What two US Presidents were charged with trying to pack the federal courts for political advantage?

Answer 1

Presidents John Adams and Franklin D. Roosevelt were both accused of court-packing.

John Adams

Federalist President Adams and a number of Congressional Federalists were defeated in the 1800 election by Thomas Jefferson and other members of the Democratic-Republican party.

The Federalists tried to bolster their influence over government by passing two new pieces of legislation in the lame duck session in early 1801. The first, the Judiciary Act of 1801, reorganized and expanded the federal court system, adding sixteen new District judgeships that Adams filled entirely with members of the Federalist party. The second, the District of Columbia Organic Act of 1801, removed Washington, DC from the jurisdictions of Virginia and Maryland, and placed in control of Congress. The Federalists created an unspecified number of justice of the peace positions to serve the new district. Adams appointed 42 of his constituents to these positions on March 2, 1801, just two days before the end of his administration. Collectively, these men became known as the Midnight Judges for their last-minute appointment.

The power struggle between Adams and Jefferson over the federal judiciary spawned the landmark Supreme Court case, Marbury v. Madison, (1803) (see Related Questions for more information).


Franklin D. Roosevelt

President Roosevelt came to power in 1933, during the Great Depression. This was a time of financial turbulence, high unemployment (nationally, about 25%), bank failures, and other national economic crises far more disastrous than the recession that began in 2007-08.

Roosevelt was determined to solve the national crisis by implementing government programs, which he called the New Deal, designed to bolster employment and place price and wage controls on industry, among other things.

Unfortunately for Roosevelt, he inherited a very conservative Supreme Court from previous administrations. The nine justices, whom Roosevelt referred to as the "Nine Old Men," overturned much of his legislation as unconstitutional. In frustration, Roosevelt drafted a 1937 Judiciary bill that attempted a reconstruction of the federal court system, and included a plan to enlarge the Supreme Court by adding one new justice for every justice who remained on the bench past the age of 70.5, to a maximum of six new justices (coincidentally, there were six older justices over the proposed age limit).

Roosevelt's purpose was to nominate men who were supportive of the New Deal legislation, to increase his control over the program. The Senate was appalled and immediately stripped the court-packing provision from the bill, but it is still remembered today as flagrant attempt on the President's part to overreach the power and authority of his position.

Roosevelt's luck began to change in 1937, as older justices retired from the bench. He was able to nominate eight justices between 1937 and 1943, and succeeded in shifting the court from conservative to progressive.