Learned Hand: The Man and the Judge

Billings Learned Hand was one of the most influential judges in America. In Learned Hand: The Man and the Judge, Gerald Gunther provides a complete and intimate account of the professional and personal life of Learned Hand. He conveys the substance and range of Hand's judicial and intellectual contributions with eloquence and grace. This second edition features photos of Learned Hand throughout his life and career, and includes a foreword by Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Gunther, a former law clerk for Hand, reviewed much of Hand's published work, opinions, and correspondence. He meticulously describes Hand's cases, and discusses the judge's professional and personal life as interconnected with the political and social circumstances of the times in which he lived. Born in 1872, Hand served on the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York and the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. He clearly crafted and delivered thousands of decisions in a wide range of cases through extensive, conscientious investigation and analysis, while at the same time exercising wisdom and personal detachment. His opinions are still widely quoted today, and will remain as an everlasting tribute to his life and legacy.

Foreword to the Second Edition Preface Acknowledgements Chapter 1: The Early Years Chapter 2: Learned Hand and Frances Fincke Chapter 3: From Wall Street Lawyer to Federal District Judge Chapter 4: The Marriage and Its Tensions Chapter 5: The Peak of Political Enthusiasm: Herbert Croly, Theodore Roosevelt, and the Progressive Years Chapter 6: Promotion to the Second Circuit Chapter 7: The Second Circuit Court of Appeals in the 1920sand 1930s: Hand as First Among Equals Chapter 8: Achieving National Renown During the Nation'sComplacent Years, 1919-1928 Chapter 9: The Hoover Years and Hand's Missed Chance for Promotion to the Supreme Court Chapter 10: The New Deal Chapter 11: The Road to War and the Break with Lippmann Chapter 12: The Chief Judgeship and World War II Chapter 13: The Last Chance for a Supreme Court Appointment: The 1942 Vacancy Chapter 14: The Postwar Years, the Cold War, and McCarthyism Chapter 15: Active Retirement from "Regular Active Service" Notes