William Homer Thornberry

William Homer Thornberry was a federal appellate judge who served on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit from 1965 to 1978. Born in Austin, Texas, in 1909, he had a distinguished career in public service that spanned state and federal government, including fourteen years as a member of the United States House of Representatives before his appointment to the federal judiciary. Nominated to the Fifth Circuit by President Lyndon B. Johnson, a Democrat, Thornberry is perhaps best remembered for his 1968 nomination to the Supreme Court of the United States, which became moot when the anticipated vacancy failed to materialize. He continued to serve the Fifth Circuit in senior status until his death in 1995.

Early life and legal career

Thornberry was born on January 9, 1909, in Austin, Texas, to parents who were both teachers at the State School for the Deaf and were themselves deaf. He attended Austin's public schools and graduated from Austin High School in 1927. He pursued higher education at the University of Texas at Austin, where he earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in 1932. Four years later, in 1936, he completed his legal education at the University of Texas School of Law, receiving his Bachelor of Laws degree. During his time in law school, he was a member of the Acacia fraternity.

Following his admission to the bar, Thornberry entered private practice in Austin in 1936, where he practiced law for five years. His career in public service began early, as he was elected to the Texas House of Representatives in 1937, serving in the state legislature until 1941. During this period, he balanced his legislative duties with his legal practice. In 1941, he was appointed district attorney of Travis County, Texas, a position he held until 1942.

When the United States entered World War II, Thornberry joined the military effort, serving in the United States Navy from 1942 to 1946. He attained the rank of Lieutenant Commander during his naval service. After the war concluded, he returned to Austin and resumed private practice from 1946 to 1948. During this immediate postwar period, he also served on the Austin City Council from 1946 to 1948, continuing his involvement in local governance.

In 1948, Thornberry successfully ran for the United States House of Representatives, winning election to represent Texas's 10th congressional district. His victory was particularly notable because he succeeded Lyndon B. Johnson, who had vacated the House seat after winning election to the United States Senate that same year. This connection would prove significant throughout Thornberry's subsequent career. He was elected to the Eighty-First Congress and would serve in the House for fourteen years, from 1949 until his resignation in 1963.

During his congressional tenure, Thornberry developed a reputation as a legislator with a predominantly liberal voting record. Beginning in January 1955, he served on the influential Rules Committee of the House of Representatives, a position he held until his departure from Congress. His civil rights voting record reflected the complex politics of the era: he was among the majority of the Texas congressional delegation who declined to sign the 1956 Southern Manifesto, a document opposing the Supreme Court's desegregation mandate in Brown v. Board of Education. However, his votes on civil rights legislation were mixed; he voted against the Civil Rights Act of 1957 but supported the Civil Rights Act of 1960 and the Twenty-Fourth Amendment to the Constitution, which abolished poll taxes in federal elections.

Thornberry's close relationship with Lyndon Johnson continued during the Kennedy administration. He was present aboard Air Force One on November 22, 1963, following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in Dallas, where he witnessed Johnson taking the presidential oath of office. To assist with the difficult transition, Thornberry and his family moved into the Elms, the Johnson family's former residence in Washington.

Federal appellate service

Thornberry's judicial career began while Kennedy was still president. On July 9, 1963, President Kennedy nominated him to serve as a judge on the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas, filling a vacancy created by the departure of Judge R. Ewing Thomason. The Senate confirmed the nomination on July 15, 1963, though Thornberry did not receive his commission until December 17, 1963, after Johnson had assumed the presidency. His service on the district court was relatively brief, lasting less than two years.

On June 22, 1965, President Johnson nominated Thornberry for elevation to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. The nomination was to fill the seat vacated by Judge Joseph Chappell Hutcheson Jr. The Senate moved quickly on the nomination, confirming Thornberry on July 1, 1965. He received his commission the same day and began his service on the Fifth Circuit, where he would serve for the remainder of his active judicial career.

The Fifth Circuit during Thornberry's tenure was one of the most important federal appellate courts in the nation, handling numerous cases arising from the civil rights struggles in the Deep South. The court played a crucial role in implementing and interpreting the landmark civil rights legislation of the 1960s and the desegregation mandates from the Supreme Court.

In 1968, Thornberry became the subject of national attention when President Johnson nominated him to the Supreme Court. On June 26, 1968, Johnson announced his intention to nominate Thornberry as an Associate Justice, contingent upon the elevation of sitting Associate Justice Abe Fortas to Chief Justice following Earl Warren's planned retirement. The Senate Judiciary Committee conducted hearings on both nominations simultaneously. However, the Fortas nomination encountered significant opposition in the Senate, facing contentious debate on the Senate floor. After several days of debate and with confirmation prospects diminishing, Johnson withdrew the Fortas nomination on October 4, 1968. Because Fortas remained in his position as Associate Justice, the vacancy Thornberry was nominated to fill never materialized, rendering his nomination moot. No further action was taken, and the president withdrew the nomination. This episode represented one of the most notable failed Supreme Court nominations of the twentieth century.

Following the conclusion of the Supreme Court nomination process, Thornberry continued his work on the Fifth Circuit. He served as an active judge until December 21, 1978, when he assumed senior status, a form of semi-retirement that allows federal judges to continue hearing cases with a reduced caseload.

Jurisprudence and legacy

Thornberry served the Fifth Circuit during a transformative period in American law, particularly regarding civil rights and federal jurisdiction. The Fifth Circuit's docket during his active service included numerous significant cases arising from school desegregation, voting rights, and the implementation of federal civil rights statutes throughout the southern states within the circuit's jurisdiction. As a member of this court during the 1960s and 1970s, he participated in the federal judiciary's efforts to enforce constitutional protections and congressional mandates in a region undergoing profound social change.

His background as a congressman who had declined to sign the Southern Manifesto and who had supported some civil rights measures provided context for his judicial service during this era. The Fifth Circuit was frequently at the center of controversy as it issued decisions requiring compliance with desegregation orders and protecting voting rights, making service on the court both consequential and challenging.

Thornberry maintained his senior status on the Fifth Circuit from 1978 until his death, continuing to contribute to the court's work for seventeen years after assuming reduced duties. His lengthy period of senior service allowed him to mentor younger judges and maintain continuity on the court through additional years of legal development.

Outside his judicial work, Thornberry received recognition for his personal background and advocacy. In 1954, while serving in Congress, he received an honorary doctorate degree from Gallaudet University, the nation's premier institution of higher education for deaf and hard-of-hearing students. This honor reflected his lifelong connection to the deaf community through his parents' work and their own experiences.

Thornberry died on December 12, 1995, at his home in Austin, Texas, at the age of eighty-six. His death terminated his federal judicial service, which had spanned more than three decades across two courts. He was interred at the Texas State Cemetery in Austin, a burial ground reserved for notable figures in Texas history. He was first married to Eloise Engle, who died in 1989, and later married Marian Davis. With his first wife, he had three children: Molly, David, and Kate.

His career reflected the interconnected nature of Texas politics and the federal judiciary during the mid-twentieth century, particularly the influence of Lyndon Johnson on judicial appointments and the significance of personal relationships in political advancement. His service on the Fifth Circuit during the civil rights era placed him at the intersection of law and social transformation in the American South.