William Homer Thornberry (January 9, 1909 – December 12, 1995) was an American politician and judge. He served as the

United States representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

from the 10th congressional district of

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

from 1949 to 1963. From 1963 to 1965 he was a judge for the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas, and he was a judge for the

United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (in case citations, 5th Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following federal judicial districts: * Eastern District of Louisiana * M ...

from 1965 to 1978.

Early life

Thornberry was born in Austin,

. His parents were teachers in the State School for the Deaf and were themselves deaf. He attended public schools in Austin and graduated from Austin High School in 1927. He received a

Bachelor of Business Administration Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) is a bachelor's degree in business administration awarded by colleges and universities after completion of undergraduate study in the fundamentals of business administration and usually including advanced ...

in 1932 from the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,07 ...

and his

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Ch ...

in 1936, from the

University of Texas School of Law The University of Texas School of Law (Texas Law) is the law school of the University of Texas at Austin. Texas Law is consistently ranked as one of the top law schools in the United States and is highly selective—registering the 8th lowest ac ...

, where he was a member of the Acacia fraternity. He was in private practice of law in Austin from 1936 to 1941. He was a Member of the

Texas House of Representatives The Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Texas Legislature. It consists of 150 members who are elected from single-member districts for two-year terms. As of the 2010 United States census, each member represents abo ...

from 1937 to 1941. He was district attorney of Travis County, Texas from 1941 to 1942. He was a

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

Lieutenant Commander from 1942 to 1946. He was in private practice of law in Austin from 1946 to 1948. He was a Member of the Austin City Council from 1946 to 1948.

United States representative

Thornberry was elected in 1948 to the 81st

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

as a

of the 10th congressional district of Texas. In winning the seat, he replaced its former occupant,

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...

, who had been elected that year for the first time to the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

. Thornberry was a member of the Rules Committee of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

from January 1955 to his 1963 resignation, when he was appointed by Johnson, now President, to the federal bench. He was one of the majority of the Texan delegation to decline to sign the 1956 Southern Manifesto opposing the desegregation of public schools ordered by the Supreme Court in ''

Brown v. Board of Education ''Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka'', 347 U.S. 483 (1954), was a landmark decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled that U.S. state laws establishing racial segregation in public schools are unconstitutional, even if the segrega ...

''. Thornberry voted against the Civil Rights Act of 1957 but in favor of the

Civil Rights Act of 1960 The Civil Rights Act of 1960 () is a United States federal law that established federal inspection of local voter registration polls and introduced penalties for anyone who obstructed someone's attempt to register to vote. It dealt primarily wi ...

and the 24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Thornberry was present on Air Force One and witnessed Lyndon Johnson taking the oath of office following the assassination of President Kennedy.

Federal judicial service

Thornberry was nominated by President

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...

on July 9, 1963, to a seat on the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas vacated by Judge R. Ewing Thomason. He was confirmed by the

on July 15, 1963, and received his commission from President Lyndon B. Johnson on December 17, 1963. His service was terminated on July 2, 1965, due to elevation to the Fifth Circuit. Thornberry was nominated by President Johnson on June 22, 1965, to a seat on the

vacated by Judge Joseph Chappell Hutcheson Jr. He was confirmed by the Senate on July 1, 1965, and received his commission the same day. He assumed

senior status Senior status is a form of semi- retirement for United States federal judges. To qualify, a judge in the federal court system must be at least 65 years old, and the sum of the judge's age and years of service as a federal judge must be at leas ...

on December 21, 1978. His service was terminated on December 12, 1995, due to his death.

Supreme Court nomination

On June 26, 1968, Johnson

nominated A candidate, or nominee, is the prospective recipient of an award or honor, or a person seeking or being considered for some kind of position; for example: * to be elected to an office — in this case a candidate selection procedure occurs. * ...

Thornberry as an

associate justice of the United States Supreme Court An associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States is any member of the Supreme Court of the United States other than the chief justice of the United States. The number of associate justices is eight, as set by the Judiciary Act of 1 ...

, to fill the anticipated vacancy to be created by the nomination of associate justice

Abe Fortas Abraham Fortas (June 19, 1910 – April 5, 1982) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1965 to 1969. Born and raised in Memphis, Tennessee, Fortas graduated from R ...

to become the next chief justice, upon the retirement of Earl Warren. The

Senate Judiciary Committee The United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, informally the Senate Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of 22 U.S. senators whose role is to oversee the Department of Justice (DOJ), consider executive and judicial nominations ...

held hearings on the nomination simultaneously with those on the Fortas nomination. On October 4, 1968, after several days of contentious debate on the floor of the Senate, and with prospects for confirmation fading, Johnson withdrew the Fortas nomination. As Fortas remained an associate justice, Thornberry's nomination became

moot Moot may refer to: * Mootness, in American law: a point where further proceedings have lost practical significance; whereas in British law: the issue remains debatable * Moot court, an activity in many law schools where participants take part in s ...

; no further action was taken and the nomination was withdrawn by the president.

Death

Thornberry died on December 12, 1995, at his home in Austin and was interred at the

Texas State Cemetery The Texas State Cemetery (TSC) is a cemetery located on about just east of downtown Austin, the capital of the U.S. state of Texas. Originally the burial place of Edward Burleson, Texas Revolutionary general and vice-president of the Republic of ...

in Austin. He was first married to the former Eloise Engle (1919–1989). After her death he wed Marian Davis. With his first wife, Thornberry was the father of three children, Molly, David, and Kate.

References

Sources

* * * "William Thornberry"
Texas State Cemetery
Retrieved 20 June 2005. * * The University of Texas Alumni Magazine *

External links

* , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Thornberry, Homer 1909 births 1995 deaths 20th-century American judges 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century American politicians United States Navy personnel of World War II American prosecutors Austin City Council members Austin High School (Austin, Texas) alumni Burials at Texas State Cemetery Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Texas Gallaudet University people Judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Judges of the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas Democratic Party members of the Texas House of Representatives People from Austin, Texas United States court of appeals judges appointed by Lyndon B. Johnson United States district court judges appointed by John F. Kennedy United States Navy officers University of Texas School of Law alumni Unsuccessful nominees to the United States Supreme Court