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Pierce Butler (1866-1939) was a Supreme Court Justice.  Appointed by conservative President Warren G. Harding, Butler served on the U.S. Supreme Court from 1923 to 1939.  He was a conservative Democrat picked by a Republican, and was opposed by liberals at the time.

Pierce Butler (1866-1939) was a Supreme Court Justice.  Appointed by conservative President [[Warren G. Harding]], Butler served on the U.S. Supreme Court from 1923 to 1939.  He was a conservative Democrat picked by a Republican, and was opposed by liberals at the time.{{fact}}

Appointed by President Warren Harding, Pierce Butler became one of the so-called "Four Horsemen" who repeatedly invalidated portions of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal. The unwillingness of Justice Butler and the others to capitulate to the President's desires led Roosevelt in 1937 to propose his ill-fated plan to pack the Court with additional justices sympathetic to his agenda. He never fully recovered from the intensively negative reaction of both parties in rejecting his scheme.

Butler became one of the so-called "Four Horsemen" who repeatedly invalidated portions of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal. The unwillingness of Justice Butler and the others to capitulate to the President's desires led Roosevelt in 1937 to propose his ill-fated plan to pack the Court with additional justices sympathetic to his agenda. He never fully recovered from the intensively negative reaction of both parties in rejecting his scheme.{{fact}}

Perhaps intimidated, several of the Four Horsemen soon retired, enabling President Roosevelt to replace them and attain the judicial majority he sought. But Pierce Butler did not give his seat to President Roosevelt voluntarily: Butler served until his death in 1939.

Perhaps intimidated, several of the Four Horsemen soon retired, enabling President Roosevelt to replace them and attain the judicial majority he sought. But Butler did not give his seat to President Roosevelt voluntarily: Butler served until his death in 1939.

Justice Butler's dissent from the famous wiretapping case of Olmstead v. United States, 277 U.S. 438 (1928) [http://supreme.justia.com/us/277/438/case.html opinion] demonstrated his insight and provides a unique opportunity to compare him with the more liberal Justices Oliver Wendell Holmes with Louis Brandeis.  

Justice Butler's dissent from the famous wiretapping case of Olmstead v. United States, 277 U.S. 438 (1928) [http://supreme.justia.com/us/277/438/case.html opinion] demonstrated his insight and provides a unique opportunity to compare him with the more liberal Justices Oliver Wendell Holmes with Louis Brandeis.