Book Review: The Family Letters of Louis D. Brandeis

• Author: Jennifer Byrne
• DOI: 10.1177/0734016805275700
• Published date: 01 May 2005
• Date: 01 May 2005
• Subject Matter: Articles

The Family Letters of Louis D. Brandeis, edited by Melvin I. Urofsky and David W. Levy.

Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2002, 583 pp.

DOI: 10.1177/0734016805275700

Throughout the years, there has been much interest in the life and work of former Supreme

Court Justice Louis Dembitz Brandeis. Brandeis, who faced a controversial nomination hear-

ing, used his powers from the bench to further his Progressive agenda and became famousfor

his decisions that championed the rights of the people. A man ahead of his time, he was often

labeled a radical but nonetheless had tremendous success as a lawyer in his effortsto combat

special interests. Arguably, even his adversaries greatly respected Brandeis, but his political

leanings and Jewish background rendered him somewhat of an outsider.Furthermore, his pri-

vate, stoic nature kept his inner world hidden from the public and consequently may have

obfuscated his true endearing nature. Through a careful selection and compilation of his most

personal letters, Urofsky and Levy havedelicately yet decisively penetrated the private world

of Louis D. Brandeis.

In the introduction, the authors note that there are two particular reasons that this volume

adds to the previous work on Brandeis. First, the authors contend that these letters will show

how Brandeis played a prominent role in the creation of national policy, particularly during

the presidency of WoodrowWilson. The letters demonstrate how Brandeis actively and regu-

larly gave advice on policy to members of Congress. This includes instances such as the time

he wrote to his wife, Alice Goldmark Brandeis, of his discussions with Congressman Sims,

who sat on the Committee of Interstate of Foreign Commerce (p. 234) and a summons to the

Department of Justice to meet with the Attorney General (p. 240). He speaks of numerous

meetings, both social and professional in nature, with Senator La Follette. Brandeis person-

ally encouraged the senator to find ways to sustain his weekly magazine when its existence

was subject to financial difficulties. In addition, the two men often discussed matters of the

Progressive agenda that was so important to their goals, such as Senator La Follette’s objec-

tions to the Currency Bill. He spoke daily in his correspondence with Alice of such things as

the difficulties that President Wilson sometimes encountered with Congress, meetings with

prominent lawyers and government officials, and even his stroll with the newly appointed

Ambassador of Belgium. It is overwhelming to the reader to find that virtually every person

who had any role in national policy formation at the time had some contact with Brandeis and

that many regularly sought and accepted his guidance.

The second goal of the authors is to show a side of Brandeis that until now has not been vis-

ible to the public. In this volume, many of the letters are more intimate in tone and content and

thus more revealing of Brandeis’s lifeoutside of his goals and commitments in Washington.

As Urofsky and Levy note, the letters in this volume were not previously available to schol-

ars, and the letters donated by Elizabeth Raushenbush are particularly useful in illustrating

the close bond that Brandeis maintained with his father and his brother, Alfred. The letters

included in this volume also suggest a very strong and cherished relationship with his wife,

Alice. The letters early in their courtship present to the reader the emotions of a man in love,

which is useful in helping to see past the reserved, stoic image one might observe in his letters

to Felix Frankfurter or the letters surrounding his nomination controversy. He wrote to Alice

daily and told her all the details of his day, even that his dress clothes need to be aired out (p.

267). These little idiosyncrasies reveal the human side of such an accomplished man, and it is

intriguing to find them amidst his discussion of the most salient issues of his time.

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