Existing comment:
"Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes -- 24 majority opinions; -- NO DISSENTS -- 1931-32 term," c 1932-33
by Al Hirschfeld
On February 3, 1930, President Herbert Hoover nominated Charles Evans Hughes to succeed Chief Justice William Howard Taft. As Chief Justice from 1930-1941, he presided over the Court during a very turbulent period. His diplomatic skills helped him navigate a polarized Court through confrontations with President Franklin D. Roosevelt over his New Deal policies intended to move the country out of the Great Depression.
These diplomatic skills are made manifest by the statistics for his first full Term as Chief Justice celebrated in this caricature by Al Hirschfeld, which is essentially a lyrical study of Hughes' whiskers. Hirschfeld's innate mastery of line is clearly expressed in this print, even with its full range of tones and rich textures. Beginning with the exaggerated eyebrows, he has joined them with the hair on the back of Hughes' head to create a single line that sweeps across his face, up over his temple, back down his left ear, and then catches the bottom of his mustache. |