Justice Levi Woodbury
Today’s Justice of the Day is: LEVI WOODBURY. Justice Woodbury was born on this day, December 22, in 1789.
Justice Woodbury was born in Francestown, New Hampshire, located in the state from which he would be appointed to the Supreme Court of the United States. He graduated from Dartmouth College, a school in his home state, in 1809, before briefly attending Litchfield Law School in Connecticut.
Justice Woodbury entered private practice in his city of birth in 1812, working there until 1816. Later that same year, he began a year-long term as a Clerk of the New Hampshire State Senate, after which he took office as an Associate Justice of the New Hampshire Superior Court of Judicature, before leaving that office in 1823 to begin a one-year term as Governor of his home state. Justice Woodbury briefly worked in private practice in Portsmouth, New Hampshire the year he left office, and then became Speaker of the New Hampshire House of Representatives in 1825. He left that position to become a United States Senator later that same year, and held that office for two non-consecutive terms, first from 1825 to 1831, and from 1841 to 1845, the year he was nominated to serve on the SCUS. Between Senate terms, Justice Woodbury served as Secretary of the Navy (from 1831 to 1834) and Secretary of the Treasury (from 1834 to 1841).
Justice Woodbury received a recess appointment from President James Knox Polk on September 20, 1845, to a seat vacated by Justice Joseph Story, and took the Judicial Oath to officially join the SCUS on or around September 23. He was subsequently nominated by President Polk on December 23, and was confirmed by the United States Senate on January 3, 1846. Justice Woodbury received his commission on the day he was confirmed and served his entire tenure on the Taney Court. His service was terminated on September 4, 1851, due to his death.
Justice Woodbury is not especially well-known today, which can largely be attributed to his fairly short tenure and the lack of major cases during his time. He notably joined the small number of Members of the SCUS who sought office while serving on the Court or after, running for President of the United States in 1848 and taking part in the early 1852 race (though his bid was cut short by his death).