Charles Whittaker (1901-1973)

Charles Whittaker was born in Troy, Kansas on February 22, 1901. He was the son of a farmer. Whittaker attended the University of Kansas City Law School immediately upon graduating high school. Pursuant to bar admission rules existing in Missouri at this time, Whittaker became a member of the bar even before he graduated law school in 1923. For thirty years, Whittaker practiced law in Kansas City. In 1954, President Dwight D. Eisenhower nominated Whittaker to the United States District Court, where he served two years. He then was confirmed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. After less than a year on the Court of Appeals, Whittaker was named to the Supreme Court in 1957 after the retirement of Stanley Reed. Whittaker. The Senate confirmed his appointment very quickly, without even a roll call vote. Eisenhower wanted to appoint a conservative Midwestern Republican, and Whittaker, whom Eisenhower had briefly met once, fit the bill. 

Whittaker joined a Warren Court that was evenly balanced on a number of issues; in general, Felix Frankfurter, Harold Burton, Tom Clark and John Marshall Harlan were less willing to declare acts of Congress unconstitutional than was the other bloc of Chief Justice Earl Warren, Hugo Black, William O. Douglas, and William Brennan. Whittaker gained the reputation in the Court as being unable to make up his mind, and on a Court evenly divided on some issues, this made Whittaker a target for members of the Court battling and lobbying to create a majority.

Whittaker remained on the Court for five years, and, suffering from exhaustion, took his doctor's advice and retired, effective April 1,1962, at age 61. He authored no significant cases for the Court during his tenure. He was overwhelmed by his responsibilities on the Court. Whittaker lived for another 11 years, working on private legal matters. He died on November 26, 1973.