I watched the President’s press conference last week. The President was wearing a tan suit. To the amazement of the pundits, he said had “no strategy” for dealing with the monsters of the middle east. Despite the suit, he looked exhausted, almost haunted. I fear we are watching a young man turn old.
These thoughts were foremost in my mind when I read the latest from Professor John Q. Barrett’s the Jackson List. This weekend, I truly hope President Obama shares time with some good friends who will encourage him to drink whiskey, smoke a cigar and play cards (or basketball). As President Roosevelt needed the respite almost 75 years ago to the day, I am guessing so too does President Obama.
In late June 1939, Solicitor General Robert H. Jackson, his wife Irene and their daughter Mary left Washington, D.C., on a driving trip. Their stops included Chillicothe, Ohio, where Jackson visited a reformatory for first offenders; Milwaukee, where he spoke at the Wisconsin State Bar Association’s annual convention; and San Francisco, where he spoke multiple times at the American Bar Association’s annual meeting, and also at the Commonwealth Club, and visited the federal penitentiary on Alcatraz Island.
From San Francisco, the Jacksons made a side trip by train to Sun Valley, Idaho. Robert and Mary, then eighteen, going into her sophomore year at Smith College, took part in a horseback expedition in the Sawtooth National Forest.
In early August, the Jacksons returned to Washington. Robert returned to his work at the Department of Justice. He also made trips to give political speeches in Pittsburgh, and at the Illinois State Fair in Springfield.
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Near the end of August, despite the growing threat of war in Europe and the increasing significance of war-related issues in Jackson’s work, he, Irene and Mary drove from Washington to their former hometown, Jamestown, New York. They planned to stay through the first week of September, visiting and relaxing with Jackson’s mother and other family and friends.
On Thursday, August 31st, General Edwin M. (“Pa”) Watson, President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s appointments secretary, telephoned Jackson in Jamestown. Watson said that the President was in the mood for a social evening with a few friends, a chance to forget about the war, and that it was being arranged for Saturday night, September 2nd. Watson said the President wanted Jackson to attend.
Jackson left Jamestown on the next evening, Friday, September 1st. Driving alone and through the night, he reached Washington on Saturday morning, September 2nd. During that day, he met with his boss, Attorney General Frank Murphy. Around 6:45 p.m., Jackson went to the White House.
President Roosevelt greeted his guests in his study. The other members of the group of six were, in addition to FDR, “Pa” Watson and Robert Jackson, Harold L. Ickes, the Secretary of the Interior; Stephen T. Early, the President’s press secretary; and Dr. Ross T. McIntire, M.D., a U.S. Navy admiral and the President’s physician.
The President mixed cocktails for the group. They enjoyed the drinks, talked and were able to have some laughs, including over a note that William O. Douglas, Roosevelt’s former Securities and Exchange Commission chairman and his Supreme Court appointee of a few months earlier, had sent. Justice Douglas, who also had been invited to attend that evening but was not able to be there, referred in his note to the Chief Justice of the United States, Charles Evans Hughes, as “Charles the Baptist.” This was a favorite FDR nickname for Hughes, a Baptist, who at earlier times had been something of an FDR antagonist … and never was his guest at an informal White House gathering.
After cocktails, the group went up to the White House family quarters for a simple dinner. Although the European situation was not discussed much, FDR did tell his guests that he was in constant telephone contact with the U.S. Ambassadors in Paris and London, William C. Bullitt and Joseph P. Kennedy, respectively, and that their reports indicated that prospects were ominous.
After dinner, the group returned to the President’s study. They played poker. Admiral McIntire, watching out for the President’s health, announced that the card playing would stop at 11:00 p.m. FDR objected and—being the President—he received permission for play to continue until 11:45.
In the heat and fun of the poker play, the group forgot, at times, the looming war. Jackson could see the President relax.
Roosevelt’s usual good luck at cards was not with him that night. The big winner was Ickes. He announced that he now could afford to have a baby, which his wife did two days later.
Around 10:00 p.m., the State Department delivered to the President a message from Kennedy. After reading the cable, the President said sadly, “Gentlemen, by noon tomorrow, war will have been declared.”
That was the case. On September 1st, Nazi Germany had invaded Poland. On September 3rd, its allies France and the United Kingdom declared war on Germany.
In between, and as they left the White House late on Saturday night, September 2nd—seventy-five years ago this weekend—Jackson and his colleagues felt they had contributed to President Roosevelt’s first relaxation in many days.
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RGK
Hercules and the umpire. 
Judge,
I find myself saddened by the cruel comments thrown at the occupant of the Oval Office when he gets away for a vacation, and the ignorance that such comments highlight, given how constantly “in touch” and “at work” he is, no matter where he is. In watching the evening news, my wife and I often comment on how the current President has aged. Time magazine illustrates it well: http://content.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1872168,00.html
I wonder if you have any insight on the vacation practices of the judiciary. The Supreme Court’s months-long recess for teaching and travel (and mixing the two) is well known, and the Circuit Courts and the District Courts have a more “traditional” year-round existence. Did you find that, during your vacations while an active Judge, you were able to truly get away, or did your work follow you to a greater extent?
Since we speak of work…happy labor day!
Ron
Judge:
We ask these men to bear the weight of the world and, when they do, should not be suprised when it begins to show on their faces. Other than for a handful of former presidents (Truman, Ford, Carter), these men generally don’t make it to old age and I’m sure that the pressures of the office are somewhat responsible. It makes me thankful that I chose another line of work.
Robert
Ron,
I share your saddness.
Regarding your questions about judges,
1. I am conficted about the Supreme Court’s summer recess. On the one hand, it looks bad to those folks who work year round and seldom take their full vacations. On the other hand, I am glad that the Justices take time out to think and relax. On balance, I think the summer recess is something that will and probably should remain as it is now.
2. Most federal trial judges that I know seldom take vacations as such. A few days here and few days there is the normal routine. That is what I did as an active judge. I seldom returned relaxed.
3. With the advent of the electronic age, I am never fully away from work. Indeed, I am given a government laptop that allows me to access my “desktop” anywhere in the world. For example, I have issued opinions (authorized the filing) from both China and Australia. My government cell phone also gives me instant access to work from anywhere in the world. So, on the few occassions I travel overseas to see our children and grandchildren, work follows me easily.
4. I don’ mind being constantly “on call.” Frankly, it fits my personality. I am not saying that is healthy. That is just the way it is.
All the best.
RGK
Robert:
While I agree with your premise that the presidency is a remarkably stressful job, I think you’re leaving out a lot of presidents who lived long lives. Most of the 18th- and 19th-century presidents lived well into what, in those days, was considered old age. In the 20th century, you’ve left out Presidents Hoover, Eisenhower, Nixon, Reagan and Bush (HW). They all lived past 70. (President Reagan turned 70 a could of weeks after becoming 70, and President Bush is still adding to his ultimate number). The job ages the persons who hold it, but I wouldn’t overstate its health effects. (In that regard, remember than these folks get pretty good medical care.)
DRF
Dear DRF:
I considered some of your points before I wrote my post and purposely left off Presidents Reagan and Eisenhower because they already came to the presidency as essentially retirement-aged men. You have a point with President Hoover and the elder President Bush; President Nixon, who had a 20 year post-presidency, might be somewhere in between. While the medical care of former presidents is, no doubt, first rate, my guess is that those who were not seeking the job from the time they were children (for example, the three presidents that I mentioned in my first post) strike me as being both emotionally and physically healthier than than their peers.
Robert
Good post.