Albert Levitt

Elsie Hill

Levitt had spent a brief period at Harvard as an ROTC instructor; he returned there as a law student in 1919 and received his LL.B. the following year.[1] As well as studying law, he served as minister to the Harvard Unitarian Society.[8] While at Harvard, he came to view Dean Roscoe Pound as his mentor, and, in part due to his romantic relationship with women's rights activist Elsie Hill, became affiliated with the National Woman's Party (NWP). Women's rights leader Alice Paul consulted both Pound and Levitt in drafting what became known as the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) to give equality to women without eroding special protections. Pound was willing to help, so long as his involvement was not publicized. Levitt, seeking to avoid conflict with existing laws protecting women, drafted at least 75 versions of the ERA for Paul. He also consulted with future Supreme Court justice Felix Frankfurter, who was then counsel to the Washington, D.C., Minimum Wage Board. Frankfurter commented on several drafts, feeling that any version of the ERA would have the side effect of eviscerating current legal protections for women. Levitt attempted to change Frankfurter's mind, but was unsuccessful. He wrote to Paul, "The net result of the interview is nothing."[9]

Although both Pound and Frankfurter had given Levitt advice on condition that their names not be used, NWP activists incorrectly claimed that the two had approved the text of the ERA as suitable for either legislation or constitutional amendment. Levitt apologized to both, and wrote Paul that he could no longer consult anyone he trusted about the ERA for fear of being betrayed again. Nevertheless, influenced by Hill, he continued his work for Paul until the end of 1921.[9] On December 24, 1921, by now working at the University of North Dakota, he married Hill in Chicago. With Levitt's duties keeping him in North Dakota, and Hill's keeping her in Washington, they planned to spend time together in the summer in her native Connecticut,[10] but otherwise initially planned to live apart, both being busy with their own careers.[11] The wedding was confidential, known only to a few friends and associates, until the matter became public the following month.[12] Levitt proclaimed himself the luckiest man in the world, lucky because he had married a feminist, who would not allow the husband to be a czar.[13]

Levitt resigned his chaplaincy of the Harvard Unitarians in June 1920 to accept a position as professor of law at the George Washington University Law School.[14] While Levitt was there, in 1921, President Woodrow Wilson appointed him as a member of the annually-appointed Assay Commission, composed of citizens and officials who met at the Philadelphia Mint to test the previous year's coinage.[15] During the summer of 1921, he was a lecturer on the circuit of the Radcliffe Chautauqua System.[16] After a year at George Washington, he moved to the University of North Dakota, then returned to school himself at Yale Law School, receiving his J.D. in 1923.[1] From 1923 to 1924, he served as a Special Assistant Attorney General,[11] working in the War Transactions Section of the Justice Department.[16]

In 1924, he was hired as assistant professor of law at Washington and Lee University. He made a deep impression there as, according to the school's web site, "likely the most unusual, colorful, and, some would contend, eccentric law teacher in the history of Washington and Lee" but also as a "teacher of great ability".[1] Levitt and Hill had a daughter in late 1924, and for the first time, the two lived together on a permanent basis, at Washington and Lee.[17] Hill retained her maiden name and their daughter was known by the surname "Hill-Levitt", unconventional for the conservative southern town of Lexington, Virginia. Levitt was involved in conflict with the law school dean, and when his contract expired in 1927, it was not renewed.[1]

While at Washington and Lee, Levitt was one of two U.S. delegates to the International Penal Congress in July 1926 at Brussels.[18] After his return to the United States, Levitt prepared a new law code, which it was suggested that each delegate prepare for consideration by the next congress, in 1929 at Vienna.[19] In 1927, Levitt won a $500 first prize offered by the publisher of Theodore Dreiser's An American Tragedy for an essay on the legal and social aspects of the murder in the book.[20]

Levitt next taught law at Brooklyn Law School of St. Lawrence University, from 1927 to 1930.[2] Residing in Redding, Connecticut, he was admitted to the state bar in 1928.[21] He began to involve himself in public affairs, switching from the Democratic to the Republican Party over his support for Prohibition.[22] He stated that he had been a Republican until World War I, but had been impressed by Wilson's efforts to keep the nation out of war, and thereafter had remained a Democrat because of a close personal friendship with the 1924 Democratic candidate for president, John W. Davis. He announced in 1928 that he would challenge the incumbent Republican representative in Connecticut's 4th district, Schuyler Merritt,[23] but fell short of the necessary petition signatures to be listed on the ballot.[24]

In August 1929, Levitt began a battle to compel the Connecticut Attorney General to seek to oust the members of the Public Utilities Commission (PUC). Levitt alleged the commission was in violation of state law by failing to require the New Haven Railroad to eliminate at-grade crossings at the pace required by law. The commission felt that getting rid of the crossings was too expensive.[25] This touched off a legal battle that went to Connecticut Superior Court at least six times and to the Supreme Court of Connecticut twice, and, despite initial success, eventually ended in a loss for Levitt.[26]

Fueled by his early success in his actions against the PUC, Levitt sought the Republican nomination for governor of Connecticut in 1930, decrying the influence of the state's Republican political boss, J. Henry Roraback.[27] When the caucuses to choose delegates to the state nominating convention were held on September 5, 1930, Levitt was overwhelmingly defeated, electing only three delegates, none from his hometown of Redding.[28] Just over a week later, Levitt was fired as a law professor, the dean stating that it was not due to his political activities, but because shrinking enrollment made his services unnecessary, and that "in view of the political activities that confront Prof. Levitt, he could not carry on his class work".[29]

At the state convention in Hartford on September 16, only four delegates supported Levitt, and Lieutenant Governor Ernest E. Rogers won the nomination.[30] The following day, Levitt reacted by praising the Democratic candidate for governor, Wilbur L. Cross,[31] and later stated he would vote for Cross.[32] In October, he sought the Republican nomination for one of Redding's two seats in the Connecticut House of Representatives, but at the caucus received only 9 votes against 115 and 112 for the winners, with a third candidate finishing ahead of Levitt with 14 votes.[33] Levitt then filed as an independent.[34] In the general election on November 4, Cross was elected governor. Levitt was defeated in Redding, polling 98 votes as the two winning Republicans each received 376 votes.[35] Despite the defeats, the New Britain Herald credited Levitt with influencing the gubernatorial election's outcome.[36]

After the 1930 elections, Levitt continued a battle against the Connecticut Light & Power company to compel it to extend power lines to his isolated dwelling in Redding without expense to him.[37] This battle eventually failed in the Connecticut Supreme Court in April 1932.[38][39]

By then, there was criticism of Levitt. The Waterbury Democrat, in an editorial titled "Too much Levitt", accused him of being one of those "who continually criticize and offer no help in extracting our government from its precarious financial position".[40] The Hartford Courant suggested that perhaps Levitt was right in his views of Connecticut, or maybe he was "just sore that so few are willing to be saved."[41] Levitt practiced law, representing a group of Manchester residents who felt their electric rates were too high,[42] as well as an association of taxpayers seeking to reduce water pollution by Danbury.[43]

In 1932, Levitt ran for governor as the candidate of the Independent Republican Party, which supported Prohibition and endorsed Republican President Herbert Hoover, but which named its own candidates for other offices.[44] Governor Cross refused to debate Levitt,[45] who was defeated, polling only 5,125 votes out of just under 600,000 cast.[46] Levitt proclaimed himself delighted with the results, as the Independent Republican vote for senator had been larger than the margin of defeat for Republican Senator Hiram Bingham, whom Levitt had opposed.[47]

After the election, which also saw President Hoover defeated by Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt, there was immediate speculation Levitt would be rewarded for his activities against the regular Republican Party with a post in the new administration.[48] Levitt went to Washington in search of a job that would allow him to continue his anti-Roraback activities.[49] In July 1933, it was announced that Levitt would be a special assistant to Attorney General Homer Cummings, not attached to a particular department in the Justice Department, but available to act on assignments.[48] The Courant noted: "Albert Levitt henceforth has to be reckoned with. He cannot be ignored."[50]

In Washington, Levitt was asked if there was a "Mrs. Levitt", and, when he responded there was not, found himself reputed to be a bachelor until he explained about Elsie Hill.[51] He remained involved in Connecticut politics, predicting in December 1933 that his Independent Republicans would help defeat the Roraback-controlled regular Republicans.[52] Divisions within the Independent Republican Party caused Levitt to seek to form the Citizens Party.[53] This group nominated Levitt for the House of Representatives from the 4th district.[54] Levitt resigned from the Department of Justice to undertake the race, as Cummings had ruled that federal employees could not run for important positions.[55] In the November election, Levitt received 1,397 votes out of over 120,000 cast, finishing fourth out of the five candidates.[56] In January 1935, he was rehired by the Department of Justice, causing some ill-feeling among Connecticut Democrats, as he had criticized the unsuccessful Democratic candidate in the 4th district, Edward T. Buckingham.[57]

Roosevelt had forced the resignation of the judge of the District Court of the Virgin Islands, T. Webber Wilson, in mid-1935. There had been political conflict involving Wilson in the United States Virgin Islands, and Cummings, who had the power of appointing the Virgin Islands judge, was expected to take care to appoint someone who could resolve the situation. The October 1935 appointment of Levitt, with his stormy past in Connecticut, thus came as something of a surprise.[58]

Levitt stated in an interview that he did not intend to be a public spectacle, but to live a lonely life, having brought a dog to assuage the loneliness,[59] though both Elsie Hill and their daughter, Elsie Hill-Levitt, also came to St. Thomas.[60] He was sworn in on October 17, 1935.[61] Hill involved herself with local women's affairs and was outraged to learn that under Danish colonial law, still mostly in force in the Virgin Islands, local women could not vote. According to one local woman, Hill told women activists that if they brought suit, her husband would uphold the right of women to vote in the possession. Hill obtained a prominent New York attorney to represent the islanders without fee, and in November 1936, Judge Levitt ruled the disenfranchisement unconstitutional under the Nineteenth Amendment. The local electoral board still refused to register women, and the following month, Judge Levitt issued a writ of mandamus, forcing the board to comply.[62][63]

Levitt alienated much of the black population of the islands by sentencing a black man to five years for attempted rape on the same day he gave a white man a suspended sentence for raping his stepdaughter. These acts led to outcries, including from the governor of the United States Virgin Islands, Lawrence William Cramer, and from the Secretary of the Interior, Harold Ickes.[64] Levitt had other conflicts with Governor Cramer, which culminated in the case of United States v. Leonard McIntosh, in which the defendant had admitted stealing government property, and a prison sentence was mandatory. After Levitt imposed sentence, Cramer not only pardoned McIntosh (possibly on instructions from Washington) but issued a lengthy statement condemning Levitt.[65] Feeling justice was being obstructed, and his ability to impose it was being threatened, Levitt resigned,[65] alleging interference by the governor and by the Department of the Interior.[66]

Levitt's resignation was accepted on August 1, 1936, and he was again appointed a special assistant attorney general, to work in the Office of the Solicitor General.[66] When Cramer was nominated for a second term as governor, early the following year, his nomination was referred to the Senate Committee on Territories and Insular Possessions. Maryland Senator Millard Tydings, its chair, knowing of Levitt's opposition and seeking to block Cramer's reappointment, invited him to testify, which he did.[64] Levitt's appearance in January 1937 (he testified again in April) put Cummings in the position of having one of his assistants publicly oppose an appointment by Roosevelt, who had made him attorney general. Cummings let the press know Levitt had acted without his knowledge or consent, and described his actions as "disgusting".[67] Roosevelt and his administration put pressure on Tydings, who was up for re-election the following year, and the senator dropped his opposition to Cramer. Roosevelt promised Senate Majority Leader Joseph Robinson that he would have Levitt fired.[64]

Levitt also publicly opposed the president's court-packing plan, and was listed as a witness before the Senate Judiciary Committee, though he was not called to testify.[68] In early July 1937, a Justice Department spokesman indicated that Levitt was about to be dismissed, and he resigned. The resignation letter, addressed to Cummings, was accepted in a letter by one of Cummings's underlings, and it omitted any praise of Levitt's job performance, as was customary under the circumstances. This was seen as a rebuke to Levitt.[69] Levitt's resignation was effective August 10, 1937.[70]

Levitt taught at the Hastings School of Law in California,[1] from 1942 to 1943.[2] Remaining in California, in 1945, he criticized the Dumbarton Oaks proposals, that would result in the establishment of the United Nations, for giving Britain a permanent seat on the Security Council while India, with many times its population, went without. He suggested that the proposals would result in a "Fascist oligarchy" of less than a dozen men as dictators of the world.[90]

In 1946, Levitt, by then living in Santa Monica, ran for the Republican nomination for Congress from California's 16th district.[91] At the time in California, candidates routinely ran in both the Republican and Democratic primaries as winning both was tantamount to election. This was known as cross filing. Levitt, running only in the Republican primary, challenged the practice in court, unsuccessfully.[92] He was defeated in the June 4, 1946, primary.[93] He also served as minister at All Souls Unitarian Church in Santa Monica.[94]

In 1947, Levitt wrote to J. Parnell Thomas, chair of the House Un-American Activities Committee, requesting that the committee "investigate the un-American activities of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States"; he offered to testify.[95] He ran again for office in 1948, this time for the California State Assembly[96] from the 37th district in Santa Barbara County. He again challenged the practice of cross filing, and was again denied,[97] a ruling upheld by the California Supreme Court.[98] He was defeated by Stanley T. Tomlinson, who successfully cross-filed.[99] In 1949, when Francis Cardinal Spellman accused Eleanor Roosevelt of being anti-Catholic in her writings, Levitt wrote to the cleric and alleged that he had forfeited his American citizenship and was an alien representing a foreign power, the Vatican.[100]

In December 1949, Levitt announced that he would be a candidate for the Republican nomination for the 1950 Senate election in California.[101] The campaign organization of the favorite in the Republican primary, Congressman Richard Nixon, was able to identify Levitt as the person who had been involved in Connecticut politics of the 1930s—he had not mentioned that involvement in his campaign announcement. Although they had only scanty information on Levitt, Nixon staffers stated that they were unperturbed at his candidacy.[102]

In February 1950, Levitt challenged Nixon to a debate, and accused the congressman of dodging it. He stated that Nixon, known as an anti-communist, had in fact been responsible for aiding the Communist Party. Declining again to cross file, he ran on a platform of ending the Marshall Plan, cutting income taxes, and giving a weekly benefit to young people and the elderly. He expected that his main rival in the Republican primary would be the incumbent, Democratic Senator Sheridan Downey, and stated that Nixon "hasn't a chance".[103]

Levitt, whom the Washington Evening Star deemed "virtually unknown in California politics", was initially Nixon's only Republican opponent, the others in the Republican primary being cross-filing Democrats.[104] Later, another fringe Republican candidate, Ulysses Grant Bixby Meyer, joined the race, but political observers gave neither man any chance.[105] After Downey withdrew, the main Democratic contenders were Representative Helen Gahagan Douglas and publisher Manchester Boddy.[104] In March, Levitt spoke against Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy's allegations that there were communists in the State Department, stating that they were made with the intent of helping America's enemies prevent reconciliation between the U.S. and the Soviet Union.[106] He traveled by bus through Northern California in April, and re-stated his campaign platform, which also included a return to Prohibition and forbidding public funds from being used to have a U.S. representative at the Vatican.[107]

The press paid virtually no attention to Levitt's campaign, which upset him.[108] He addressed the Republican State Convention in Fresno on April 22, and told delegates that "the three enemies of our American way of life are communism, fascism, and Vaticanism".[109] He was booed when he accused Nixon of pretending to fight communism while in fact aiding these three foes of the American way of life.[109] Nixon, who also spoke at the convention, made no response to Levitt's charges. Levitt, after the convention, accused several members of Congress of following the dictates of the Vatican.[110] In the June primary, both Levitt and Meyer won only a scattering of votes as Nixon advanced to face Douglas in the general election.[111] Levitt finished sixth out of the six candidates in the Republican primary, garnering 15,929 votes to Nixon's 740,465, trailing even Meyer, who received 18,783.[112]

In 1952, Levitt ran for Congress from California's 22nd district, a newly created seat in the San Fernando Valley.[113] He tried and failed to have Joseph F. Holt barred from the ballot on the grounds he was a member of the armed forces.[114] This time Levitt cross-filed, but was easily defeated by Holt in the Republican primary, and by Dean McHenry in the Democratic.[115]