We are gathered here today to remember and to celebrate the life of
Lewis F. Powell, Jr. Last week Lewis left us and went home to God and to
rejoin his beloved wife, Jo. I was at the Supreme Court in January 1972 to
witness the investiture of Lewis Powell and William Rehnquist. I met the
Powells at the reception following, but little did I dream then that I would
know Lewis Powell as a colleague on the Supreme Court nine years later.
Justice Powell was the ninety-ninth Justice to serve on the Supreme
Court and perhaps the most reluctant. It is reported that, on the day in January
1972 when Lewis was sworn in, Nan Rehnquist asked Justice Powell's wife,
Jo, if it wasn't the most exciting day of her life. Jo reportedly said, "No, it is the worst day of my life. I am about to cry." Lewis Powell had turned down
an appointment to the Court in 1969 and was prepared to do so again in 1972.
Luckily for the Court and the Nation, he finally agreed to accept the nomination
when President Nixon convinced him it was his duty to his country to
do so.
His family dates back to Thomas Powell who came to the James River
area of Virginia from England in 1635. Lewis was born in Suffolk, Virginia,
but lived most of his life in Richmond. He was an able student and a good
athlete – playing basketball and baseball. He learned how to shoot and
enjoyed hunting. He also learned as a youngster the demanding nature of life
on a farm – his father bought a milk cow named Mollie. Lewis was directed
to feed her, take care of her, and milk her. Anyone who has done that knows
there is never a day off. Lewis said one of his happiest days was some years
later when he went out to the barn and "found the damn cow dead."
He attended college and law school at Washington and Lee University
in Lexington, Virginia. He quickly demonstrated his leadership qualities –
president of his fraternity, managing editor of the student newspaper, student
body president. He graduated first in his class from law school, then did a
postgraduate year at Harvard.
Lewis returned to Richmond to practice law and after a couple of years
joined the law firm of Hunton & Williams, at the handsome salary of fifty
dollars per month. Soon after, he married Jo Rucker- a beautiful and talented
graduate of Sweet Briar. It was a marriage made in heaven, as they say. One
that remained joyous and loving for over sixty years. They had four wonderful
children – Jody, Penny, Lewis, III, and Molly. Nine grandchildren, and
one great grandchild.
He volunteered in the Army Air Force in 1941. He served in North
Africa, Sicily, and England. Eventually he was assigned to military intelligence
and served as a representative in the most sensitive and top secret
intelligence group known as ULTRA. In the military service, he made a very
important contribution to the victory of the allies, and it was a significant part
of his life.
After the War, he returned to Hunton & Williams. He represented some
important clients, including Colonial Williamsburg.
Qualities of leadership emerged again at once – within his law firm, the
House of Delegates of the American Bar Association, and as chairman of the
Richmond School Board. In that capacity, he served on the board during the
years immediately following the Supreme Court's decision in Brown v. Board
of Education, keeping the public schools open. Later he served on the Virginia
State Board of Education. He supported reform of the curriculum, and
he strongly opposed those who were proposing massive resistance to the
desegregation of the public schools.
He became president of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation and, in
1964, president of the American Bar Association.
He served on the Supreme Court of the United States from 1972 to June
1987. He wrote more than 500 opinions, many very significant. It was a great
privilege to serve on the Court with him for six full years. No one did more
than Lewis Powell to help me get settled as a new Justice. He found us a
place to live. He allowed me to hire one of his two secretaries as my
chamber's secretary. Most important-he was willing to talk about cases and
the issues. His door was always open. I miss those visits and discussions still
today.
He was very hard working. He went over every detail. He was concerned
in every case about the equity at the bottom line- about reaching a fair
and just result. He brought a lifetime of experience as a lawyer and as a
leader. He was enormously kind and thoughtful. But underneath that kind
and gentlemanly exterior was a firmness and resolve. He would hold his
ground when he decided on a course of action.
Despite the hard work, Lewis and Jo would occasionally attend social
functions with their friends. Lewis was an excellent dancer and I had the
privilege of dancing with him several times. Lewis once asked me to speak
at a meeting of the Richmond Bar Association. He introduced me and I still
remember when he said, "Now on my tombstone it will say 'here lies the first
Supreme Court Justice to dance with another Justice."'
Many of you may have read his wonderful biography by a former clerk,
John Jeffries. As I read it I was struck by how Lewis Powell has followed
General Robert E. Lee's precept:
Do your duty in all things. You cannot do more. You should never do
less.
As another observer of Lewis Powell said:
For those who seek a perspective grounded in realism and leavened by
decency, conscientious in detail and magnanimous in spirit, solicitous of
personal dignity and protective of the public trust, there will never be a
better Justice.
I would add:
For those who seek a model of human kindness, decency, exemplary
behaviour and integrity, there will never be a better man.