Robert H. Jackson Center

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For the complete collection of Jackson's published articles and speeches, and selected unpublished speeches, visit the Bibliography .

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

What Price “Due Process”?, 5 New York Rev. 435 (1927).

Advocacy as a Specialized Career, 7 New York L. Rev. 77 (1929).

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).

The Future of the Bar, 3 Lincoln L. Rev. 41 (1930).

Trial Practice in Accident Litigation, 15 Cornell L.Q. 194-204 (1930).

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).

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

The Lawyer; Leader or Mouthpiece?
Address before the National Conference of Bar Association Delegates, Milwaukee, WI
Aug. 27, 1934

Problems of the Federal Tax Bar
Address before the American Bar Association Tax Conference, Milwaukee, WI
Aug. 28, 1934

The Bar and the New Deal,
Address at the Association of American Law Schools’ annual dinner, Chicago, IL
Dec. 28, 1934

Big Corporation’s Rule, 84 New Republic 99 (1935).

Equity in the Administration of Federal Taxes
Address before the International Association of Insurance Counsel, White Sulphur Springs, W. Va.
Aug. 30, 1935

Rich Get Richer, 84 New Republic 68 (1935).

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 43_1 (1936) (address before the Young Democratic Club of New York, New York, March 18, 1936).

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).

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).

Children of the Rich and Children of the Poor, _3 Vital Speeche_s 526 (1937) (presentation before the Joint Congressional Committee on Constitutionality of the Wages and Hours Bill, Washington, D.C., June 2, 1937).

Labor and the Law":/the-man/speeches-articles/speeches/speeches-by-robert-h-jackson/labor-and-the-law/, 3 Vital Speeches 718 (1937) (address before the New York State Federation of Labor, Jamestown, Aug. 24, 1937).

Should the Antitrust Laws Be Revised?
Address before the Trade and Commerce Bar Association and Trade Association Executives
Sept. 17, 1937

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

Trade Barriers - A Threat to National Unity
Address before the National Conference on Interstate Trade Barriers, Chicago, Ill.,
April 6, 1939, RHJP Box 37.

Progress in Federal Judicial Administration
Address before the American Judicature Society, Washington, D.C.
May 10, 1939

Maryland at the Supreme Court Bar
Address before the Maryland State Bar Association, Atlantic City, N.J.
June 23, 1939

Product of the Present Day Law School
Address before the Legal Education Section of the American Bar Association, San Francisco
July 11, 1939

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

The Federal Prosecutor
Washington, DC
April 1, 1940

Essential Differences Between the Republican and Democratic Partie,
Debate on Town Hall Program, New York City
April 11, 1940

Mr. Justice Butler
Presentation before the Supreme Court
May 20, 1940

Democracy Under Fire
Address before the Law Society of Massachusetts, Boston
Oct. 16, 1940

A Progressive Democracy
Washington, D.C.
January 19, 1941

International Order
Havana, Cuba
March 27, 1941

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)

Decline of Stare Decisis is Due to Volume of Opinions
Address before the American Law Institute, Philadelphia
May 9, 1944

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

The Rule of Law Among Nations
American Society of International Law
Washington, D.C.
April 13, 1945

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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

Speeches as Supreme Court Justice, 1946-1954

Address at The United Jewish Appeal
The Waldorf-Astoria, New York City
April 15, 1947

Nuremberg In Retrospect:Legal Answer To International Lawlessness
excerpted from Canadian Bar Association address
Banff, Alberta
September 1, 1949

Law and Lawgivers
Window Dedication Ceremony at the National Cathedral
Washington, DC
April 2, 1950

The County-Seat Lawyer
A.B.A. Journal
June, 1950 (36 ABAJ 497)

Training the Trial Lawyer: A Neglected Area of Legal Education
Address at dedication of the new Stanford Law School building
July 15, 1950

Wartime Security and Liberty Under Law
Article written for the Buffalo Law Review-Spring, 1951

Advocacy before the United States Supreme Court,
Lecture before the State Bar of California, San Francisco
Aug. 23, 1951

Serving the Administration of Criminal Justice
Address before the Criminal Law Section of the American Bar Association, Boston
Aug. 24, 1953

A Testimony to Our Faith in the Rule of Law
American Bar Center cornerstone laying
Chicago, IL
November 2, 1953

Liberty Under Law
New York
January 30, 1954

Address prepared for delivery at dedication ceremonies,
Ernest I. White Hall, College of Law, Syracuse University, Syracuse, N.Y. (published posthumously)
Dec. 11, 1954