I see one-third of a nation, ill-housed, ill-clad, ill-nourished. It is not in despair that I paint

you that picture, I paint it for you in hope, because the nation, seeing and understanding

the injustice in it, proposes to paint it out.

The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much.

It is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt, second inaugural address.

Welcome to the history of the 20th century.

The 20th century. Episode 310, A Switch in Time.

The last time we considered Franklin Roosevelt and American politics was in episode 297,

when we took note of Roosevelt's historic re-election and his remarkable popularity. He was sworn into office for

his second term on January 20, 1937, making him both the last president to be sworn in under the old

timetable and the first to be sworn in under the new.

Roosevelt's first term in office had been nothing short of revolutionary, and the America of 37 was different in many ways from the America that had sworn in Roosevelt not quite four years

earlier.

America had changed, and American government was radically different,

operating in ways never seen before.

There was one part of the American government, though, that was not radically different.

One part that had hardly changed at all.

I am referring to the United States Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court that attended Roosevelt's second inaugural was exactly the same nine men who had sat on the day of Roosevelt's

first inaugural. Let's review, shall we? The court's senior justice, 77-year-old Willis van

Devanter, had been appointed by William Howard Taft back in 1911.

...