William DeWi! Mitchell The Other William Mitchell thomas h. boyd and douglas r. heidenreich itchell Hamline School of Law in St. Paul Mis named for the Honorable William Bell Mitchell, an associate justice on the Minnesota Supreme Court who earned a national reputa- tion in the late nineteenth century as one of the country’s foremost jurists.¹ But there was an- other William Mitchell of significant stature— namely, Justice Mitchell’s son, William DeWi4 Mitchell—who served as solicitor general in President Calvin Coolidge’s administration and a4orney general in President Herbert Hoover’s administration. Known as one of the most ac- complished and respected lawyers of his day, he rivals his father in terms of his stature and con- tributions on a national level. Like his father, he deserves recognition and respect for his ex- traordinary career. William Bell Mitchell, the bewhiskered family patriarch and future Minnesota Supreme Court Justice, is surrounded by members of his extended family, including his son, William DeWitt Mitchell, the lad wearing the cap. Front row (L-R): Jenny Mitchell Staples, Two unnamed girls Boyhood and Early Years (daughters of Mary Mitchell Ewing), Billy Ewing (son of Judge Nathaniel Ewing), and Jessie William DeWi4 Mitchell was born September 9, Mitchell Hancock. Middle row (L-R): Helen Hancock Hardy, Frank Ames Hancock, Mary Mitchell Ewing, Judge William Mitchell, Unnamed daughter of Mary Mitchell Ewing, Kenneth Ewing. Back 1874. He grew up at 72 Main Street² in Winona, row (L-R): Judge Nathaniel Ewing, William Dewitt Mitchell. Courtesy of Mitchell Hamline School of Minnesota, near the Mississippi River, where he Law Archives. loved to hunt and fish. He was an excellent stu- dent and a4ended public schools before a4end- American War. He served as a second lieutenant ing The Lawrenceville School in New Jersey. in the Fi8eenth Minnesota Volunteer Infantry He spent two years at Yale University in the from 1898-1899 and then as a captain and ad- Sheffield Scientific School, studying to be an jutant of the Fourth Regiment of the Minnesota electrical engineer. Despite excelling in mathe- National Guard.⁴,⁵ matics and science, Mitchell decided to become A8er his father, Justice Mitchell, lost reelec- a lawyer and transferred to the University of tion to the Minnesota Supreme Court in 1898, Minnesota. He took his undergraduate courses the pair formed the law office of Mitchell & during the day and a4ended law classes at night. Mitchell. The firm was short lived, however, The registrar objected that Mitchell could work when Justice Mitchell died. Young Mitchell then on both simultaneously but relented when the joined Timothy R. Palmer and Joseph H. Beek ambitious young man proved he was making to form Palmer, Beek & Mitchell, but before the grades. Mitchell earned his bachelor’s de- long, Palmer le8 for the Minnesota Mutual Life gree in 1895 and a law degree a year later.³ Insurance Company, and Beek went into busi- ness elsewhere.⁶ Next, the lawyer joined Jared Early Law Practice and Service How and Carl Taylor at How, Taylor & Mitchell. Following law school, Mitchell clerked for Taylor was the former corporation counsel for Stringer & Seymour law firm in St. Paul before the City of St. Paul. In 1905, he moved to New enlisting in the US Army during the Spanish- York City to practice law. There, several years RAMSEY COUNTY HISTORY • 1 later, Taylor and Mitchell would join forces it known that the only federal post in which again.⁷ That same year, Pierce Butler, a future he was truly interested was that of US solicitor Supreme Court associate justice, resigned his general. Yet as a Democrat, he could not have position as general counsel for the Omaha Rail- seriously expected to receive such a plum ap- road Company and returned to private practice pointment in a Republican administration. with his former partner, How. The law firm of Nonetheless, when there was a vacancy at How, Butler & Mitchell prospered. the post, Mitchell’s friends and admirers went Mitchell earned a reputation as an outstand- to work on his behalf. Judge Sanborn told A4or- ing a4orney sought for his intellect and skill as ney General Sargent that Mitchell was “the a dra8er. His clients included members of the ablest lawyer with whom I have ever come in William DeWitt Mitchell James J. Hill family, whose famously ill-fated contact.”¹⁹ The highly regarded Walter H. San- served as a second estate planning was due in no way to Mitchell’s born²⁰ wrote President Coolidge to endorse lieutenant in Company B of the Fifteenth efforts in dra8ing wills that were never signed⁸ Mitchell whom he described as “endowed with Minnesota regiment in and trust agreements that resulted in disputes a calm, clear, logical mind of extraordinary 1898. Photograph by J.M. motivated by the size of the trust corpus rather power . .”²¹ The entire Minnesota Supreme Kuhn. Courtesy of Ramsey County Historical Society. than ambiguities in the wri4en instruments.⁹,¹⁰ Court also heartily endorsed Mitchell, and Min- Mitchell truly was a “lawyer’s lawyer,” and when nesotans in Washington, D.C., including Sec- Frank B. Kellogg¹¹ needed legal advice, he is said retary of State Kellogg and Justice Butler, used to have declared, “Let’s Ask Billy Mitchell.”¹² their influence with the Coolidge Administra- During World War I, Mitchell served as the tion, as did Thomas Schall, Minnesota’s Repub- ranking officer of the First Ba4alion of the Min- lican senator. nesota Home Guard.¹³ In December 1917, the In 1925, President Coolidge appointed Mitch- ba4alion mobilized at the St. Paul Armory three ell to the post. Years later, Mitchell recalled a times in connection with striking employees of dinner at the White House when he first arrived the Twin City Rapid Transit Company.¹⁴ The in the capital city. The famously taciturn presi- First Ba4alion intervened a8er violence broke dent had only two things to say during their out during a labor demonstration on Decem- meal: “Chicken again” and “I understand the So- ber 2.¹⁵ Now a major, Mitchell was credited with licitor General has no time to make speeches.”²² restoring order through the deployment of the Mitchell declared his representation of the troops without firing a shot.¹⁶ Federal District federal government would be limited to only Judge John B. Sanborn, Jr., later wrote to US At- those cases in which he was satisfied that the torney General John G. Sargent that “[t]he city government’s position was “just.” Mitchell and county authorities were unable to cope with was true to his word. There were thirty-four the situation [and Mitchell] was called upon, in occasions when either he or his staff advised effect to police the city of St. Paul, and he did the the Supreme Court that the lower courts had work in an admirable way, showing great ability erred in rendering decisions in favor of the as an organizer.”¹⁷ Mitchell served as a colonel government.²³ for the Minnesota National Guard through the Mitchell stated, “The purpose of the De- remainder of World War I. partment of Justice is not merely to win. In this respect, the position of the Government differs Solicitor General from that of most litigants. The Government is When President Warren Harding nominated usually litigating with its own people. It cannot Pierce Butler as associate justice for the US Su- afford to win at the expense of justice; it can preme Court, Butler is said to have exclaimed, only win when justice is done.”²⁴ Years later at “Billie Mitchell, not I, should be named.”¹⁸ the dedication of the new Department of Jus- While it is hard to believe that Butler did not tice Building in 1933, Mitchell stated his guid- consider himself the best choice for the court, ing principle as solicitor general, and then as the story certainly reflects the high regard in a4orney general: “In any case, whether judg- which Mitchell was held. ment is for or against the Government, the Some suggested Mitchell be appointed to the United States wins if justice is done to one of federal appellate court. However, Mitchell made its citizens.”²⁵ 2 • RAMSEY COUNTY HISTORY Mitchell’s office represented the federal gov- Since Mitchell’s distin- guished service from ernment in several search and seizure cases, 1925 to 1929, the post including Olmstead v. United States, which of solicitor general has challenged the constitutionality of warrantless been held by many fine attorneys, including wiretapping.²⁶ The defendant was charged with Charles Evans Hughes, Jr., violating the federal Prohibition laws. Primary (1929-30), Robert H. responsibility for presenting the government’s Jackson (1938-40), Archibald Cox, Jr., position fell to the renowned Mabel Walker (1961-65), Thurgood Willebrandt, the assistant a4orney general who Marshall (1965-67), and Elena Kagan (2009-10). oversaw enforcement of the Volstead Act and the Courtesy of Minnesota Eighteenth Amendment. Willebrandt declined Historical Society. to participate in the ‘whispering wires” case be- cause she believed wiretapping was a dangerous invasion of privacy.²⁷ Mitchell recruited his for- mer law partner Michael J. Doherty to present Attorney General the case.²⁸ While the government prevailed, Mitchell had every intention of leaving Wash- four justices wrote separate dissents, including ington and returning to private practice in 1929 Pierce Butler. Justice Louis Brandeis’ dissent at the end of the Coolidge administration. It was carried the day when Olmstead was overturned expected that President Hoover would appoint by the Warren Court.²⁹ William J. Donovan, a loyal supporter from his Overall, Mitchell was well regarded for his own party, to be his a4orney general. However, work. President Coolidge is said to have re- Hoover planned to transfer responsibility for marked, “We are all very fond of the Solicitor both investigating and prosecuting the Prohi- General [who] is doing splendid work and mak- bition laws to the Department of Justice, and ing a great name for himself.”³⁰ Dono van was a known “wet” who had shown li4le enthusiasm for this plan.³¹,³² In the meantime, there was a ground-swell of support for Mitchell.