Emilio Aguinaldo

Emilio Aguinaldo y Famy (March 22, 1869 –

February 6, 1964) was a Filipino general,
politician, and independence leader of Chinese
and Spanish descent. He played an instrumental
role in Philippine independence during the
Philippine Revolution against Spain and the
Philippine-American War that resisted American
occupation. He eventually pledged his allegiance
to the US government.

In the Philippines, Aguinaldo is considered to be

the country's first and the youngest Philippine
President.

Early life and career

The seventh of eight children of Carlos Aguinaldo

y Jamir and Trinidad Famy y Valero, he was born
into a Filipino family on March 22, 1869 in Cavite
El Viejo (now Kawit), Cavite province. His father
was gobernadorcillo (town head), and, as members of the Chinese Tagalog mestizo
minority, they enjoyed relative wealth and power.

As a young boy he received education from his great-aunt and later attended the
town's elementary school. In 1880, he took up his secondary course education at
the Colegio de San Juan de Letran, which he quit on his third year to return home
instead to help his widowed mother manage their farm.

At the age of 28, Miong, as he was popularly called, was elected cabeza de
barangay of Binakayan, the most progressive barrio of Cavite El Viejo. He held this
position serving for his town-mates for eight years. He also engaged in inter-island
shipping, travelling as far south as the Sulu Archipelago.

In 1893, the Maura Law was passed to reorganize town governments with the aim
of making them more effective and autonomous, changing the designation of town
head from gobernadorcillo to capitan municipal effective 1895. On January 1, 1895,
Aguinaldo was elected town head, becoming the first person to hold the title of
capitan municipal of Cavite El Viejo.

Family

His first marriage was in 1896 with Hilaria Del Rosario (1877-1921). They had five
children (Miguel, Carmen, Emilio Jr., María and Cristina). His second wife was María
Agoncillo (1882-1963).
Several of Aguinaldo's descendants became prominent political figures in their own
right. A grandnephew, Cesar Virata, served as Prime Minister of the Philippines from
1981 to 1986. Aguinaldo's granddaughter, Ameurfina Herrera, served as an
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court from 1979 until 1992

Philippine Revolution

In 1895, Aguinaldo joined the Katipunan, a secret organization led by Andrés

Bonifacio, dedicated to the expulsion of the Spanish and independence of the
Philippines through armed force. Aguinaldo used the nom de guerre Magdalo, in
honor of Mary Magdalene. His local chapter of the Katipunan, headed by his cousin
Baldomero Aguinaldo, was also called Magdalo.

The Katipunan revolted against the Spanish colonizers in the last week of August
1896, starting in Manila. However, Aguinaldo and other Cavite rebels initially
refused to join in the offensive due to lack of arms. Their absence contributed to
Bonifacio's defeat in San Juan del Monte. While Bonifacio and other rebels were
forced to resort to guerrilla warfare, Aguinaldo and the Cavite rebels won major
victories in set-piece battles, temporarily driving the Spanish out of their area.

Conflict between the Magdalo and another Cavite Katipunan faction, the
Magdiwang, led to Bonifacio's intervention in the province. The Cavite rebels then
made overtures about establishing a revolutionary government in place of the
Katipunan. Though Bonifacio already considered the Katipunan to be a government,
he acquiesced and presided over elections held during the Tejeros Convention in
Tejeros, Cavite on March 22, 1897. Away from his power base, Bonifacio lost the
leadership to Aguinaldo, and was elected instead to the office of Secretary of the
Interior. Even this was questioned by an Aguinaldo supporter, claiming Bonifacio
had not the necessary schooling for the job. Insulted, Bonifacio declared the
Convention null and void, and sought to return to his power base in Morong
(present-day Rizal). He and his party were intercepted by Aguinaldo's men and
violence resulted which left Bonifacio seriously wounded. Bonifacio was charged,
tried and found guilty of treason by a Cavite military tribunal, and sentenced to
death. After some vacillation, Aguinaldo confirmed the death sentence, and
Bonifacio was executed on May 10, 1897 in the mountains of Maragondon in Cavite,
even as Aguinaldo and his forces were retreating in the face of Spanish assault.

Biak-na-Bato

Spanish pressure intensified, eventually forcing Aguinaldo's forces to retreat to the

mountains. Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo signed the treaty of Biak-na-Bato, which specified
that the Spanish would give self-rule to the Philippines within 3 years if Gen. Emilio
Aguinaldo was exiled. On December 14, 1897, Aguinaldo was shipped to Hong
Kong. Under the pact, Aguinaldo agreed to end hostilities as well in exchange for
amnesty and "$800,000 (Mexican)" (Aguinaldo's description of the amount) as an
indemnity. Aguinaldo took the money offered. Emilio Aguinaldo was President and
Mariano Trias (Vice President). Other officials included Antonio Montenegro for
Foreign Affairs, Isabelo Artacho for the Interior, Baldomero Aguinaldo for the
Treasury, and Emiliano Riego de Dios for War.
However, thousands of other Katipuneros continued to fight the Revolution against
Spain for a sovereign nation. Unlike Aguinaldo who came from a privileged
background, the bulk of these fighters were peasants and workers who were not
willing to settle for 'indemnities.'

In early 1898, war broke out between Spain and the United States. Aguinaldo
returned to the Philippines in May 1898. He immediately resumed revolutionary
activities against the Spaniards, now receiving verbal encouragement from
emissaries of the U. S.

Presidency

The insurgent First Philippine Republic was formally established with the
proclamation of the Malolos Constitution on January 21, 1899 in Malolos, Bulacan
and endured until the capture and surrender of Emilio Aguinaldo to the American
forces on March 23, 1901 in Palanan, Isabela, which effectively dissolved the First
Republic.

Aguinaldo appointed two premiers in his tenure. These were Apolinario Mabini and
Pedro Paterno.

Administration and Cabinet

President Aguinaldo had two cabinets in the year 1899. Thereafter, the war
situation resulted in his ruling by decree.

Domestic Programs

The Malolos Congress continued its sessions and accomplised certain positive tasks.
The Spanish fiscal system was provisionally retained. The same was done with the
existing taxes, save those upon cockfighting and other amusements. War taxes
were levied and voluntary contributions were solicited. Customs duties were
established. A national loan was launched. President Aguinaldo ordered schools
open. Elementary education was made compulsory and free. The Filipino educator,
Erique Mendiola, founded the "Instituto de Burgos" and were appointed by the
Director of Public Instruction. It offered courses in agriculture, surveying, and
commerce, as well as a complete A.B course.

On October 1898 a government decree fixed the opening date of the "Universidad
Literia".Couses offered were Medicine, Surgery, Pharmacy, and Notary Public. The
President of the Philippines appointed the professors thereof. They, in turn, chose
the University rector. The first to occupy this position was Joaquin Gonzales. Later,
he was succeeded by Dr. leo Ma. Guerrero.
Philippine American War

On the night of February 4, 1899, a Filipino was shot by an American sentry. This
incident is considered the beginning of the Philippine-American War, and open
fighting soon broke out between American troops and pro-independence Filipinos.
Superior American firepower drove Filipino troops away from the city, and the
Malolos government had to move from one place to another.

Aguinaldo led resistance to the Americans, then retreated to northern Luzon with
the Americans on his trail. On June 2, 1899, a telegram from Aguinaldo was received
by Gen. Antonio Luna, a disciplinarian and brilliant general and looming rival in the
military hierarchy, ordering him to proceed to Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija for a
meeting at the Cabanatuan Church Convent. However, treachery was afoot, as
Aguinaldo felt the need to rid himself of this new threat to power. Three days later
(June 5), when Luna arrived, he learned Aguinaldo was not at the appointed place.
As Gen. Luna was about to depart, he was shot, then stabbed to death by
Aguinaldo's men. Luna was later buried in the churchyard, and Aguinaldo made no
attempt to punish or even discipline Luna's murderers.

Less than two years later, after the famous Battle of Tirad Pass with the death of
Gregorio del Pilar, one of his most trusted generals, Aguinaldo was captured in
Palanan, Isabela on March 23, 1901 by US General Frederick Funston, with the help
of Macabebe trackers (who saw Aguinaldo as a bigger problem than the Americans).
The American task force gained access to Aguinaldo's camp by pretending to be
captured prisoners.

Funston later noted Aguinaldo's "dignified bearing", "excellent qualities," and

"humane instincts." Of course, Funston was writing this after Aguinaldo had
volunteered to swear fealty to the United States, if only his life was spared.
Aguinaldo pledged allegiance to America on April 1, 1901, formally ending the First
Republic and recognizing the sovereignty of the United States over the Philippines.
Nevertheless, many others (like Miguel Malvar and Macario Sakay) continued to
resist the American occupation.

Post-Presidency

U.S. Territorial Period

During the United States occupation, Aguinaldo organized the Asociación de los
Veteranos de la Revolución (Association of Veterans of the Revolution), which
worked to secure pensions for its members and made arrangements for them to
buy land on installment from the government.

When the American government finally allowed the Philippine flag to be displayed in
1919, Aguinaldo transformed his home in Kawit into a monument to the flag, the
revolution and the declaration of Independence. His home still stands, and is known
as the Aguinaldo Shrine.
Aguinaldo retired from public life for many years. In 1935, when the Commonwealth
of the Philippines was established in preparation for Philippine independence, he ran
for president but lost by a landslide to fiery Spanish mestizo Manuel L. Quezon. The
two men formally reconciled in 1941, when President Quezon moved Flag Day to
June 12, to commemorate the proclamation of Philippine independence.

Aguinaldo again retired to private life, until the Japanese invasion of the Philippines
in World War II. He cooperated with the Japanese, making speeches, issuing articles
and infamous radio addresses in support of the Japanese — including a radio appeal
to Gen. Douglas MacArthur on Corregidor to surrender in order to spare the
innocence of the Filipino youth.

After the Americans retook the Philippines, Aguinaldo was arrested along with
several others accused of collaboration with the Japanese. He was held in Bilibid
prison for months until released by presidential amnesty. In his trial, it was
eventually deemed that his collaboration with the Japanese was made under great
duress, and he was released.

Aguinaldo lived to see the recognition of independence to the Philippines July 4,

1946, when the United States Government fully recognized Philippine independence
in accordance with the Tydings-McDuffie Act of 1934. He was 93 when President
Diosdado Macapagal officially changed the date of independence from July 4 to June
12, 1898, the date Aguinaldo believed to be the true Independence Day. During the
independence parade at the Luneta, the 93-year old former president carried the
flag he raised in Kawit.

Post-American era

In 1950, President Elpidio Quirino appointed Aguinaldo as a member of the Council

of State, where he served a full term. He returned to retirement soon after,
dedicating his time and attention to veteran soldiers' interests and welfare.

He was given Doctor of Laws, Honoris Causa by the University of the Philippines in
1953.

In 1962, President Diosdado Macapagal changed the celebration of Independence

Day from July 4 to June 12. Aguinaldo rose from his sickbed to attend the
celebration of independence 64 years after he declared it.

Death

Aguinaldo died on February 6, 1964 of coronary thrombosis at the Veterans

Memorial Hospital in Quezon City. He was 94 years old. His remains are buried at
the Aguinaldo Shrine in Kawit, Cavite. When he died, he was the last surviving non-
royal head of state (self-proclaimed) to have served in the 19th century

In 1985, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas made a new 5-peso bill depicted with a portrait
of Aguinaldo on the front of the bill. The back of the bill features the declaration of
the Philippine independence on June 12, 1898 with Aguinaldo on the balcony of his
house surrounded by crowds of rejoicing Filipinos holding the Philippine flag and
proclaiming independence from Spain.

Political positions and speeches

Immigration

In an 1894 article on immigration, Roosevelt said, "We must Americanize in every

way, in speech, in political ideas and principles, and in their way of looking at
relations between church and state. We welcome the German and the Irishman who
becomes an American. We have no use for the German or Irishman who remains
such... He must revere only our flag, not only must it come first, but no other flag
should even come second."

Square Deal speech

Theodore Roosevelt introduced the phrase "Square Deal" to describe his

progressive views in a speech delivered after leaving the office of the Presidency in
August 1910. In his broad outline, he stressed equality of opportunity for all citizens
and emphasized the importance of fair government regulations of corporate 'special
interests'.

Conservationist speech and legacy

Roosevelt was one of the first Presidents to make conservation a national issue. In
a speech that TR gave at Osawatomie, Kansas, on August 31, 1910, he outlined his
views on conservation of the lands of the United States. He favored the use of
America's natural resources, but not the misuse of them through wasteful
consumption

One of his most lasting legacies was his significant role in the creation of 150
National Forests, 5 national parks, and 18 national monuments, among other works
of conservation. In total, TR was instrumental in the conservation of approximately
230 million acres of American soil among various parks and other federal projects.

Speech for federal control of monopolies

In the Eighth Annual Message to Congress (1908), TR mentioned the need for
federal government to regulate interstate corporations using the Interstate
Commerce Clause, also mentioning how these corporations fought federal control
by appealing to states' rights.

Writer

Despite his weakened condition and slow recovery from his South America
expedition, Roosevelt continued to write with passion on subjects ranging from
foreign policy to the importance of the national park system. As an editor of Outlook
magazine, he had weekly access to a large, educated national audience. In all,
Roosevelt wrote about 18 books (each in several editions), including his
Autobiography, The Rough Riders, History of the Naval War of 1812, and others on
subjects such as ranching, explorations, and wildlife. His most ambitious book was
the 4 volume narrative The Winning of the West, which attempted to connect the
origin of a new "race" of Americans (i.e. what he considered the present population
of the United States to be) to the frontier conditions their ancestors endured
throughout the 17th, 18th, and early 19th centuries.

Character and beliefs

Roosevelt intensely disliked being called "Teddy," and was quick to point out this
fact to those who used the nickname, though it would become widely used by
newspapers during his political career. He attended church regularly. Of including
the motto "In God We Trust" on money, in 1907 he wrote, "It seems to me
eminently unwise to cheapen such a motto by use on coins, just as it would be to
cheapen it by use on postage stamps, or in advertisements." He was also a member
of the Freemasons and Sons of the American Revolution.

Roosevelt had a lifelong interest in pursuing what he called, in an 1899 speech, "the
strenuous life." To this end, he exercised regularly and took up boxing, tennis,
hiking, rowing, polo, and horseback riding. As governor of New York, he boxed with
sparring partners several times a week, a practice he regularly continued as
President until one blow detached his left retina, leaving him blind in that eye (a
fact not made public until many years later). Thereafter, he practiced judo attaining
a third degree brown belt and continued his habit of skinny-dipping in the Potomac
River during winter.

He was an enthusiastic singlestick player and, according to Harper's Weekly, in

1905 showed up at a White House reception with his arm bandaged after a bout
with General Leonard Wood. Roosevelt was also an avid reader, reading tens of
thousands of books, at a rate of several a day in multiple languages. Along with
Thomas Jefferson, Roosevelt is often considered the most well read of any American
politician.

Legacy

For his gallantry at San Juan Hill, Roosevelt's commanders recommended him for
the Medal of Honor, but his subsequent telegrams to the War Department
complaining about the delays in returning American troops from Cuba doomed his
chances. In the late 1990s, Roosevelt's supporters again took up the flag for him
and overcame opposition from elements within the U.S. Army and the National
Archives. On January 16, 2001, President Bill Clinton awarded Theodore Roosevelt
the Medal of Honor posthumously for his charge up San Juan Hill, Cuba, during the
Spanish-American War. Roosevelt's eldest son, Brigadier General Theodore
Roosevelt, Jr., received the Medal of Honor for heroism at the Battle of Normandy in
1944. The Roosevelts thus became one of only two father-son pairs to receive this
honor.

Roosevelt's legacy includes several other important commemorations. Roosevelt

was included with George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln at
the Mount Rushmore Memorial, designed in 1927. The United States Navy named
two ships for Roosevelt: the USS Theodore Roosevelt (SSBN-600), a submarine that
was in commission from 1961 to 1982; and the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71),
an aircraft carrier that has been on active duty in the Atlantic Fleet since 1986.

The Roosevelt Memorial Association (later the Theodore Roosevelt Association) or

"TRA", was founded in 1920 to preserve Roosevelt's legacy. The Association
preserved TR's birthplace, "Sagamore Hill" home, papers, and video film.

Among the schools, neighborhoods, and streets named in Roosevelt's honor are
Roosevelt High School in Seattle, Washington, the surrounding Roosevelt
neighborhood, the district's main arterial, Roosevelt Way N.E., and Roosevelt Middle
School in Eugene, Oregon.

Overall, historians credit Roosevelt for changing the nation's political system by
permanently placing the presidency at center stage and making character as
important as the issues. His notable accomplishments include trust-busting and
conservationism. However, he has been criticized for his interventionist and
imperialist approach to nations he considered "uncivilized". Even so, history and
legend have been kind to him. His friend, historian Henry Adams, proclaimed,
"Roosevelt, more than any other living man ....showed the singular primitive quality
that belongs to ultimate matter – the quality that mediaeval theology assigned to
God – he was pure act." Historians typically rank Roosevelt among the top five
presidents.

The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel in Los Angeles is named after him as well as the
Roosevelt Hotel in New York City.

Popular culture

Roosevelt's 1901 saying "Speak Softly and Carry a Big Stick" is still being
occasionally quoted by politicians and columnists in different countries – not only in
English but also in translation to various other languages.

Roosevelt's lasting popular legacy, however, is the stuffed toy bears—teddy bears—
named after him following an incident on a hunting trip in Mississippi in 1902.
Roosevelt famously ordered the mercy killing of a wounded black bear. After a
national cartoonist illustrated the President with a bear, a toy maker heard the story
and asked TR if he could use his name on a toy bear. Roosevelt approved and the
teddy bear was born. Bears and later bear cubs became closely associated with
Roosevelt in political cartoons thereafter.

On June 26, 2006, Roosevelt, again, made the cover of TIME magazine with the lead
story, "The Making of America—Theodore Roosevelt—The 20th Century Express":
"At home and abroad, Theodore Roosevelt was the locomotive President, the man
who drew his flourishing nation into the future."[95]

Roosevelt has been portrayed many times in film and on television. The actor Karl
Swenson played him in the 1967 western picture Brighty of the Grand Canyon, the
story of a real-life burro who guided Roosevelt on a hunting trip to find mountain
lions

Frank Murphy
William Francis (Frank) Murphy (April 13, 1890 –
July 19, 1949) was a politician and jurist from
Michigan. He served as First Assistant U.S. District
Attorney, Eastern Michigan District (1920-23),
Recorder's Court Judge, Detroit (1923-30). Mayor of
Detroit (1930–33), the last Governor-General of the
Philippines (1933-35), U.S. High Commissioner of the
Philippines (1935–36), the 35th Governor of Michigan (1937-39), United States
Attorney General (1939–40), and United States Supreme Court Associate Justice
(1940–49).

Early life

Murphy was born in Harbor Beach, Michigan, then known as "Sand Beach", in 1890.
His Irish parents, John T. Murphy and Mary Brennan,raised him as a devout
Catholic.He followed in his father’s footsteps by becoming a lawyer. He attended
the University of Michigan Law School, and graduated with a BA in 1912 and LLB in
1914. He was a member of the senior society Michigamua.Murphy was stricken with
Diphtheria in the winter of 1911 but was allowed to begin his course in the Law
Department from which he received his LL.B. degree in 1914. He performed
graduate work at Lincoln's Inn in London and Trinity College, Dublin, which was said
to be formative for his judicial philosophy. He developed a need to decide cases
based on his more holistic notions of justice, eschewing technical legal arguments.
As one commentator wrote of his later supreme court service, he "tempered justice
with Murphy."

He served in the U.S. Army during World War I, achieving the rank of Captain with
the occupation Army in Germany before leaving the service in 1919.

Murphy opened a private law office in Detroit and soon became the Chief Assistant
United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan. He opened the first civil
rights section of a U.S. Attorney's office.

He taught at the University of Detroit for five years.

Murphy served as a Judge in the Detroit Recorder's Court from 1923 to 1930, and
made many administrative reforms in the operations of the court.

While on Recorder's Court, he established a reputation as a trial judge. He was a

presiding judge in the famous murder trials of Dr. Ossian Sweet and his brother,
Henry Sweet in 1925 and 1926. Clarence Darrow, then one of the most prominent
trial lawyers in the country, was lead counsel for the defense.

After an initial mistrial of all of the black defendants, Henry Sweet — who admitted
that he fired the weapon which killed a member of the mob surrounding Dr. Sweet's
home and was retried separately — was acquitted by an all-white jury on grounds of
the right of self-defense.The prosecution then elected to not prosecute any of the
remaining defendants. Murphy's rulings were material to the outcome of the case.

U.S. Attorney Eastern District of Michigan (1919–1922)

Murphy was appointed and took the oath of office as first assistant United States
attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan on August 9, 1919.

He was one of three assistant attorneys in the office.

When Murphy began his career as a federal attorney, the workload of the attorney's
office was increasing at a rapid rate, mainly due to the advent of national
prohibition. The government's excellent record in winning convictions in the Eastern
District was partially due to Murphy's record of winning all but one of the cases that
he prosecuted. Murphy practiced law privately to a limited extent while he was still
a federal attorney. He resigned his position as a United States attorney on March 1,
1922.

Murphy had several offers to join private practices but decided to go it alone and
formed a partnership with Edward G. Kemp.

Recorder's Court (1923–1930)

He ran unsuccessfully as a Democrat for the United States Congress in 1920, when
national and state Republicans swept Michigan. He drew upon his legal reputation
and growing political connections to win a seat on the Recorder's Court, Detroit's
criminal court.

In 1923, Murphy was elected judge of the Recorder's Court on a non-partisan ticket
by one of the largest majorities ever cast for a judge in Detroit. Murphy took office
on January 1, 1924 and served seven years during the Prohibition Era.

Mayor of Detroit (1930–1933)

In 1930, Murphy ran as a Democrat and was elected Mayor of Detroit. He served
from 1930 to 1933, during the first years of the Great Depression. He presided over
an epidemic of urban unemployment, a crisis in which 100,000 people were
unemployed in the summer of 1931. He named an unemployment committee of
private citizens from businesses, churches, and labor and social service
organizations to identify all residents who were unemployed and not receiving
welfare benefits. The Mayor’s Unemployment Committee raised funds for its relief
effort and worked to distribute food and clothing to the needy, and a Legal Aid
Subcommittee volunteered to assist with the legal problems of needy clients. In
1933, Murphy convened in Detroit and organized the first convention of the United
States Conference of Mayors. They met and conferred with President Franklin D.
Roosevelt, and Murphy was elected its first president.

Murphy was an early and enthusiastic supporter of Roosevelt and the New Deal,
helping Roosevelt to become the first Democratic presidential candidate to win the
state of Michigan.

Melvin G. Holli rated Murphy an exemplary mayor and highly effective leader.

Governor-General of the Philippines (1933–1935)

By 1933, after Murphy’s second mayoral term, the reward of a big government job
was waiting. Roosevelt appointed Murphy as Governor-General of the Philippines.
Murphy demonstrated sympathy for Filipino masses, especially for the land-hungry
and oppressed tenant farmers, and emphasized the need for social justice.

High Commissioner to the Philippines (1935–1936)

When his position as Governor-General was abolished in 1935, he stayed on as

United States High Commissioner until 1936. That year he served as a delegate
from the Philippine Islands to the Democratic National Convention.

High Commissioner to the Philippines was the title of the personal representative of
the President of the United States to the Commonwealth of the Philippines during
the period 1935-1946. The office was created by the Tydings-McDuffie Act of 1934,
which provided for a period of transition from direct American rule to the complete
independence of the islands on July 4, 1946.

Governor of Michigan (1937-1939)

Murphy was elected the 35th Governor of Michigan on November 3, 1936, defeating
Republican incumbent Frank Fitzgerald, and served one two-year term. During his
two years in office, an unemployment compensation system was instituted and
mental health programs were improved.

The United Automobile Workers engaged in an historic sit-down strike at the

General Motors' Flint plant. The Flint Sit-Down Strike was a turning point in national
collective bargaining and labor policy. After 27 people got injured in a battle
between the workers and the police, including 13 strikers with gunshot wounds,
Murphy sent the National Guard to protect the workers. The governor didn't follow a
court's order requesting him to expel the strikers, and refused to order the guards
troops to suppress the strike.Murphy successfully mediated an agreement and end
to the confrontation; G.M. recognized the U.A.W. as bargaining agent under the
newly adopted National Labor Relations Act. This had an effect upon organized
labor.In the next year the UAW saw its membership grow from 30,000 to 500,000
members. As later noted by the British Broadcasting System, this strike was "the
strike heard round the world."In 1938, Murphy was defeated by his predecessor,
Fitzgerald, who became the only governor from Michigan to succeed and precede
the same person.

Attorney General of the United States (1939-1940)

In 1939, Roosevelt appointed Murphy the 56th Attorney General of the United
States. Murphy established a Civil Liberties Section in the Criminal Division of the
United States Department of Justice. The section was designed to centralize
enforcement responsibility for the Bill of Rights and civil rights statutes.

Supreme Court
After a year as Attorney General, on January 4, 1940, Murphy was nominated by
Roosevelt to be an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, filling a seat vacated by
Pierce Butler. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on January 16 and was
sworn in on January 18.The timing of the appointment put Murphy on the cusp of
the Charles Evans Hughes and the Harlan Fiske Stone courts.

Upon the death of Chief Justice Stone, Murphy served in the court led by Frederick
Moore Vinson, who was confirmed in 1946.Murphy took an expansive view of
individual liberties, and the limitations on government he found in the Bill of
Rights.Murphy authored 199 opinions: 131 majority, 68 in dissent.Opinions differ
about him and his jurisprudential philosophy. He has been acclaimed as a legal
scholar and a champion of the common man.Justice Felix Frankfurter disparagingly
nicknamed Murphy "the Saint", criticizing his decisions as being rooted more in
passion than reason. It has been said he was "Neither legal scholar nor craftsman"
who was criticized "for relying on heart over head, results over legal reasoning,
clerks over hard work, and emotional solos over team play.[Murphy's support of
African-Americans, aliens, criminals, dissenters, Jehovah's Witnesses, Native
Americans, women, workers, and other outsiders evoked a pun: “tempering justice
with Murphy.” As he wrote in Falbo v. United States (1944), “The law knows no finer
hour than when it cuts through formal concepts and transitory emotions to protect
unpopular citizens against discrimination and persecution.” According to
Frankfurter, Murphy was part of the more liberal "Axis" of justices on the Court,
along with Justices Rutledge, Douglas, and Black; the group would for years oppose
Frankfurter's judicially-restrained ideology.Douglas, Murphy, and then Rutledge
were the first justices to agree with Hugo Black's notion that the Fourteenth
Amendment incorporated the Bill of Rights protection into it; this view would later
become law.Though Murphy was serving on the Supreme Court during World War II,
he still longed to be part of the war effort. Consequently, during recesses of the
Court, he served in Fort Benning, Georgia as an infantry officer.On January 30,
1944, almost exactly before Allied liberation of the the Auschwitz death camp on
January 27, 1945, Justice Murphy unveiled the formation of the National Committee
Against Nazi Persecution and Extermination of the Jews. Serving as committee chair,
he stated it was created to combat Nazi propaganda "breeding the germs of hatred
against Jews." The announcement was made on the 11th anniversary of Adolf Hitler
becoming Chancellor of Germany. The eleven committee members included U.S.
Vice President Henry Wallace, 1940 Republican presidential candidate Wendell
Wilkie and Henry St. George Tucker, Presiding Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal
Church.He acted as chairman of the National Committee against Nazi Persecution
and Extermination of the Jews and of the Philippine War Relief Committee.The first
committee was established in early 1944 to promote rescue of European Jews, and
to combat antisemitism in the United States.

Death and legacy

Murphy died at fifty-nine of coronary thrombosis during his sleep at Henry Ford
Hospital in Detroit. Over 10,000 people attended his funeral in Detroit. He was
engaged to be married in August to Joan Cuddihy.His remains are interred at Our
Lady of Lake Huron Cemetery of Harbor Beach, Michigan.The Frank Murphy Hall of
Justice was home to Detroit's Recorder's Court and now houses part of Michigan's
Third Judicial Circuit Court.There is a plaque in his honor on the first floor, which is
recognized as a Michigan Legal Milestone.Outside the Hall of Justice is Carl Milles's
statue "The Hand of God".This rendition was cast in honor of Murphy. It features a
nude figure emerging from the left hand of God. Although commissioned in 1949
and completed by 1953, the work, partly because of the male nudity involved,was
kept in storage for a decade and a half.The work was chosen in tribute to Murphy by
Walter P. Reuther and Ira W. Jayne.It was placed on a pedestal in 1970 with the help
of sculptor Marshall Fredericks, who was a Milles student.In memory of Murphy, one
of three University of Michigan Law School alumni to become a U.S. Supreme Court
justice, Washington D.C.-based attorney John H. Pickering, who was a law clerk for
Murphy, donated a large sum of money to the law school as a remembrance,
establishing the Frank Murphy Seminar Room.[Murphy was awarded an Honorary
Doctorate of Law degree by the University of Michigan in 1939.