Earl Warren
Earl Warren (
March 19,
1891 –
July 9,
1974) was a
California district attorney of
Alameda County, the 30th
Governor of California, and the 14th
Chief Justice of the United States (from 1953 to 1969). As Chief Justice, his term of office was marked by numerous rulings affecting, among other things, the legal status of
racial segregation,
civil rights,
separation of church and state and police arrest procedure in the
United States.
Earl Warren was born in
Bakersfield,
California, to Matt Warren, a
Norwegian immigrant, and Christine "Chrystal" Hernlund, a
Swedish immigrant. Matt Warren was a longtime employee of the
Southern Pacific Railroad. Earl grew up in
Bakersfield, California, and attended the
University of California, Berkeley, both as an undergraduate (
B.A. 1912) in Legal Studies and as a
law student at
Boalt Hall earning his
JD in 1914. While at Berkeley, Warren joined the
Sigma Phi Society, a
fraternal organization with which he maintained lifelong ties. Warren was admitted to the California bar in 1914.
Warren then worked for five years for private law firms in the
San Francisco Bay Area. He began working for
San Francisco County in 1920 and in 1925 was appointed as
District Attorney of
Alameda County when the incumbent resigned. He was re-elected to three four-year terms. As a
tough-on-crime District Attorney and reformer who professionalized the DAs office, Warren had a reputation for high-handedness; however, none of his convictions were ever overturned on appeal.
Warren became a well-known figure in California and was appointed to the
Regents of the University of California while district attorney. In 1939, he became Attorney General of the State of California. He was elected
Governor of California, in 1942, as a
Republican. California law at the time allowed individuals to run in any
primary election they chose. In 1946, Warren managed the singular feat of winning the Republican,
Democratic, and
Progressive primary elections and thus ran unopposed in the 1946 general election. He was elected to a third term (as a Republican) in 1950.
Warren's state service was marked by his support for the
internment of
Japanese and
Americans of Japanese descent during
World War II. However, it was also marked by laying the
infrastructure to support a two-decade boom that lasted from the end of
World War II until the mid-1960s. In particular, Warren and
University of California President
Clark Kerr presided over construction of a renowned public university system that provided inexpensive, high quality
education to two generations of Californians.
Warren ran for
Vice President of the United States in 1948 on a ticket with
Thomas Dewey. They lost narrowly to
Harry Truman and
Alben Barkley.
In 1953, Warren was appointed
Chief Justice of the United States by
President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who commented that "he represents the kind of political, economic, and social thinking that I believe we need on the Supreme Court. . . . [H]e has a national name for integrity, uprightness, and courage that, again, I believe we need on the Court."
[Personal and confidential To Milton Stover Eisenhower, 9 October 1953. In The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, ed. L. Galambos and D. van Ee, doc. 460. World Wide Web facsimile by The Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial Commission of the print edition; Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996. Accessed 12 October, 2005] To the surprise of many, Warren was a much more
liberal justice than had been anticipated. As a result, President Eisenhower later remarked that nominating Warren for the Chief Justice seat "was the biggest damned fool mistake I've ever made in my life." Warren was able to craft a long series of landmark decisions including
Brown v. Board of Education, 347 US 483 (
1954), which overthrew the
segregation of
public schools; the "
one man, one vote" cases of 1962–1964, which dramatically altered the relative power of rural regions in many states;
Hernandez v. Texas, which gave
Mexican-Americans the right to serve on juries; and
Miranda v. Arizona, 384 US 436 (
1966), which required that certain rights of a person being interrogated while in police custody be clearly explained, including the right to an
attorney (often called the "
Miranda warning").
At the direct request of President
Lyndon Johnson Warren headed what became known as the
Warren Commission to investigate the circumstances of the
assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The Commission eventually concluded that the assassination was the act of a single individual,
Lee Harvey Oswald, acting alone. The Commission's findings have long been controversial.
[Earl Warren was portrayed by real life New Orleans district attorney Jim Garrison in JFK, the Oliver Stone film about the assassination and Garrison's investigation of it.]Warren retired from the Supreme Court in 1969. He was affectionately known by many as the "Superchief," although he became a lightning rod for controversy among
conservatives: signs declaring "
Impeach Earl Warren" could be seen across the
South throughout the 1960s. In 1977, Fourth College, one of the six
undergraduate colleges at the
University of California, San Diego, was renamed
Earl Warren College in his honor. In 2002, "
Earl Warren High School" was built and established in San Antonio, Texas for Warren's namesake. He also has a building named after him at
Bakersfield High School, his alma mater. "Earl Warren Showgrounds" is in Santa Barbara, California.
Warren was married to a young widow born in Sweden named
Nina Palmquist Meyers. He died in
Washington, DC. The
Earl Warren Bill of Rights Project is named in his honor. He was awarded the
Presidential Medal of Freedom posthumously in 1981.
As Chief Justice, he swore in Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon.
Warren is the father of
Virginia Warren, who married veteran radio and television newsman and host of
What's My Line?,
John Charles Daly, on
December 22,
1960. They had three children, two boys and a girl. Warren is the grandfather of the famous Hollywood mogul, John Warren.
* "Legislators represent people, not trees or acres. Legislators are elected by voters, not farms or cities or economic interests." From
Reynolds v. Sims, on the subject of State Senate apportionment.
* "It would indeed be ironic if, in the name of
national defense, we would sanction the subversion of one of those liberties which make the defense of our nation worthwhile."
* "I always turn to the sports section first. The sports section records people's accomplishments; the front page nothing but man's failures." From
Sports Illustrated,
July 22,
1968* "The only reason that there has been no sabotage or espionage on the part of Japanese-Americans is that they are waiting for the right moment to strike." Testimony before Congress on the Internment of people of Japanese Ancestry (1941)
* "I have since deeply regretted the removal order and my own testimony advocating it, because it was not in keeping with our American concept of freedom and the rights of citizens. Whenever I thought of the innocent little children who were torn from home, school friends and congenial surroundings, I was conscience-stricken." Remarking on his past advocacy on Japanese internment in his autobiography
*
Transcript, Earl Warren Oral History Interview I, 9/21/71, by Joe B. Frantz, Internet Copy, LBJ Library. Accessed
April 3,
2005.
*
Earl Warren High School Transcripts, source courtesy
Bakersfield High School*
Official California gubernatorial biography and inaugural addresses 
