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A Program for Internal Defense of the United States

This course of the war in Europe has raised many new and unpleasant problems for each of us. Among them is the attention which must be given to the so-called "fifth column." This is a problem which is of peculiar interest to lawyers, for back of the rather lurid phrase are real questions as to the continued validity of the lawyers' concepts of a government of limited powers and as to their philosophy of the rights of individuals.

Independence Day Address

For nearly two years now many of us have been bewildered by the headlong course of events in Europe and not a few of us have been confused as to the course of wisdom at home. We have seen a nation which twenty years ago had been vanquished, rise up with a ferocity seldom seen in the history of mankind. We have seen vaunted armies smashed as if they were so much paper. We have seen Europe overrun and England placed in grave danger. We have seen the dictator idea spread in the world. At first its two principal proponents, communism and fascism, appeared to be mortal enemies.

A Progressive Democracy

On Sunday evening, January 19, 1941 (Inauguration Eve), Attorney General Robert H. Jackson was scheduled to give the following keynote speech at a Washington, D.C., gala dinner for the presidential electors. The Democratic Party sought to feature Jackson, one of its brightest young (age 48) stars and future presidential prospects, before this large, particularly significant national political audience. Jackson, assigned to speak about “A Progressive Democracy,” wrote his own speech for the occasion – as he almost always did – but when the evening arrived, Jackson could not participate due to illness. His friend and colleague, Solicitor General Francis Biddle, instead delivered Jackson’s speech at Washington’s Mayflower Hotel to a crowd of more than 1,500 guests, including the 531 electors, Cabinet members, Members of Congress and State Governors. A Department of Justice press release copy of Jackson’s speech is contained in his papers in the Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., Box 41.

Statecraft Under a Written Constitution

I am going to discuss some aspects of statecraft under our written Constitution. I think that an attachment to the institutions of this country will be much stronger if it is based on a knowledge of the practical operation of the government. This is an important and a much-neglected subject. If young men who have the advantages that are open to them do not acquire a mastery of the function of government, to whom will it be left to make important decisions of policy? No small part of our future will depend on the kind of government that we have in the next twenty years. We cannot expect individually to have opportunities much greater than those which are extended by the kind of society which the average American citizen enjoys.

Commencement Address at Albany Law School

It was a generation ago when the Albany Law School charitably honored me with a diploma of graduation. The school was then housed in an ancient State Street building, reputed once to have been consecrated as a church. Its façade suggested a piety that was not fully sustained by the student body. It is a matter of pride to us, who will always remain in debt to the Albany Law School, that its intervening years have been marked by steadily improving facilities and advancing standards.

Mobilizing the Profession for Defense

Europe has resumed its ancient strife, and other peoples of the world are obliged to give considerations of defense and security first place in their thoughts. Our philosophy of government makes the law by which the physical forces of the nation are controlled quite as definitely a part of our defense program as the mobilization of the force itself. lawyers are again holding spring meetings under the auspices of our several legal societies to consider the state of our law.

International Order

We are debtors to this captivating country and city, not only for a generous hospitality, but more importantly for an inspiring leadership. We lawyers from the United States value this opportunity to compare our own legal philosophy and institutions with those of other American commonwealths. You have no doubt been impressed with our modest habit of expounding our own law by a recital of some case we won.

Address on Accepting Cardozo Award

I salute the courage of any group which dares award an honor to a living man- particularly one still in office- and in such times as these. When events so defy the guidance of established principles, who knows what caprice of individual conduct, what errors of judgment, what straying from principle may lie ahead to make you regret your choice? If I were on a board of award I should choose a living officeholder for honors only if he gave bond at once to retire and to keep silence while life should last.

Alien Registration and Democracy

Five days from today the United States of American will complete an inventory of those persons within its borders who are not citizens. They are not American citizens but, with relatively few exceptions, these foreign-born among us are American assets-- precious human assets. At this critical period of our history an accounting of our assets is more than just sound practice; it is absolutely essential to our national defense.

Address at the American United Program

Perhaps I may be pardoned for speaking tonight on the ground that I agreed before the election to come here and speak, whether we should win or lose. I agreed to do so because I believe that a sportsmanship which ungrudgingly accepts the decision of the majority is an essential part of our democratic system.