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William R. Day
William Rufus Day
In office May 3 , 1897 – April 27 , 1898
Preceded by
William Woodville Rockhill
Succeeded by
John Bassett Moore
In office April 28 , 1898 – September 16 , 1898
Preceded by
John Sherman
Succeeded by
John Hay
In office February 28 , 1899 – February 23 , 1903
Preceded by
seat created
Succeeded by
John Kelvey Richards
In office March 2 , 1903 – November 13 , 1922
Preceded by
George Shiras, Jr.
Succeeded by
Pierce Butler
Born
April 17 , 1849 (1849-04-17 ) Ravenna, Ohio , U.S.
Died
July 9 , 1923 (aged 74)Mackinac Island, Michigan , U.S.
Political party
Republican
Spouse
Mary Elizabeth Schaefer
Profession
Lawyer , Judge , Politician
Religion
Lutheran
William Rufus Day (April 17 , 1849 – July 9 , 1923 ) was an American diplomat and jurist, who served for nineteen years as a Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States .
Day was born in Ravenna , Ohio . He graduated from the University of Michigan in 1870 and spent the following year in the school's law department. He settled in Canton, Ohio in 1872, where he began practicing law. For twenty-five years, Day worked as a criminal and corporate lawyer in the growing industrial town while participating in Republican politics.
During these years, Day became a good friend of William McKinley . Day became McKinley's legal and political adviser during McKinley's candidacies for the Congress , the governorship of Ohio , and the presidency of the United States . After he won the presidency, McKinley appointed Day to be Assistant Secretary of State under Secretary of State John Sherman . Sherman was considered to be ineffective, and in 1898, President McKinley replaced Sherman with Day.
Portrait of William R. Day
After the Spanish-American War was declared, Day argued that the Spanish colonies , other than Cuba , should be returned to Spain , contrary to McKinley's decision that the United States should take over from Spain control of the Philippines , Puerto Rico , and Guam . Day, however, negotiated peace with Spain on McKinley's harsher terms. His final diplomatic effort was to lead the United States Peace Commission into Paris, France and sign the Treaty of Paris ending the war.
Upon Day's return from Europe, McKinley appointed him to an appellate judgeship on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit , which included Day's home state of Ohio. Day's position as head of the state department was filled by John Hay .
President McKinley was assassinated in September 1901 and Vice President Theodore Roosevelt took his place. In January 1903, Roosevelt nominated Day as an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. The Senate confirmed the nomination and Day took his new position on March 2 , 1903 .
Day wrote 439 opinions during his tenure on the court, of which only 18 were dissents. He distrusted large corporations and voted with antitrust majorities throughout his time on the court. He sided with the government in the Standard Oil , American Tobacco , and Union Pacific cases in 1911 and 1912 and again in the Southern Pacific case in 1922.
Day retired from the court in 1922 and died the following year on Mackinac Island in Michigan . He is buried at West Lawn Cemetery in Canton, Ohio.
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