1930–31 Volume 55 No 1–5 - Phi Delta Theta Scroll Archive

Phi Appointed Federal JudgeI HE city editor might summarize theevent, "Add list of federal judges."O. O. Mclntyre might say, "GlensFalls boy makes good in the city." Wein * A © can assert with pardonablepride that President Hoover has pickedanother Phi to fill a responsible placein the federal judiciary.The new appointee is Robert Porter,Patterson, Union, '12. The place hefills is that vacated by Thomas D.Thacher, the United States districtjudgeship for the southern district ofNew York.An interesting succession of appointmentsled to that of Brother Patterson.Charles E. Hughes wasappointed Chief Justice of the UnitedStates succeeding William H. Taft, deceased.Hughes' appointment necessitatedthe resignation of his son asSolicitor General of the United States.Thacher was appointed to succeedCharles E. Hughes, Jr., and the vacancythus created was filled by thechoice of Brother Patterson.The new judge has had a variedexperience. Following his graduation 'from Union he entered the HarvardLaw School. Here he became an outstandingstudent, paralleling the recordhe had made at Union where he hadbeen graduated near the top of hisclass. He was, at Harvard, editor-inchiefof the Harvard Law Review,considered the highest honor whichmay come to an undergraduate of thatschool, and was also marshal of hisclass in his third year. He receivedBy RUSSELL H. FITZGIBBONHanover, '24his degree from Harvard in 1915 andthat fall entered the law firm of Root,Clark, Buckner, and Howland wherehe remained for a year.Brother Patterson resigned form thisconnection to enter United Statesservice on the Mexican border. In1917 he entered the first officers' trainingcamp at Plattsburg. He served inthe World War in the 77th Division.Since the War he has devoted his entiretime to the practice of his professionand has successfully handled manyimportant cases in both the state andfederal courts.Brother Patterson is a life trusteeof Union College. During his undergraduatedays there he was managerof the basketball team and took anotherwise prominent part in collegeactivities. He reached the rank ofmajor in the World War and was duringthat time awarded the distinguishedservice cross. He wasreferred to by the secretary of thegraduate council of Union College as"one of Union's most prominentyounger alumni."A formidable list of endorsers wasannounced by the White House asbacking the appointment of BrotherPatterson. The list included WinthropW. Aldrich, Emory R. Buckner, PaulD. Cravath, Hamilton Fish, CharlesD. Hilles, Henry F. Osborn, RoscoePound, Elihu Root, Jr., Henry RootStern, chairman of the Committee onFederal Judges, Henry W. Taft, C. W.Wickersham, and many others.[266]