Holmes, Oliver Wendell Jr.

Introduction

Holmes, Oliver Wendell (1841–1935), was an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (1902–1932).

Holmes, a son of famous raconteur of the same name, entered Harvard law school in 1864 after his 3-year service as a first lieutenant of the Massachusetts Militia in the American Civil War. He received a law degree and started his scholarly career by contributing review works to the American Law Review in 1866. He was admitted to the Massachusetts bar in 1867, and 6 years later, the 12th edition of James Kent’s Commentaries on American Law was published with Holmes as the sole editor.

After briefly serving as a professor at Harvard law school, he began his judicial career at the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts in 1882. President Theodore Roosevelt nominated Holmes to the Supreme Court of the United States in 1902. During the 29 years of his service, Holmes authored highly influential dissents, several of which later became the majority opinion of the...