page_title: Pierce Butler (justice)
section_title: Nomination and confirmation
hierarchical_section_title: Pierce Butler (justice) / Nomination and confirmation
caption_attribution_description: English: Justice Pierce Butler circa 1924
context_page_description: Pierce Butler was an American jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1923 until his death in 1939. He is notable for being the first Supreme Court Justice to hail from the state of Minnesota, and for being a Democrat appointed by a Republican president, Warren G. Harding.
context_section_description: Although he was supported by Chief Justice and former President William Howard Taft, Butler's opposition to "radical" and "disloyal" professors at the University of Minnesota (where he had served on the Board of Regents) made him a controversial Supreme Court nominee when proposed by Republican President Warren Harding. The Senator-elect Henrik Shipstead of his home state opposed him, as did the Progressive Senator Robert M. La Follette of Wisconsin.  Also against his confirmation were labor activists, some liberal magazines (The New Republic and The Nation) and the Ku Klux Klan because he was Catholic. However, with the support of prominent Roman Catholics, fellow lawyers (the Minnesota State Bar Association strongly endorsed him), and business groups (especially railroad companies), as well as Minnesota's other senator Knute Nelson, Butler was confirmed on Dec 21, 1922, by a margin of 61 to 8.  The Senators who voted against him were five Democrats (Walter F. George, William J. Harris, J. Thomas Heflin, Morris Sheppard, and Park Trammell) and three Republicans (Robert M. La Follette Sr., Peter Norbeck, and George W. Norris).  He took his seat on the Court on January 2, 1923.
caption: Justice Butler circa 1924
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