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The Man Who Once Was Whizzer White: A Portrait Of Justice Byron R White
Profiles the college football star who became the highest paid rookie in professional football, a World War II hero, and one of the Supreme Court's longest-serving justices
- GenresNonfictionLawBiography
592 pages, Hardcover
First published July 12, 1998
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128 people want to read
About the author
Dennis J. Hutchinson
27 books15 followersDennis Hutchinson is the Sr. Lect. in Law and William Rainey Harper Professor in the College, Master of the New Collegiate Division, and Assoc. Dean of the College at The University of Chicago Law School.
Following his graduation summa cum laude from Bowdoin College, Dennis Hutchinson attended the Law School for one year, then obtained law degrees from Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes scholar, and from the University of Texas at Austin. He then served consecutively as law clerk to the Hon. Elbert Parr Tuttle of the (then) Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals and Justice Byron R. White and Justice William O. Douglas of the Supreme Court of the United States. He began teaching in 1976, and since then has taught at the Georgetown University Law Center and at Cornell Law School as well as in the College and the Law School. He is also associated with the Department of History and with the Committee on Analysis of Ideas and Study of Methods and chairs the College concentration program Law, Letters, and Society.
Mr. Hutchinson has taught contracts, constitutional law, elements, and legal history, which is his principal field of inquiry; his most recent work is The Forgotten Memoir of John Knox (edited with David J. Garrow). His book, The Man Who Once Was Whizzer White: A Portrait of Justice Byron R. White was a New York Times Notable Book for 1998. Since 1981, he has edited the Supreme Court Review.
Education:
AB, 1969, Bowdoin College; LLM, 1974, University of Texas at Austin; MA, 1977, Oxford University.
Following his graduation summa cum laude from Bowdoin College, Dennis Hutchinson attended the Law School for one year, then obtained law degrees from Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes scholar, and from the University of Texas at Austin. He then served consecutively as law clerk to the Hon. Elbert Parr Tuttle of the (then) Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals and Justice Byron R. White and Justice William O. Douglas of the Supreme Court of the United States. He began teaching in 1976, and since then has taught at the Georgetown University Law Center and at Cornell Law School as well as in the College and the Law School. He is also associated with the Department of History and with the Committee on Analysis of Ideas and Study of Methods and chairs the College concentration program Law, Letters, and Society.
Mr. Hutchinson has taught contracts, constitutional law, elements, and legal history, which is his principal field of inquiry; his most recent work is The Forgotten Memoir of John Knox (edited with David J. Garrow). His book, The Man Who Once Was Whizzer White: A Portrait of Justice Byron R. White was a New York Times Notable Book for 1998. Since 1981, he has edited the Supreme Court Review.
Education:
AB, 1969, Bowdoin College; LLM, 1974, University of Texas at Austin; MA, 1977, Oxford University.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
April 9, 2013
This has a lot of good factual details about White's college and professional football career, time spent on his Rhodes scholarship, and time spent in the armed services.
But the Supreme Court career starts about three-quarters of the way in.
Despite the author's repeated suggestions that White is not just a cryptic guy there are an awful lot of unanswered questions, as this book does not really uncover too much about White's inner life and (probably) wisely chooses not to speculate. Just about the only things we learn are that White hates the media because of how they treated him in college, is very private, and was probably a Democrat because he grew up working hard on his sugar beet farm during the depression.
But here are some questions that I think the reader of a biography would want to know:
* What was White's relationship like with his parents?
* What was White's relationship like with his wife and children?
* What made White and RFK such good friends?
* What did White think about his Supreme Court colleagues?
* What did White think about his job as a Justice?
* What were White's goals as a Justice?
* What did White consider important when picking district and appellate judges in the Justice Department?
* Why and when did White become committed to desegregation?
* White was driven to achieve in athletics and get a Rhodes scholarship to imitate his brother Sam. Why did he continue to work so hard throughout the rest of his life? What drove him?
White really comes across as a cipher who is able to make his way through life by force of athletic and academic achievement rather than character or interpersonal skills, but the author seems to want to disagree with his own depiction.
But the Supreme Court career starts about three-quarters of the way in.
Despite the author's repeated suggestions that White is not just a cryptic guy there are an awful lot of unanswered questions, as this book does not really uncover too much about White's inner life and (probably) wisely chooses not to speculate. Just about the only things we learn are that White hates the media because of how they treated him in college, is very private, and was probably a Democrat because he grew up working hard on his sugar beet farm during the depression.
But here are some questions that I think the reader of a biography would want to know:
* What was White's relationship like with his parents?
* What was White's relationship like with his wife and children?
* What made White and RFK such good friends?
* What did White think about his Supreme Court colleagues?
* What did White think about his job as a Justice?
* What were White's goals as a Justice?
* What did White consider important when picking district and appellate judges in the Justice Department?
* Why and when did White become committed to desegregation?
* White was driven to achieve in athletics and get a Rhodes scholarship to imitate his brother Sam. Why did he continue to work so hard throughout the rest of his life? What drove him?
White really comes across as a cipher who is able to make his way through life by force of athletic and academic achievement rather than character or interpersonal skills, but the author seems to want to disagree with his own depiction.
April 2, 2020
The only man who played in the NFL and served on the Supreme Court, Byron R. White surprised a
lot of people when he went to the Supreme Court. Especially since he was one of two appointments
made by John F. Kennedy.
White (1917-2002) was born to a lower middle class family in Fort Collins, Colorado and was a star
athlete in high school in basketball, baseball, and football. But it was in football as a running back
that he got greatest acclaim becoming an All American. During the 30s before Pearl Harbor White
crowded in pro-football, Yale Law School and a year at Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar. In Great Britain
White became friends with the touch football playing Kennedy family including Ambassador Joe
Kennedy's son John.
White crossed paths with JFK in the war when he wrote the report praising his actions in the sinking
of the PT 109. After finishing law school post WW2 White clerked for Chief Justice Fred Vinson
and then went into private practice in Denver. He got active in the Democratic party and helped
deliver the state for JFK at the 1960 Democratic convention.
All this earned him the position of Deputy Attorney General under Robert F. Kennedy. Come 1962
President Kennedy made both of his Supreme Court appointments and the first one was Byron R.
White.
White's record on the court was a mixed bag. He could never be pinned down ideologically, but
he was a believer in judicial restraint. He supported police powers in nearly every case that was
an issue. He wrote a controversial opinion in the Bowers vs. Hardwick case sayng LGBT people
have no inherent right to their sexuality and an equally controversial dissent in Roe vs. Wade
saying that abortion was not an inherent right for women. He did support a right to purchase
contraception.
He was a strange and private man. He detested the nickname of Whizzer tagged on him by sportswriters in his college days. White notoriously would not give interviews or participate in
oral histories. If you wanted to know him you had 30+ years of judicial opinions to study.
This biography could have only come from one who served as White's law clerk for many years.
For better or worse this is an official view of Whizzer White.
lot of people when he went to the Supreme Court. Especially since he was one of two appointments
made by John F. Kennedy.
White (1917-2002) was born to a lower middle class family in Fort Collins, Colorado and was a star
athlete in high school in basketball, baseball, and football. But it was in football as a running back
that he got greatest acclaim becoming an All American. During the 30s before Pearl Harbor White
crowded in pro-football, Yale Law School and a year at Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar. In Great Britain
White became friends with the touch football playing Kennedy family including Ambassador Joe
Kennedy's son John.
White crossed paths with JFK in the war when he wrote the report praising his actions in the sinking
of the PT 109. After finishing law school post WW2 White clerked for Chief Justice Fred Vinson
and then went into private practice in Denver. He got active in the Democratic party and helped
deliver the state for JFK at the 1960 Democratic convention.
All this earned him the position of Deputy Attorney General under Robert F. Kennedy. Come 1962
President Kennedy made both of his Supreme Court appointments and the first one was Byron R.
White.
White's record on the court was a mixed bag. He could never be pinned down ideologically, but
he was a believer in judicial restraint. He supported police powers in nearly every case that was
an issue. He wrote a controversial opinion in the Bowers vs. Hardwick case sayng LGBT people
have no inherent right to their sexuality and an equally controversial dissent in Roe vs. Wade
saying that abortion was not an inherent right for women. He did support a right to purchase
contraception.
He was a strange and private man. He detested the nickname of Whizzer tagged on him by sportswriters in his college days. White notoriously would not give interviews or participate in
oral histories. If you wanted to know him you had 30+ years of judicial opinions to study.
This biography could have only come from one who served as White's law clerk for many years.
For better or worse this is an official view of Whizzer White.
July 5, 2020
Byron White was a remarkable individual. Born in rural Colorado, attended the University of Colorado where he was a standout student and athlete, Rhodes scholar, professional football player, naval intelligence officer during World War II, assistant Attorney General under RFK, and, finally, Associate Supreme Court Justice.
This book tells his story. The professional aspects of it, anyway. We learn a lot about what the man did, but almost nothing of the man himself. There are not more than a couple of sentences in the book about his wife and children. I assume this was due primarily to his private nature.
The book is broken into four parts: Colorado, Graduate Work, Law and Politics, and The Supreme Court. I thought the first three parts were excellent but had difficulty with the fourth. This fourth part concentrated on three individual terms of his service: 1971, 1981, and 1991. Notable cases are discussed, focusing on White's contributions. I found these parts somewhat confusing.
Very few of the cases cited were known to me (in contrast to the biography I read of Earl Warren, where I had heard of all the cases). I don't think that White's tenure saw fewer important cases than Warren's, so I can only conclude that White's contributions to the landmark cases were minor and that the cases chosen by the author are intended to showcase White's impact and judicial philosophy. Perhaps these chapters are weak because White destroyed many of his papers when he stepped down from the bench. The penultimate chapter does a good job summarizing White's thinking, I guess, at least in comparison to the preceding chapters.
This book tells his story. The professional aspects of it, anyway. We learn a lot about what the man did, but almost nothing of the man himself. There are not more than a couple of sentences in the book about his wife and children. I assume this was due primarily to his private nature.
The book is broken into four parts: Colorado, Graduate Work, Law and Politics, and The Supreme Court. I thought the first three parts were excellent but had difficulty with the fourth. This fourth part concentrated on three individual terms of his service: 1971, 1981, and 1991. Notable cases are discussed, focusing on White's contributions. I found these parts somewhat confusing.
Very few of the cases cited were known to me (in contrast to the biography I read of Earl Warren, where I had heard of all the cases). I don't think that White's tenure saw fewer important cases than Warren's, so I can only conclude that White's contributions to the landmark cases were minor and that the cases chosen by the author are intended to showcase White's impact and judicial philosophy. Perhaps these chapters are weak because White destroyed many of his papers when he stepped down from the bench. The penultimate chapter does a good job summarizing White's thinking, I guess, at least in comparison to the preceding chapters.
January 11, 2022
Among the roughly dozen or so biographies I’ve read of Justices over the years, this is the best one yet. Deeply researched, fairly presented, and well developed, the biography is very comprehensive and avoids the People magazine style of reporting court cases.
There is comprehensive coverage of his time prior to his Supreme Court appointment, specifically his college football career, brief stint in the NFL, brief time at Oxford, and his service during WWII, and then time in the Kennedy administration, including his role in securing safe passage of the freedom riders in Alabama.
Initially, I was skeptical as to how comprehensive this book would be (despite its length) as, at the time it was written, the Blackmun and White papers weren’t available and White himself wasn’t supportive of this project. Frankly, this was where the O’Connor, Scalia, and Roberts lacked.
But, the author conducted a significant amount of interviews, including over 50 White clerks, providing fairly rich insight. Would be interesting to have an afterward with the benefit of the Blackmun papers. The author indicates the White papers will likely bear little fruit as they’re only expected to contain copies of published opinions and little correspondence.
There is comprehensive coverage of his time prior to his Supreme Court appointment, specifically his college football career, brief stint in the NFL, brief time at Oxford, and his service during WWII, and then time in the Kennedy administration, including his role in securing safe passage of the freedom riders in Alabama.
Initially, I was skeptical as to how comprehensive this book would be (despite its length) as, at the time it was written, the Blackmun and White papers weren’t available and White himself wasn’t supportive of this project. Frankly, this was where the O’Connor, Scalia, and Roberts lacked.
But, the author conducted a significant amount of interviews, including over 50 White clerks, providing fairly rich insight. Would be interesting to have an afterward with the benefit of the Blackmun papers. The author indicates the White papers will likely bear little fruit as they’re only expected to contain copies of published opinions and little correspondence.
November 21, 2023
A revealing biography of Justice Byron (seldom say "Whizzer") White and his personal non-philosophical judicial philosophy. I might quibble with him about the role of the Constitution and its framers, but would agree that his working lawyers approach has probably caused less damage than the conservatives and their considered, if erroneous, philosophy.
October 11, 2011
Hutchinson teaches law at the University of Chicago School of Law and was a law clerk for Justice White on the Supreme Court. Appointed by President Kennedy who was his friend from the Navy, Justice White had a full life and, although White was initially reluctant to be the subject of a biography, Hutchinson rightly believed that the Justice's story needed to be told. White did not begin life in the privileged classes but applied himself to the tasks ahead and attained greatness. As Whizzer White, he played professional football. But he also received high marks in his educational pursuits and in the Law.
I came away viewing Justice White as an American patriot and a good role-model. This is an outstanding book.
I came away viewing Justice White as an American patriot and a good role-model. This is an outstanding book.
August 25, 2013
A serious, evenhanded biography of an extraordinary (and extraordinarily diffident) man as written by one of his former clerks. The portrait of White that emerges from this account is not unlike that of the ancient Roman general who returned from a victorious campaign to a tiny hut where he subsisted on boiled turnips. Hutchinson finds order in White's discordant judicial opinions, self-effacing attitude toward his athletic past, and disdain for self-promotion. Although not in the same league as Gunther's biography of Learned Hand, this is another work that challenges Richard Posner's claims about the relative worthlessness of long-form studies of the lives of great judges.
June 9, 2014
Decent book... but it can't be right on pages 439 and 440 when it says White spoke at the 8th Circuit judicial conference in Colorado Springs. It should be the 10th Circuit.
November 18, 2025
Solid prose. Interesting story. Unfortunately White was so private that the book doesn’t offer many insights.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews