Bailey Aldrich

Bailey Aldrich (April 23, 1907 – September 25, 2002) was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit and previously was a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts.

Not to be confused with Aldrich Bailey.
Bailey Aldrich
Senior Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
In office
August 31, 1972 – September 25, 2002
Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
In office
1965–1972
Preceded byPeter Woodbury
Succeeded byFrank M. Coffin
Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
In office
September 10, 1959 – August 31, 1972
Appointed byDwight D. Eisenhower
Preceded byCalvert Magruder
Succeeded byLevin H. Campbell
Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts
In office
April 27, 1954 – September 14, 1959
Appointed byDwight D. Eisenhower
Preceded bySeat established by 68 Stat. 8
Succeeded byAnthony Julian
Personal details
Born
Bailey Aldrich

(1907-04-23)April 23, 1907
Boston, Massachusetts
DiedSeptember 25, 2002(2002-09-25) (aged 95)
Cambridge, Massachusetts
EducationHarvard University (AB, LLB)

Education and career

A native of Boston, Massachusetts, Aldrich graduated from Harvard University with an Artium Baccalaureus degree in 1928 and Harvard Law School with a Bachelor of Laws in 1932.[1] He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1954.[2] Aldrich was in private practice in Boston from 1932 to 1954.[3]

Federal judicial service

Aldrich was nominated by President Dwight D. Eisenhower on April 1, 1954, to the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, to a new seat authorized by 68 Stat. 8. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on April 23, 1954, and received his commission on April 27, 1954. His service terminated on September 14, 1959, due to his elevation to the First Circuit.[3]

Aldrich was nominated by President Eisenhower on February 26, 1959, to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit vacated by Judge Calvert Magruder. He was confirmed by the Senate on September 9, 1959, and received his commission the next day. He served as Chief Judge and as a member of the Judicial Conference of the United States from 1965 to 1972. He assumed senior status on August 31, 1972. His service terminated on September 25, 2002, due to his death in Cambridge, Massachusetts.[3][4]

Conflict with Senator McCarthy

According to Ted Morgan in Reds: McCarthyism in Twentieth-Century America, Judge Aldrich drew the ire of Senator Joseph McCarthy in 1955, when Aldrich dismissed contempt of Congress charges against Leon J. Kamin. In February 1956, McCarthy wrote to complain to President Eisenhower, accusing Judge Aldrich of harboring sympathy toward Communists. He had learned from the New Bedford Standard-Times that Aldrich had initially refused, on principle, to sign a non-Communist affidavit card upon his appointment as a trustee to the Massachusetts Memorial Hospital. Massachusetts Governor Christian Herter had nominated him for the trusteeship on August 2, 1955, two months before the Kamin trial. According to Morgan, the judge wrote that he "would rather forgo the post on the hospital board than sign the card." He finally did sign the card on September 13, "after being told that failure to comply would cause great embarrassment to the Herter administration," but McCarthy was not satisfied by the news that Aldrich had eventually complied. President Eisenhower ignored McCarthy's complaint.[5]

Personal

Aldrich married Elizabeth Perkins, who had studied at the Buckingham School and Bryn Mawr College. Elizabeth was an editor. American philosopher Ralph Barton Perry credits Elizabeth Perkins Aldrich as a de facto co-author of his Pulitzer Prize-winning biography The Thought and Character of William James.[6] Bailey and Elizabeth Aldrich had two sons: David and the poet Jonathan Aldrich.[7][8] Aldrich was the grandson of 19th century author Thomas Bailey Aldrich.[9]

Bibliography
  • Cohen, Kenneth A. "Bailey Aldrich and the Modern First Circuit: Old Virtues and New Civil Liberties." Massachusetts Law Review 74 (December 1989): 247-55.

See also

References
  1. "Bailey Aldrich, 95, Long-Serving Judge". New York Times. Associated Press. September 30, 2002. Retrieved February 27, 2018.
  2. "Book of Members, 1780-2010: Chapter A" (PDF). American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Archived (PDF) from the original on 10 May 2011. Retrieved 14 April 2011.
  3. Bailey Aldrich at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
  4. "Retired 1st Circuit Judge Aldrich Dies". Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly. October 14, 2002. Retrieved February 27, 2018.
  5. Morgan, Ted (2003). Reds: McCarthyism in Twentieth-Century America. Random House. pp. 507. ISBN 978-0679443995.
  6. Perry, Ralph B. (1935). The Thought and Character of William James. Little, Brown and Company. pp. viii.
  7. "Obituary: THE HONORABLE JUDGE BAILEY ALDRICH". Boston Globe. legacy.com. September 23, 2002. Retrieved February 27, 2018.
  8. "Cambridge Women's Heritage Project". City of Cambridge, Massachusetts. Retrieved February 27, 2018.
  9. [cite web|url=http://pressherald.com/2021/01/10/obituaryjonathan-aldrich/ |title=Obituary: Jonathan Aldrich |accessdate=2021-06-04]
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