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Frank Murphy fulfilled a career of public service unequaled by any Michigan citizen. In a lifetime of just 59 years, he served diverse positions as first assistant United States attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, a Recorder's Court Judge, Mayor of Detroit, Governor-General and High Commissioner of the Philippines, Governor of Michigan, Attorney General of the United States, and Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. [1]



US Attorney Eastern District of Michigan -- 1919 to 1922[edit]

Frank 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. [2]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 partly due to Frank Murphy with a record of winning all but one of the cases he prosecuted. Murphy was so effective in addressing a jury that employees in the Federal Building would gather to the courtroom to hear him perform. Murphy practiced law privately to a limited extent while he was a federal attorney. He resigned his position as a United States attorney March 1, 1922. [3]Murphy had several offers to join private practice but decided to go it alone, and formed a partnership with Edward G. Kemp.[4]

Recorder's Court -- 1923 to 1930[edit]

He ran unsuccessfully as a Democrat for Congress in 1920, when national and state Republicans swept Michigan, but used the race to build a political base. He drew upon his legal reputation and growing political connects to win a seat on Recorder's Court, Detroit's criminal court.[5]Frank Murphy was elected in 1923 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 January 1, 1924 and served seven years as a judge of the Recorder's Court during the Prohibition era, 1924-1930.

His best-known trials were the two murder trials of Dr. Ossian Sweet, an African-American charged with the murder of a white man. The Sweet case attracted national attention, not the least because the defense brought in the country’s most famous attorney, Clarence Darrow. After a jury of 12 white men could not agree on a verdict in the first trial, Murphy declared a mistrial. Sweet’s brother, the only defendant to admit to firing a gun, was tried next. Thanks to Darrow’s brilliant and theatrical defense, he was acquitted — a stunning victory that affirmed the right of a black man to defend his property in the face of racist threats.[4]

Mayor of Detroit -- 1930 to 1933[edit]

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 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 monies for its relief effort and worked to distribute food and clothing to the needy, and a Legal Aid Subcommittee volunteered to assist with legal problems of needy clients. In 1933, as Mayor he convened in Detroit and organized the first convention of the United States Conference of Mayors. They met and conferred with President Franklin Roosevelt -— and Murphy was elected its first president. [6]As a mayor, he believed in efficient and good government, not just more government.[4]

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

In fact, his principal biographer, University of Michigan Professor Sidney Fine, noted, "he was a new dealer even before there was a New Deal.”[4]

Melvin G. Holli rated Murphy an exemplary mayor (one of the best) and highly effective leader, who brought together the right skills and strategies to deal with the opportunities and challenges presented. Murphy is noted as being one of the foremost examples of compounding his success as a big city mayor to a highly productive leap into national politics and office. [7]

Governor-General of the Philippines -- 1933 to 1935[edit]

By 1933, after Murphy’s second mayoral term, the reward of a big government job was waiting. Roosevelt appointed Murphy as the Governor-General of the Philippines. In January 1935, a Philippine military camp which would later serve as the headquarters of the country's armed forces was named after him. It was later renamed Camp Aguinaldo after the Philippines' first president.

Frank Murphy demonstrated his generous sympathy for the plight of the Filipino masses, especially for the land-hungry and oppressed tenant farmers, and emphasized the need for social justice. [8]

High Commissioner to the Philippines -- 1935 to 1936[edit]

When his position as Governor-General was abolished in 1935, he stayed on as the United States High Commissioner until 1936. That year he served as a delegate from the Philippine Islands to the Democratic National Convention which re-nominated President Roosevelt for a second term.

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. [9]


Governor of Michigan -- 1937 to 1939[edit]

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 also improved.

The United Automobile Workers engaged in an historic sit down strike in General Motors Flint plant. The Flint Sit-Down Strike was a turning point in national collective bargaining and labor policy. Importantly, during the sit down strike, the governor brought out the national guard, but refused to order the troops to suppress it. [10]Then Governor Murphy successfully mediated an agreement and an end to the confrontation; G.M. recognized the U.A.W. as bargaining agent under the newly adopted National Labor Relations Act (or Wagner Act). This had an incalculable effect upon the fortunes of organized labor and institutionally recognized its legitimacy. [11]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." [12]

In 1938, Murphy was defeated by his predecessor, Fitzgerald -- who became the only governor from Michigan to succeed and precede the same person.

His success as Michigan governor (Time Magazine put him on its August 28, 1939 cover) and U.S. Attorney General [13]led Time to talk of him as the Democratic presidential or vice presidential candidate in 1940. [14]and to feature him on its cover. [15]

Attorney General of the United States -- 1939 to 1940[edit]

In 1939, President Roosevelt appointed Murphy as his 56th U.S. Attorney General. During the one year he served, he established a Civil Liberties Section (later called the Civil Rights Section) in the Criminal Division of the Department of Justice. The section was designed to centralize enforcement responsibility for the Bill of Rights and civil rights statutes.[16]


He was involved in a public and widespread crusade against organized crime syndicates, in prosecuting such notable figures including Kansas City's Democratic boss Thomas Pendergast and newspaper publisher Moses Annenberg and other political racketeers. Under his administration, the United States Department of Justice in Detroit indicted 16 alleged Communists and fellow travelers for having recruited volunteers for the Abraham Lincoln Brigade supporting Spanish Republican forces against Franco and the Nationalists. This earned Murphy censure from liberals.

While being outwardly aggressive as Attorney General, the internal administrative accomplishments of Murphy's administration are reportedly mixed. He brought his Michigan political team with him to the Department of Justice, which demoralized professionals in the Department of Justice.

The November 1939 death of Supreme Court Justice Pierce Butler created a vacancy. Frank Murphy reluctantly accepted a promotion to Associate Supreme Court Justice. He was replaced in the Attorney General's position by Robert H. Jackson. Frank Murphy turned out to be a great Supreme Court champion of civil liberties. [17]



Further reading[edit]

External Links[edit]

Other Links[edit]

  • Supreme Court Historical Society. "The Court Building" (PDF). Retrieved 2008-02-13. No Reference to Frank Murphey

References[edit]

  1. ^ Ashlee, Laura R. (2005). Traveling through time: a guide to Michigan's historical markers. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. ISBN 978-0-472-03066-8.
  2. ^ Frank Murphy, The Detroit Years, page 58
  3. ^ Frank Murphy, The Detroit Years, page 73
  4. ^ a b c d Sidney Fine (1984). Frank Murphy, The Detroit Years. University of Michigan Press. ISBN 0472329499. Cite error: The named reference "isbn0-472-32949-9" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  5. ^ Finkelman, Paul (2006). Encyclopedia of American Civil Liberties. Routledge. p. 2304. ISBN 0415943426.
  6. ^ "The U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM)".
  7. ^ Holli, Melvin G. (1999). The American mayor: the best & the worst big-city leaders. University Park, Pa.: Pennsylvania State University Press. ISBN 0-271-01876-3. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  8. ^ Gale, Thomson (2004). "Frank Murphy". [http://www.encyclopedia.com. {{cite journal}}: External link in |journal= (help); Unknown parameter |unused_data= ignored (help)
  9. ^ High Commissioner to the Philippines
  10. ^ "Detroit News on the Flint UAW/GM sit-down strike".
  11. ^ "Detroit News, Rearview Mirror, The Sit-down strike at General Motors".
  12. ^ Detroit Free Press, Flint Sit-down strike end anniversary February 10, 2008.
  13. ^ ""Lay Bishop," Time Magazine August 28, 1939".
  14. ^ "Time Magazine on 1940 election".
  15. ^ Time Magazine cover, Frank Murphy, August 28, 1939.
  16. ^ Tushnet, Mark V. (1994). Making civil rights law: Thurgood Marshall and the Supreme Court, 1936-1961. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-510468-4. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  17. ^ "Barrett, John Q., Politicians, Attorneys General, Justices, and Parallels (2007)" (PDF).
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