Charles Fahy

Background

He was born in Rome, Georgia, the son of Sarah Jonas and Thomas Fahy, a dry-goods merchant. He was the one of eleven children.

Education

Fahy graduated from Rome High School in 1908 and took a preparatory course at the Darlington High School before entering the University of Notre Dame.

After studying at Notre Dame for one year, he attended Georgetown University, where he received an LL. B. in 1914.

In 1942, Fahy received an LL. D. from Georgetown University Law Center.

Career

He was given two jobs in the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration, assistant solicitor in the Interior Department and chairman of the Petroleum Administrative board.

Fahy successfully defended five of the crucial cases that upheld one of the landmark pieces of New Deal labor legislation, including National Labor Relations Board v. Jones and Laughlin Steel Corporation (1973), which is regarded as having established the constitutionality of the Wagner Act.

The Supreme Court justices dubbed him "Whispering Charlie" for his softspoken voice and gentle demeanor.

Fahy appeared in front of the United States Supreme Court on eighteen occasions regarding cases involving the Wagner Act.

His arguments were wholly sustained sixteen times and partially sustained twice.

In that capacity he helped negotiate the destroyers-for-bases deal with Great Britain, which received fifty American destroyers in exchange for American use of British bases.

One of Fahy's earliest cases as solicitor general involved the quarantining of Japanese Americans on the West Coast after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

In a dramatic scene in front of the Supreme Court, Fahy declared that he could defend "with conviction" only portions of the government's program.

The court sustained only those portions.

Although Generals Dwight D. Eisenhower and Omar Bradley opposed integration, Fahy argued that all army school courses should be open to blacks.

Army courses were opened to all enlisted men, regardless of race, and desegregation followed.

His 1955 opinion regarding the right of Americans to passports attracted national attention.

The opinion expressed the unanimous decision of the Court of Appeals in forbidding the State Department to withhold passports from American citizens by "arbitrary" action.

Fahy held that the right to travel was an inherent right under the Fifth Amendment. aHe was admitted to the bar that same year and practiced law in Washington, D. C. , until 1924.

Fahy served overseas from 1917 to 1919 in the United States Navy Reserve as a naval aviator with the British and American forces. He was awarded the Navy Cross for his heroism as a biplane pilot in World War I.

Following military service, Fahy returned to law practice in Washington, D. C. , then in 1924 moved to Santa Fe, N. Mex. because of his ailing health. After eight years of private practice, he became city attorney of Santa Fe in 1932.

His health improved, Fahy returned to Washington in 1933 at the request of a New Deal official who knew of his work in New Mexico.

He was given two jobs in the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration, assistant solicitor in the Interior Department and chairman of the Petroleum Administrative board.

The Supreme Court justices dubbed him "Whispering Charlie" for his softspoken voice and gentle demeanor. Fahy appeared in front of the United States Supreme Court on eighteen occasions regarding cases involving the Wagner Act.

His arguments were wholly sustained sixteen times and partially sustained twice. His success attracted attention in administration circles, and Fahy later remarked that his work in defense of the Wagner Act was the most satisfying of his life. President Roosevelt nominated Fahy for the post of assistant solicitor general in September 1940.

In that capacity he helped negotiate the destroyers-for-bases deal with Great Britain, which received fifty American destroyers in exchange for American use of British bases. Fahy became solicitor general in November 1941, after his predecessor, Francis Biddle, became attorney general of the United States.

One of Fahy's earliest cases as solicitor general involved the quarantining of Japanese Americans on the West Coast after the attack on Pearl Harbor. In a dramatic scene in front of the Supreme Court, Fahy declared that he could defend "with conviction" only portions of the government's program. The court sustained only those portions.

Fahy remained solicitor general until 1945, when he became the legal adviser and director of the legal division of the United States Military Government in Germany. He served as an adviser to the United States delegation to the San Francisco conference that led to the creation of the United Nations.

The following year he served as a legal adviser to the State Department and was a member of the legal commission of the General Assembly of the United Nations.

From 1947 to 1949 Fahy served as an alternate United States representative to the General Assembly. While maintaining a private legal practice in Washington, D. C. , Fahy served as the chairman of the President's Committee on Equality of Treatment and Opportunity in the Armed Services, which President Harry Truman created to examine segregation in the armed forces. Although Generals Dwight D. Eisenhower and Omar Bradley opposed integration, Fahy argued that all army school courses should be open to blacks.

After two years of quiet meetings and exchanges of memorandums with the secretary of the army and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Fahy and his committee prevailed. Army courses were opened to all enlisted men, regardless of race, and desegregation followed.

President Truman named Fahy to the United States Court of Appeals in 1949; he assumed senior status in 1967. Judge Fahy wrote frequently on the rights of criminals, insanity statutes, and racial desegregation.

His 1955 opinion regarding the right of Americans to passports attracted national attention. The opinion expressed the unanimous decision of the Court of Appeals in forbidding the State Department to withhold passports from American citizens by "arbitrary" action.

Fahy held that the right to travel was an inherent right under the Fifth Amendment. In the De-Witt Easter case in 1966, he wrote the principal opinion, which held that chronic alcoholism was a disease and not a crime.

He continued to serve on the bench until his death in Washington, D. C.

Achievements

• In September 1935 he was named general counsel of the National Labor Relations Board, charged with directing the staff of the NLRB in the early years of the National Labor Relations Act (Wagner Act) of 1935. Fahy successfully defended five of the crucial cases that upheld one of the landmark pieces of New Deal labor legislation, including National Labor Relations Board v. Jones and Laughlin Steel Corporation (1973), which is regarded as having established the constitutionality of the Wagner Act.

Works

More photos

• book

  • John J. Batterman, Petitioner, v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue. U.S. Supreme Court Transcript of Record with Supporting Pleadings

    ( The Making of Modern Law: U.S. Supreme Court Records an...)

  • Streit v. Lujan U.S. Supreme Court Transcript of Record with Supporting Pleadings

    (The Making of Modern Law: U.S. Supreme Court Records and ...)

  • In the Supreme Court of the United States, October Term, 1942. No. 2: William Schneiderman, petitioner, v. the United States of America: On writ of certiorari to the United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Brief for the United States
  • International Law, Trade, and Finance: Realities and Prospects

Religion

He was a devout Roman Catholic.

Politics

He was a lifelong Democrat.

Views

Fahy distinguished himself in the areas of individual liberties and the powers and limits of government.

Membership

He was also a member of the U. S. Legal Committee of the General Assembly of the United Nations, held in New York City in 1946.

He was appointed as a member of the Petroleum Administrative Board, and then served as its president from 1934-1935.

Connections

Fahy married Mary Agnes Lane of Washington, D. C. , on June 26, 1929. They had four children.

Mother:

Sarah Jonas

father Thomas Fahy

Wife:

Mary Agnes Lane

References

• HistoricalFindings Photo: Senate Committee,NLRB Chairman,J Warren Madden,Charles Fahy,Nathan WITT,1937