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William O. Douglas

The longest serving member of the United States Supreme Court, 1939-1975, Justice William O. Douglas once said, “It seemed to me that I had barely reached the Court when people were trying to get me off.”

During his 36years on the Supreme Court, liberal Douglas, along with Justice Hugo Black, was responsible for many of the decisions which extended the rights and protection of the Constitution to the dissident, the deprived and the disenfranchised.

Douglas was a rigorous defender of civil rights for woman and minorities. He limited the power of big corporations and was a protector of America’s public lands and resources. During his tenure, he wrote more dissenting opinions than any Justice in history. Born in 1898, Douglas grew up in Yakima, an agricultural community in eastern Washington State. An avid outdoorsman throughout his life, Douglas hiked, hunted and fished throughout the Northwest.

He worked his way through Whitman College where he was a star student, then attended Columbia Law School in New York City. Douglas was a professor of law at Yale University when the Stock Market crashed and the Great Depression swept the country in 1929.

Captivated with Franklin D. Roosevelt and passionate about the President’s New Deal Program to restore America’s economy and dignity, Douglas left Yale and became Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), created by FDR to be the watchdog of Wall Street.

As Chairman of the SEC, Douglas sometimes used the metaphor of a poker game to explain why it was critical that the game of stocks and capital investments be clean and fair, otherwise “It does not create an eager desire on the part of others to become participants.”

Douglas’ success at cleaning up Wall Street brought him recognition. In 1939, at the age of 40, President Roosevelt named his loyal New Dealer to the Supreme Court to replace the retiring Louis Brandeis.

Justice Douglas soon became FDR’s friend and a member of the President’s poker playing pals. “We would have dinner and then play poker,” Douglas recalled. Roosevelt’s favorite game was 7-Stud.

Among the regulars was the U.S. Attorney General, the Secretary of Commerce, the Speaker of the House, and Vice President. The President’s secretary, “Missy” LeHand served cocktails and often played in the game.

Justice Douglas recalled, “One of the rules was that nobody could discuss anything serious at the evening poker sessions. This was for Roosevelt’s relaxation.”

Douglas said that on one occasion in 1943, FDR got the name of another Supreme Court appointment at the evening poker game. The President admitted aloud that he didn’t know who to appoint to the latest vacancy. Someone suggested Wiley Rutledge. Roosevelt declared, “That’s my man.” And so it was.

Justice Douglas and President Roosevelt grew to know each other through politics and poker. In 1944, when a dying Roosevelt ran for his fourth term, he wanted his friend to be his Vice Presidential running mate. According to FDR, Douglas had great “appeal at the polls - and besides, he played an interesting game of poker.”

However, a lot of Democrats were wary of Douglas because he had never run for political office. The party’s powers prevailed and another poker player, Harry Truman, became Roosevelt’s V.P. running mate.

Roosevelt died near the end of World War II and was succeeded by Truman. Justice Douglas did not have the same high opinion of President Truman that he did of FDR. He considered the “Man from Missouri” to be narrow-minded and provincial, not worldly.

After Germany surrendered, President Truman and his Secretary of State headed for the Potsdam Conference to meet with Stalin to divide up post-war Europe. In Douglas’ estimation, “to think of him with Secretary of State Byrnes…sitting with Stalin, dividing up the world would be like sending… immature high school students to play poker with the pros.”

Douglas knew Truman as a poker player. The President frequently invited a group to play aboard the Presidential yacht, The Williamsburg. He preferred an eight-handed game comprised of a few regulars and invited guests. Often all three branches of government were represented at the poker table. The group would board the ship Friday afternoon and sail the Potomac until Sunday afternoon.

On the yacht it was customary for each player to start with $500 worth of chips. If anyone lost it all he was allowed one $500 rebuy. Ten percent was raked from each pot and put into a “poverty bowl” which was distributed $100 at a time to players who lost their second buyin.

During the 1950’s, when Las Vegas first emerged as the gambling and entertainment capitol of the world, Douglas was a well known patron. One poker game reportedly involved Justice Douglas, Cary Grant, Orson Wells, the owner of the El Rancho Vegas, and a reputed mob boss.

In 1974, Douglas suffered a massive stroke. He retired from the Court in 1975 and died five years later. Married four times, apparently he was a better judge of the law than of women.

Justice Douglas served 36 years on the Supreme Court, participating in every important decision facing post-war America. In his leisure time, he played poker with Presidents and their men. In the Game of Power and Politics, he had a seat at the Final Table. Clearly, Justice William O. Douglas, a poker player from the wheat fields of eastern Washington, helped shape and define 20th Century America.

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