Vinson, Frederick Moore

(1890-1953)

   Born in Louisa, Kentucky, Fred Vinson graduated from Center College, Danville, in 1911 and became a lawyer and city attorney in his hometown. After briefly serving in the army during World War I, he returned to law but was elected to the House of Representatives as a Democrat in 1924. Although he lost the election in 1928, he was reelected in 1930 and served until 1937. While in Congress, Vinson became a close friend and associate of Harry S. Truman. In 1937, he was appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals on the Washington, D.C., circuit.

   Vinson held a number of positions during World War II, including director of the Office of Economic Stabilization in 1943 and director of War Mobilization and Reconversion in 1945. After the war, President Truman appointed him secretary of the treasury, where he was responsible for supervising the repayment of lend-lease loans, and took part in the meetings at the Bretton Woods Conference that led to the creation of the International Monetary Fund. In 1946, Truman made him chief justice on the Supreme Court as a compromise between choosing either Robert Jackson or Hugo Black. As a result, Vinson had the task of trying to bring together opposing factions in the court, and he was not very successful. His court was associated with upholding various internal security measures, including the Smith Act in Dennis v. United States in 1951, and failing to hear the appeal of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg. None of his decisions were particularly memorable, but he was sympathetic toward civil rights issues relating to African Americans and wrote the opinion in Shelley v. Kraemer in 1948. Vinson died while in office.