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1936 › Franklin D. Roosevelt (Democratic) › Amending the Constitution to enlarge (or restrain) federal power
Meet constitutional obstacles by 'clarifying amendment' -- and say nothing about the Supreme Court
pledge_forwarddirectional_stanceparty_platformevidence B Executive PowerFederal–State Relations⚡ Butler decision voids the AAA⚡ Schechter decision voids the NIRA similar solutions · similar reasoning
Solution
Seek legislation within the Constitution; if problems like wages, hours and child labor cannot be solved that way, seek a clarifying amendment giving Congress and the States the needed power. The candidate never said how he would deal with the Court's adverse decisions.
Rationale
Drought, floods, minimum wages, child labor and monopoly 'cannot be adequately handled exclusively by 48 separate State legislatures'; the platform's amendment route was the only method on record.
The user's 'ran on an opinion never stated or corrected' case: voters had only the platform's amendment pledge and the President's silence; the court-reorganization bill of February 1937 was the answer.
Statements (3)
If these problems cannot be effectively solved by legislation within the Constitution, we shall seek such clarifying amendment as will assure to the legislatures of the several States and to the Congress of the United States, each within its proper jurisdiction, the power to enact those laws which the State and Federal legislatures, within their respective spheres, shall find necessary
By his silence on this he is dodging the fundamental issue of this campaign, the issue of whether he in tends to change the form of our Gov ernment
And what are the Intentions of the President with respect to the Constitution? Does he believe changes are required? If so. will an amendment be submitted to the people, or will he attempt to get around the Constitution by tam pering with the Supreme Court? The answer is: No one can be sure.
Landon's closing challenge; Roosevelt did not answer it.
Follow-through
brokencontested among sources
Two weeks after the inauguration Roosevelt asked Congress to let him appoint up to six additional Supreme Court justices -- presented as a docket-relief measure, not the amendment route the platform had described. The Senate killed the bill (July 22, 1937) after the Court upheld the Wagner and Social Security Acts and Van Devanter retired; in 1939 the President claimed the objective 'was achieved' by other means.
Mechanisms
| Date | Type | Name | Effect | Consistent? | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1937-02-05 | message | Message on reorganization of the judicial branch (court bill) | Proposed additional justices for every member over 70.The simple fact is that today a new need for legislative action arises because the personnel of the Federal Judiciary is insufficient to meet the business before them. | no | Message to Congress on the Reorganization of the Judicial Branch of the Government. |
| 1937-03-09 | message | Fireside chat on the judiciary | Defended the bill to the public as saving the Constitution from the Court. | no | Fireside Chat. |
| 1937-07-22 | other | Senate recommits the court bill | Bill defeated; only judicial-procedure reforms passed.was a failed legislative initiative proposed by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt to add more justices to the U.S. Supreme Court | no | Judicial Procedures Reform Bill of 1937 - Wikipedia |
| 1939-08-07 | message | Statement on court reorganization | Claimed the objectives had been reached without the bill.It is true that the precise method, which I recommended, was not adopted, but the objective, as every person in the United States knows today, was achieved. | no | Statement on Court Reorganization. |
Obstruction
congressparty Democratic senators (Wheeler, Garner's allies) and the Judiciary Committee's adverse report killed the bill. source
Assessments
The platform's clarifying-amendment pledge was bypassed for a statutory change in the Court's size; Landon's unanswered question was answered in the negative.
Roosevelt's own retrospective: the goal -- a Court that sustained reform -- was achieved, and the retirement statute passed.
Reception (2)
The triumph was a vote of confidence in a man, not in principles; the Constitution and the Supreme Court remained the two obstacles to 'the presidential will to power.'
Two obstacles still Interpose. They are the Constitution •nd the Supreme Court.
Voters believed 'in his hands Democratic traditions and our Constitutional system are safe' -- the assumption the court bill would break.
It is clear that people like Hr. Roosevelt, regardless of party .leanings, approve his humanitarian tf>olicies and have faith that in his hands Democratic traditions and our .Constitutional system are safe.
Other positions on this issue
- Wages, hours and child labor by State law and interstate compact -- and a constitutional amendment giving the States power if the courts forbid — Alf Landon, 1936 specific_pledge
- New federal activities only when legalized by constitutional amendment -- 'the horse and buggy method' — Frank Knox, 1936 specific_pledge
1936-fdr-clarifying-amendment-not-court-tampering · created by claude-fable-5-1 · review: unreviewed