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Douglas was born in Maine, Minnesota . His family moved to California, and then Cleveland, Washington . His father died there in 1904, when he was only six years old. His mother moved the family to Yakima, Washington.
He attended Whitman College because his mother refused to pay for him to attend Washington State University. After graduating he spent 1920 and 1921 teaching school. However, he tired of this and decided to pursue a legal career.
Douglas graduated from Columbia Law School in 1925. He first took a job with a top Wall Street law firm, Cravath, Swaine & Moore, but quit after four months. After one year, he moved back to Yakima, but he soon regretted the move and never actually practiced law there. After a time of unemployment and another months-long stint at Cravath, he went to teach at Columbia. He quickly jumped to join the faculty of Yale Law SchoolYale Law School is one of the professional schools of Yale University, and is the most selective law school in the United States, according to US News. It offers the following degrees: J. It also has a visiting scholars program and is home to a number of. At Yale, he became an expert on commercial litigation and bankruptcyBankruptcy is a legally declared inability or impairment of ability of an individual or organisation to pay their creditors. A declared state of bankruptcy can be requested or initiated by the bankrupt individual or organisation, or it can be requested by, and was identified with the legal realist movement, which pushed for an understanding of law based less on formalistic legal doctrines and more on the real-world effects of the law.
In 1934Events January-April January 1 Alcatraz becomes a federal prison. January 7 First Flash Gordon comic strip is published. January 10 Execution of Marinus van der Lubbe January 24 Einstein visits White House January 26 The Apollo Theater opens in Harlem, Ne, he left Yale to join the Securities and Exchange CommissionSEC redirects here. For other uses, see SEC (disambiguation The Securities and Exchange Commission commonly referred to as the SEC is the United States governing body which has primary responsibility for overseeing the regulation of the securities industr. Here he met Franklin D. Roosevelt and became an adviser and friend to the President. In 1936Events January-February January 15 The first building to be completely covered in glass is completed in Toledo, Ohio, for the Owens-Illinois Glass Company. January 20 Death of George V of the United Kingdom. His son Edward VIII succeedes him as King of th, he was named chairman of the SEC.
In 1939Events January-June January 2 End of term for Frank Finley Merriam, 28th Governor of California. He is succeeded by Culbert Levy Olson. January 24 Earthquake kills 30. 000 in Chile about 50. 000 sq mi razed January 26 Falangists take Barcelona January 26, Justice Louis D. Brandeis resigned from the court, and Roosevelt nominated Douglas as his replacement. Douglas admitted this to have been a great surprise - Roosevelt had summoned him to an "important meeting", and Douglas had expected to be named the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. He was confirmed by the Senate by a vote of 62 to 4.
Douglas almost left the bench in 1944, when President Roosevelt informed the Democratic Convention that there were two acceptable people to run as his vice-president: Harry Truman and William Douglas.
Appointed by Franklin D. Roosevelt, he was sworn into office on April 17, 1939. He retired on November 12, 1975. At 36 years, Douglas served on the Supreme Court bench longer than anyone else. On the bench, he became known as an advocate for liberal causes. With Justice Hugo Black, Douglas argued for a "literalist" interpretation of the First Amendment, insisting that the First Amendment's command that "no law" shall restrict freedom of speech should be interpreted literally. He wrote the opinion in Termeniello v. City of Chicago (1949) overturning the conviction of a Catholic priest who allegedly caused a "breach of the peace" by making anti-Semetic comments during a raucous public speech. Douglas, joined by Black, furthered his advocacy of a broad reading of First Amendment rights by dissenting from the Supreme Court's decision in Dennis v. United States (1952), convicting the leader of the U.S. Communist Party. Douglas additionally wrote the lead opinion in Griswold v. Connecticut, finding a "right to privacy" in the "penumbras" of the first ten amendments of the Bill of Rights. This went too far for Black, who dissented in Griswold.
During the 1960s, Douglas became a spokesman for liberal causes, writing a book published in 1969 entitled Points of Rebellion and controversially authoring a piece that appeared in Evergreen magazine, a "hippie" publication. Douglas also became a key supporter of the fledgling environmental movement, serving on the Board of Directors of the Sierra Club from 1960 to 1962 and writing prolifically on his love of the outdoors. He eloquently dissented from the Supreme Court's decision in Sierra Club v. Morton denying the environmental group standing to sue. For his liberal activities, House minority leader Gerald R. Ford launched a campaign to impeach Douglas in 1970; the attempt failed, but Douglas was the target of surveillance by the Nixon Administration.
Douglas suffered a debilitating stroke on December 31, 1974, while on vacation in the Bahamas. Severely disabled, Douglas nevertheless insisted on continuing to participate in Supreme Court affairs, despite his obvious incapacity. In one of the most wrenching episodes in Supreme Court history, seven of Douglas's fellow justices voted to put any argued case in which Douglas's vote might make a difference over to the next term. Douglas was finally convinced to retire on November 12, 1975, after 36 years of service.
Douglas married four times. He was married to Mildred Riddle from 1923 to 1953, Mercedes Hester Davidson from 1954 to 1963, Joan Martin from 1963 to 1965, and Cathleen Hefferman from 1965 until his death. His first marriage produced two children, Mildred and William O. Douglas, Jr.
He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery, near the grave of former Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.. The William O. Douglas Wilderness , which adjoins Mount Rainier National Park in Washington state, is named in his honor. It is a wonderful park full of natural wildlife. William O. Douglas visited the park as a young child on many occassions with his immediate family.