Today in 1833, the birthday of Melville Fuller, who would eventually become Chief Justice of the United States – but not before the country asked the all-important question, can a member of the US Supreme Court be fair and objective if he has a mustache?
This all happened in 1888, after the passing of Chief Justice Morrison Waite.
Then-President Grover Cleveland chose Fuller, a high-powered Chicago lawyer, to be Waite’s successor.
The newspapers all wrote about how Fuller was honest, capable, and well-liked.
The Chicago Tribune noted that, other than pure political objections, the only really negative note anyone had sounded about the nominee was that he had a big, bushy mustache.
It wasn’t Fuller’s specific mustache that drew objections; even critics said that he wouldn’t look nearly as distinguished if he shaved it off.
But up to that point, no Chief Justice had ever worn a mustache.
All but one had been clean-shaven, and the exception, Morrison Waite, had a beard only.
Critics didn’t like the high court breaking this precedent, even if it was just a precedent around upper lip hair.
The Leavenworth Standard newspaper wrote “It is possible that the senate will want an understanding with Mr. Fuller about this mustache business before his name is taken up for confirmation.”
Another paper suggested that lawyers who came to argue before the court might get distracted by the facial hair!
To paraphrase one observer, this didn’t sway the outcome a hair; the Senate confirmed Fuller handily, though the debate over the propriety of a mustachioed Chief Justice continued for years.
If you’re wondering, didn’t anyone ever care about his work on the Court?
Yes: Fuller hasn’t had the best historical reputation, in large part because he was part of the majority in the Plessy v. Ferguson decision that allowed segregation so long as it was “separate but equal.”
But the mustache never lost its cachet.
This Saturday in Devils Lake, North Dakota, it’s ShiverFest.
Lots of outdoor winter goings-on, including skiing, ice skating, sledding and pond hockey.
Then everybody warms up with hot cocoa and marshmallows, or burgers, or fireworks.
Or all of the above!
Chief Justice Melville Weston Fuller and the Great Mustache Debate of 1888 (W&L Law Scholarly Commons)
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Photo by Harris & Ewing, via Wikicommons