Thurman Wesley Arnold (June 2, 1891 – November 7, 1969) was an American lawyer best known for his
trust-busting
Competition law is the field of law that promotes or seeks to maintain market competition by regulating anti-competitive conduct by companies. Competition law is implemented through public and private enforcement. It is also known as antitrust l ...
campaign as
Assistant Attorney General
Many of the divisions and offices of the United States Department of Justice are headed by an assistant attorney general.
The president of the United States appoints individuals to the position of assistant attorney general with the advice and ...
in charge of the
Antitrust
Competition law is the field of law that promotes or seeks to maintain market competition by regulating anti-competitive conduct by companies. Competition law is implemented through public and private enforcement. It is also known as antitrust ...
Division in President
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As th ...
's
Department of Justice from 1938 to 1943. He later served as a
Judge
A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility ...
on the
United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. Before coming to Washington in 1938, Arnold was the mayor of
Laramie,
Wyoming, and then a professor at
Yale Law School
Yale Law School (Yale Law or YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824 and has been ranked as the best law school in the United States by '' U.S. News & Wor ...
, where he took part in the
legal realism
Legal realism is a naturalistic approach to law. It is the view that jurisprudence should emulate the methods of natural science, i.e., rely on empirical evidence. Hypotheses must be tested against observations of the world.
Legal realists be ...
movement, and published two books: ''The Symbols of Government'' (1935) and ''The Folklore of Capitalism'' (1937). A few years later, he published ''The Bottlenecks of Business'' (1940).
Early life and education
Thurman was born in the frontier ranch town of
Laramie,
Wyoming,
which grew to be a small city and location of the
University of Wyoming. He was the son of Annie (Brockway) and Constantine Peter Arnold. He began his university studies at
Wabash College, but transferred to
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...
, earning his
Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...
degree in 1911.
He earned 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 ...
from
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States.
Each class i ...
in 1914.
Career
Arnold served in
World War I, rising to the rank of lieutenant in the
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, ...
(Field Artillery) and worked briefly in
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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,
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...
before returning to Laramie, where he was a member of the
Wyoming House of Representatives in 1921 and then mayor from 1923 to 1924.
He developed a reputation as a maverick lawyer.
He was a Lecturer at the
University of Wyoming from 1921 to 1926. He was Dean of the
West Virginia University College of Law
The West Virginia University College of Law is the professional school for the study of law at West Virginia University in Morgantown, West Virginia, United States. The law school was established in 1878 as the first professional school in the ...
from 1927 to 1930. He was a visiting professor at
Yale University
Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the w ...
from 1930 to 1931, and then professor of law at the same institution from 1931 to 1938. He was a special assistant to the general counsel of the
Agricultural Adjustment Administration
The Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) was a United States federal law of the New Deal era designed to boost agricultural prices by reducing surpluses. The government bought livestock for slaughter and paid farmers subsidies not to plant on part o ...
in 1933. He was an Assistant Attorney General of the
United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United State ...
from 1938 to 1943. As chief competition lawyer for the
United States Government
The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a feder ...
, Arnold launched numerous studies to support the
antitrust
Competition law is the field of law that promotes or seeks to maintain market competition by regulating anti-competitive conduct by companies. Competition law is implemented through public and private enforcement. It is also known as antitrust ...
efforts in the late 1930s.
He targeted the
American Medical Association
The American Medical Association (AMA) is a professional association and lobbying group of physicians and medical students. Founded in 1847, it is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Membership was approximately 240,000 in 2016.
The AMA's st ...
in their anti-competitive efforts against
health plans.
The Roosevelt administration later de-emphasized antitrust enforcement, for the stated purpose of allowing corporations to concentrate on contributing to victory in
World War II.
Federal judicial service
Arnold was nominated by President
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As th ...
on February 11, 1943, to an Associate Justice seat on the
United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia (now the
) vacated by Associate Justice
Wiley Blount Rutledge
Wiley Blount Rutledge Jr. (July 20, 1894 – September 10, 1949) was an American jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1943 to 1949. The ninth and final justice appointed by President Frankli ...
.
He was "kicked upstairs" by President Roosevelt to the Court of Appeals in order to get him out of the Antitrust Division.
He was confirmed by 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 ...
on March 9, 1943, and received his commission on March 11, 1943.
His service terminated on July 9, 1945, due to his resignation.
Court of Appeals tenure
Although the District of Columbia Court of Appeals had some responsibility for review of decisions by federal
administrative agencies, during Arnold's tenure the court's primary role was reviewing decisions of local trial courts involving routine civil and
criminal
In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Can ...
matters arising in
Washington, D.C. Arnold was never happy during his time on the court, resigning after only two years on the
bench. As an explanation of his decision, he told observers he "would rather be speaking to damn fools than listening to damn fools."
Arnold & Porter
Arnold returned to private practice in Washington, D.C. where,
along with
Paul A. Porter and
Abe Fortas, he co-founded the law firm known today as
Arnold & Porter
Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP is an American multinational law firm. A white-shoe firm, Arnold & Porter is among the largest law firms in the world, by both revenue and by its number of lawyers.
History
Arnold & Porter was founded in 1946 b ...
.
Personal and death
Thurman married his lifelong partner Frances Longan Arnold on September 4, 1917. They had two children, Thurman Jr. and George, both of whom enjoyed successful careers in the law. Nebraskan "
Hugh Cox, famous as Thurman Arnold's chief deputy" and also as an early partner at Root Clark & Bird (later Root, Clark, Buckner & Ballantine; later
Dewey Ballantine, later
Dewey & LeBouef) was attorney for
Donald Hiss, brother of
Alger Hiss
Alger Hiss (November 11, 1904 – November 15, 1996) was an American government official accused in 1948 of having spied for the Soviet Union in the 1930s. Statutes of limitations had expired for espionage, but he was convicted of perjury in con ...
. Both Cox and Hiss were partners at
Covington & Burling
Covington & Burling LLP is an American multinational law firm. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the firm advises clients on transactional, litigation, regulatory, and public policy matters. In 2021, Vault.com ranked Covington & Burling as t ...
, where he was called the "perfect advocate") during the
Hiss-
Chambers Case."
Arnold died on November 7, 1969.
Thurman Arnold Jr. established a law firm in Palm Springs, California in 1953. Thurman Arnold Jr.'s son, Thurman Arnold III,
joined his father's law firm in 1982 and is currently practicing law with an emphasis on Family Law in Palm Springs, California. George Arnold married and raised a family with Ellen Cameron Pearson, daughter of columnist
Drew Pearson and granddaughter of
Cissy Patterson, owner of the ''
Washington Times-Herald
The ''Washington Times-Herald'' (1939–1954) was an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It was created by Eleanor "Cissy" Patterson of the Medill–McCormick–Patterson family (long-time owners of the ''Chicago Tribune'' ...
''.
References
Sources
Biographical sources
*
* Arnold, Thurman (edited by Gressley, Gene M.). ''Voltaire and the Cowboy: The Letters of Thurman Arnold ''.
*
*
*
*
Primary sources
* Arnold, Thurman W. ''The Bottlenecks of Business''. New York: Reynal & Hitchcock, 1940.
* Arnold, Thurman W. ''The Folklore of Capitalism''. New Haven: Yale University Press; London: Humphrey Milford/Oxford University Press, 1937; 1962, with new preface.
* Arnold, Thurman W. ''The Symbols of Government''. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1935; New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, 1962, with new preface.
External links
*
*
*
Arnold & PorterInventory of Thurman Wesley Arnold Papers, 1895-19790 University of Wyoming -
American Heritage centerDigitized selection of Thurman Wesley Arnold Papers AHC digital archives
{{DEFAULTSORT:Arnold, Thurman
1891 births
1969 deaths
Franklin D. Roosevelt administration personnel
American legal scholars
Princeton University alumni
Harvard Law School alumni
Arnold & Porter people
Lawyers from Washington, D.C.
United States Assistant Attorneys General for the Antitrust Division
Judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit
United States court of appeals judges appointed by Franklin D. Roosevelt
20th-century American judges
American prosecutors
Mayors of places in Wyoming
Members of the Wyoming House of Representatives
Yale Law School faculty
People from Laramie, Wyoming
University of Wyoming faculty