems of the Federal Tax Bar
Address before the American Bar Association Tax
Conference, Milwaukee, WI
Aug. 28, 1934 PDF
The Bar and the New Deal,
Address at the Association of American Law Schools’
annual dinner, Chicago, IL
Dec. 28, 1934 PDF
Big Corporation’s Rule, 84 New Republic 99 (1935). PDF
Equity in the Administration of Federal Taxes
Address before the International Association of Insurance Counsel,
White Sulphur Springs, W. Va.
Aug. 30, 1935 PDF
Rich Get Richer, 84 New Republic 68 (1935). PDF
Jamestown High School Dedication
Jamestown, NY
November 15, 1935
Speeches as Assistant Attorney General, Tax Division 1936
The Proposed Revision of Corporate Taxes, 2 Vital Speeches 431 (1936) (address before the Young Democratic Club of New York, New York, March 18, 1936). PDF
Speeches as Assistant Attorney General, Antitrust Division, 1937
Address before the New York State Bar Association, 60 N.Y.S.B.A. Rep. 292 (1937) (New York, NY, Jan. 29, 1937). PDF
WJTN Radio Joins the NBC Network
Jamestown, NY
May 15, 1937
The Struggle Against Monopoly, 1937 Ga. B.A. Rep. 203 (address before the Georgia Bar Association, Sea Island, May 28, 1937). PDF
Children of the Rich and Children of the Poor, 3 Vital Speeches 526 (1937) (presentation before the Joint Congressional Committee on Constitutionality of the Wages and Hours Bill, Washington, D.C., June 2, 1937). PDF
Labor and the Law, 3 Vital Speeches 718 (1937) (address before the New York State Federation of Labor, Jamestown, Aug. 24, 1937). PDF
Should the Antitrust Laws Be Revised?
Address before the Trade and Commerce Bar Association
and Trade Association Executives
Sept. 17, 1937 PDF
Enforcement of Anti-trust Laws, 3 Fed. B.J. 71 (1937) (address before the Federal Bar Association, Washington, D.C., Sept. 22, 1937).
Speeches as Solicitor General, 1938-1940
Call for a Liberal Bar
Address before the National Lawyers Guild, Washington, D.C.
Feb. 20, 1938 PDF
Trade Barriers - A Threat to National Unity
Address before the National Conference on Interstate Trade Barriers, Chicago, Ill.,
April 6, 1939, RHJP Box 37. PDF
Progress in Federal Judicial Administration
Address before the American Judicature
Society, Washington, D.C.
May 10, 1939 PDF
Maryland at the Supreme Court Bar
Address before the Maryland State Bar Association, Atlantic
City, N.J.
June 23, 1939 PDF
Product of the Present Day Law School
Address before the Legal Education Section of
the American Bar Association, San Francisco
July 11, 1939 PDF
Speeches as Attorney General, 1940-1941
Sesquicentennial of the Supreme Court of the United States
Address
at ceremonies commemorating the occasion, Washington, D.C.
Feb. 1, 1940 PDF
The Federal Prosecutor
Washington, DC
April 1, 1940 PDF
Essential Differences Between the Republican and Democratic
Parties,
Debate on Town Hall
Program, New York City
April 11, 1940 PDF
Mr. Justice Butler
Presentation before
the Supreme Court
May 20, 1940 PDF
Democracy Under Fire
Address before the Law Society of Massachusetts, Boston
Oct. 16, 1940 PDF
A Progressive Democracy
Washington, D.C.
January 19, 1941
International Order
Havana, Cuba
March 27, 1941 PDF
Independence Day Address
Washington, D.C.
July 4, 1941
Speeches as Supreme Court Justice, 1941 - May 2, 1945
Statecraft Under a Written Constitution
The Lawrenceville School
Lawrenceville, NJ
November 11, 1941
Swedish Contributions to Our Law
New Sweden Historical Association & Philadelphia Bar Association
Philadelphia, PA
November 5, 1943) PDF
Decline of Stare Decisis is Due to Volume of Opinions
Address before the American Law Institute, Philadelphia
May 9, 1944 PDF
Full Faith and
Credit—The Lawyer's Clause of the Constitution
Benjamin N. Cardozo Lecture, Association of the Bar of
the City of New York
Dec. 7, 1944 PDF
The Rule of Law Among Nations
American Society of International Law
Washington, D.C.
April 13, 1945 PDF
Speeches as Nuremberg Prosecutor, 1945-1946
Opening Statement Before the International Military Tribunal
Nuremberg, Germany
November 21, 1945
Closing Address Before the International Military Tribunal
Nuremberg, Germany
July 26, 1946 PDF
Speeches as Supreme Court Justice, 1946-1954
Address at The United Jewish Appeal
The Waldorf-Astoria, New York City
April 15, 1947
PDF
Nuremberg In Retrospect:Legal Answer To International Lawlessness
excerpted from Canadian Bar Association address
Banff, Alberta
September 1, 1949 PDF
Law and Lawgivers
Window Dedication Ceremony at the National Cathedral
Washington, DC
April 2, 1950 PDF
The County-Seat Lawyer
A.B.A. Journal
June, 1950 (36 ABAJ 497) PDF
Training the Trial Lawyer: A Neglected Area of Legal
Education
Address at dedication of the new Stanford Law School building
July 15, 1950 PDF
Wartime Security and Liberty Under Law
Article written for the Buffalo Law Review-Spring, 1951 PDF
Advocacy before the United States Supreme Court,
Lecture before the
State Bar of California, San Francisco
Aug. 23, 1951 PDF
Serving the Administration of Criminal Justice
Address before the Criminal
Law Section of the American Bar Association, Boston
Aug. 24, 1953 PDF
A Testimony to Our Faith in the Rule of Law
American Bar Center cornerstone laying
Chicago, IL
November 2, 1953 PDF
Liberty Under Law
New York
January 30, 1954 PDF
Address prepared for delivery at dedication ceremonies,
Ernest
I. White Hall, College of Law, Syracuse University, Syracuse, N.Y. (published posthumously)
Dec. 11,
1954 PDF