Louis D. Brandeis

Louis D. Brandeis

1912

1856

1890

1941

1877

Louis Brandeis was born on November 13, 1856 in Louisville, Kentucky. His parents were Bohemian Jews who came to America after the European Revolutionary Movement of 1848.

Louis became a supporter of Zionism, a movement in support of protecting the jewish nation, and this passion continued passed his retirement from the Supreme Court in 1939.

On October 25, 1941, Louis Brandeis passed away. Because of his commitments to justice, education and religion, Brandeis University was founded in his honor several years later in Waltham, Massachusetts.

In his time at Harvard, Brandeis received a Bachelor Degree for Law from the Harvard Corporation, even though Louis was not the required age of 21. He graduated from Harvard at the top of his class. Brandeis studied at Harvard for one more year before he continued to "the bar", which is the process of qualifying to practice law.

While Louis was working with Samuel, they wrote a Law article called "The Right to Privacy" which was published in the Harvard Law Review. This article is very famous and well-known all over the world. Also in 1890, during his time in Boston, Brandeis helped with public service. He stopped arguments and helped solve countless problems. For example, he saved the Boston Subway System.

1895

1915

1855

1880

1875

1916

1886

1879

1913

1908

1891

Louis Brandeis married Alice Goldmark.

Louis was offered a position in President Woodrow Wilson's Cabinet, but he declined the offer to continue to be the President's adviser.

Harvard meant a lot to Brandeis, so helped found a alumni group called the Harvard Law School Association. He became the official secretary, and he stayed at this position for many years.

Louis Brandeis moved to Boston, invited by his old classmate Samuel D. Warren to start a law firm. Samuel was second in his class after Brandeis. They got more clients and continued this work for a couple years.

When Brandeis was 18 years old, he entered Harvard Law School without a formal college degree. While he was at Harvard, he tutored other students to help pay for the tuition his family could not afford. During the Panic of 1873, his father lost most of his money and this did not leave them very well off.

Louis created a document which had 3 pages of legal citations and well over a hundred pages of innovative documents and other resources. This document became known as the "Brandeis Brief" and "the people's attorney." Brandeis himself used this document to win many of his own cases.

On January 18, 1916, President Wilson nominated Louis to the Supreme court, but this caused a big political fight. Many people, including former president of the US William Howard Taft did not like Brandeis because they believed he had radical political views. There were some anti-jew feelings going around. Louis was the first Jew to be nominated for the Supreme Court. Eventually the Senate won the fight and on June 5, 1916, Brandeis joined the Supreme court where he served until 1939.

Left: Louis Brandeis with is wife and kids

Right: Alice Goldmark before she got married.

Woodrow Wilson

Sources

Quotes From Louis D. Brandeis

By Megha Shrivastava

• "Louis D. Brandeis Legacy Fund for Social Justice." Justice Louis D. Brandeis. Web. 18 Dec. 2014. <http://www.brandeis.edu/legacyfund/bio.html>.
• "Louis Brandeis." Britannica School. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 2014. Web. 18 Dec. 2014. <http://school.eb.com/levels/high/article/16209>
• "Louis Brandeis." American Government. ABC-CLIO, 2014. Web. 22 Dec. 2014. http://americangovernment.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/195746?terms=louis+brandeis

• “Organization can never be a substitute for initiative and for judgment.” This quote is saying that, even if you are organized, you have to have initiative and judgement to make anything happen for yourself. It is very true for many people around the world who may be organized, but without judgement and initiative.
• "The most important political office is that of the private citizen." This quote is saying that many political leaders are important, but without the common citizens votes, they are nothing. Citizens are as important, if not more important than other officials.
• There were not dates on the quotes, but they are all from Louis himself.