William Henry Moody

William Henry Moody
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
In office December 12, 1906[1] – November 20, 1910
Nominated by	Theodore Roosevelt
Preceded by	Henry Billings Brown
Succeeded by	Joseph Rucker Lamar
45th United States Attorney General
In office July 1, 1904 – December 12, 1906
President	Theodore Roosevelt
Preceded by	Philander C. Knox
Succeeded by	Charles J. Bonaparte
35th United States Secretary of the Navy
In office May 1, 1902 – June 30, 1904
President	Theodore Roosevelt
Preceded by	John Davis Long
Succeeded by	Paul Morton
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts's 6th district
In office November 5, 1895 – May 1, 1902
Preceded by	William Cogswell
Succeeded by	Augustus Peabody Gardner
Personal details
Born	(1853-12-23)December 23, 1853 Newbury, Massachusetts, U.S.
Died	July 2, 1917(1917-07-02) (aged 63) Haverhill, Massachusetts, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Alma mater	Harvard University
Profession	Politician, Lawyer, Judge
Religion	Episcopalian[2]

William Henry Moody (December 23, 1853 – July 2, 1917) was an American politician and jurist, who held positions in all three branches of the Government of the United States.

Biography

Born a son of farmers in Newbury, Massachusetts, Moody graduated from Phillips Academy in 1872 and from Harvard, Phi Beta Kappa in 1876,^[3] where he was a classmate and friend of future President Theodore Roosevelt. After 4 months attending Harvard Law School, he departed and instead took the then-common but now-unusual step of reading law (under Richard Henry Dana, Jr.) to pass the bar.

Early in his legal career, Moody first was elected city solicitor of Haverhill, Massachusetts in 1888. After appointment as the U.S. Attorney for Eastern Massachusetts in 1890, he gained widespread notoriety in 1893 as the junior prosecutor in the Lizzie Borden murder case. While his efforts were unsuccessful he was generally acknowledged as the most competent and effective of the attorneys on either side. He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts, and served from 1895 until 1902 where he served on the powerful Appropriations Committee. During President Theodore Roosevelt's administration, Moody served as the Secretary of Navy (1902–1904) and as Attorney General (1904–1906). As Attorney General, Moody actively followed Roosevelt's trust-busting policies, negotiating with 'good' trusts like U.S. Steel but prosecuting 'bad' ones like Standard Oil. After failing to convince William Howard Taft to take the seat, on December 12, 1906, Roosevelt nominated Moody as an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court and Moody was confirmed December 17, 1906.^[4]

Moody's service on the Court was brief but not uneventful, writing 67 opinions and 5 dissents. His most noted opinion was in the minority in Employers Liability Cases (1908), where he held that Congress' power to regulate interstate commerce included the ability to legislate management's relationship with employees. While he generally supported enhanced federal powers, opinions as Twining v. New Jersey (1908), where he held that the Fifth Amendment's protection against compulsory self-incrimination did not apply to cases presented in state courts, made him hard to pigeonhole. He also wrote for a unanimous court in the famous case of Louisville & Nashville Railroad Co. v. Mottley, which limited federal question jurisdiction to cases in which the plaintiff's cause of action was based on federal law.

By 1908, Moody suffered severe rheumatism. This affected Moody to such an extent that his last sitting on the bench was May 7, 1909, when he left for a brief rest and never returned. With the age- and health-enfeebled Supreme Court of 1909 crippled (President William Howard Taft was to make a record-setting 5 appointments due to death and resignations over a course of a single year in 1910–1911), Taft urged Moody, then the youngest justice at 55, to step down. After Taft successfully lobbied Congress for a Special Act to grant Moody retirement benefits not normally granted unless justices reached age 70 or 10 years of service (enacted June 23, 1910), Moody retired from the Court on November 20, 1910.^[5] He died in Haverhill, Massachusetts, July 2, 1917.

After Moody's death, some of his official papers were placed in the custody of Professor Felix Frankfurter, then of Harvard Law School. They are now in the collection of Frankfurter's papers in the Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress.

Legacy

USS Moody (DD-277) was named for him.

Notes

References

• Lewis L. Gould. "Moody, William Henry"; American National Biography Online February 2000.
• James F. Watts, Jr., "William Moody," in The Justices of the United States Supreme Court 1789-1969, ed. Leon Friedman and Fred L. Israel (1969),

Sources and external links

• The Phillips Library at the Peabody Essex Museum owns 12 Moody letters dated 1896–1908.
• William Henry Moody at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
•  This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.

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Supreme Court of the United States

The Fuller Court Chief Justice: Melville Weston Fuller (1888–1910) 1906–1909: J. M. Harlan D.J. Brewer E.D. White R.W. Peckham J. McKenna O.W. Holmes Wm. R. Day Wm. H. Moody Jan–Mar 1910: J. M. Harlan D.J. Brewer E.D. White J. McKenna O.W. Holmes Wm. R. Day Wm. H. Moody H.H. Lurton Mar–Jul 1910: J. M. Harlan E.D. White J. McKenna O.W. Holmes Wm. R. Day Wm. H. Moody H.H. Lurton The White Court Chief Justice: Edward Douglass White (1910–1921) 1910: J. M. Harlan J. McKenna O.W. Holmes Wm. R. Day Wm. H. Moody H.H. Lurton C.E. Hughes

Members of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts 1st district F Ames Dexter Goodhue Holten Sedgwick Skinner Sedgwick J Bacon Eustis Quincy Ward, Jr. Mason Gorham Webster Gorham Appleton Gorham Lawrence Fletcher Lawrence Winthrop Appleton Winthrop S Eliot Appleton Scudder T Eliot Hall T Eliot Buffinton Crapo Davis Randall Wright Lawrence Treadway Heselton Conte Olver Neal 2nd district Goodhue Foster W Lyman Sedgwick Ward Sr. W Lyman Shepard J Crowninshield Story Pickman Reed Pickering Silsbee Barstow B Crowninshield Choate Phillips Saltonstall D King Rantoul Fay Crocker Buffinton O Ames Harris Long E Morse Gillett Churchill Bowles Kaynor Granfield Clason Furcolo Boland Neal McGovern 3rd district Gerry Bourne Coffin Lyman Mattoon Cutler Nelson Livermore White Pickering Nelson Varnum Nelson Osgood Cushing Abbott Duncan Edmands Damrell C Adams Thomas Rice Twichell Whiting I Pierce Field B Dean Field Ranney L Morse J Andrew Walker JR Thayer R Hoar C Washburn JA Thayer Wilder Paige F Foss Casey Philbin Drinan Donohue Early Blute McGovern N Tsongas 4th district Sedgwick Dearborn Thatcher Wadsworth Foster Lincoln Hastings Varnum Richardson Dana Stearns Fuller E Everett Sa Hoar Parmenter Thompson Palfrey Thompson Sabine Walley Comins Rice Hooper Frost Abbott L Morse Collins J O'Neil Apsley Weymouth Tirrell Mitchell Wilder Winslow Stobbs P Holmes Donohue Drinan Frank Kennedy III 5th district Partridge Bourne Freeman L Williams T Dwight Ely Mills Lathrop Sibley Davis Lincoln Hudson C Allen Appleton Burlingame Appleton Hooper Alley Butler Gooch Banks Bowman L Morse Hayden Banks Sh Hoar Stevens Knox B Ames J Rogers E Rogers B Morse Cronin P Tsongas Shannon Atkins Meehan N Tsongas Markey Clark 6th district Thatcher Leonard Reed Sr. J Smith Taggart S Allen Locke Kendall Grennell Alvord Baker Ashmun G Davis Upham T Davis Alley Gooch Banks Butler Thompson Loring Stone Lovering Lodge Cogswell Moody Gardner Lufkin A Andrew G Bates W Bates Harrington Mavroules Torkildsen Tierney Moulton 7th district Leonard Ward Sr. Leonard Bullock Bishop Mitchell Barker Baylies Turner Baylies Hulbert Shaw H Dwight S Allen Grennell Briggs J Rockwell Goodrich Banks Gooch Boutwell Brooks Esty E Hoar Tarbox Butler Russell Stone Cogswell W Everett Barrett Roberts Phelan Maloney W Connery L Connery Lane Macdonald Markey Capuano 8th district Grout Thatcher F Ames Otis Eustis L Williams Green Gardner Green Reed Baylies Sampson Hobart Lathrop Bates Calhoun J Adams Mann Wentworth Knapp Train Baldwin G Hoar JMS Williams Warren Claflin Candler Russell CH Allen Greenhalge Stevens McCall Deitrick Dallinger H Thayer Dallinger Healey Goodwin Macdonald O'Neill Kennedy II Capuano Lynch 9th district Varnum Bishop J Dean Wheaton Reed Folger Reed H Dwight Briggs Jackson Hastings H Williams Hale Fowler Little Dewitt E Thayer Bailey A Walker W Washburn Crocker G Hoar Rice T Lyman Ely Burnett Candler G Williams O'Neil Fitzgerald Conry Keliher Murray Roberts Fuller Underhill Luce Russell Luce Eliot Gifford Nicholson Keith McCormack Hicks Moakley Lynch Keating 10th district Goodhue Sewall Read Hastings Upham J Allen Brigham Wheaton Morton F Baylies Bailey HAS Dearborn W Baylies Borden H Williams Borden Burnell Grinnell Scudder Dickinson Chaffee Delano Dawes Crocker Stevens Seelye Norcross Rice Russell J Walker McEttrick Atwood Barrows Naphen McNary O'Connell Curley Murray Tague Fitzgerald Tague Douglass Tinkham Herter Curtis Martin Heckler Studds Delahunt Keating 11th district Bradbury Bartlett Cutler Stedman A Bigelow Brigham B Adams Russell Hobart Richardson J Adams Reed Burnell Goodrich Trafton Dawes Chapin Robinson Whiting II Wallace Coolidge Draper Sprague Powers Sullivan Peters Tinkham Douglass Higgins Flaherty Curley Kennedy O'Neill Burke Donnelly 12th district Dearborn Parker Lee S Thatcher Skinner Larned Bidwell Bacon Dewey Hulbert Strong Kendall L Bigelow Baylies Hodges J Adams Robinson F Rockwell Crosby E Morse Lovering Powers Weeks Curley Gallivan McCormack Keith Studds 13th district Wadsworth Seaver Ruggles Dowse Eustis Reed Randall Simpkins Greene Weeks Mitchell Carter Luce Wigglesworth Burke 14th district G Thatcher Cutts C King J Holmes Lovering E Foss Harris Gilmore Olney Frothingham Wigglesworth Martin 15th district Wadsworth Ilsley Whitman Widgery Bradbury Whitman Greene Leach Martin Gifford 16th district S Thatcher Cook Tallman Davis Brown Orr Hill T Thacher Walsh Gifford 17th district Bruce Chandler Gannett F Carr Wood J Carr Wilson Kinsley 18th district Wilson Rice Parker 19th district Parker Conner Gage Cushman 20th district Hubbard Parris Lincoln At-large Cobb