"It seemed to me that I had barely reached the Court when people were trying to get me off"
About this Quote
Power arrives with a target on its back, and William O. Douglas delivers that reality with a wry, almost tossed-off complaint. “Barely reached the Court” compresses time to emphasize how quickly legitimacy can be treated as provisional. The line’s comic engine is the mismatch between the grandeur of a Supreme Court appointment and the indignity of being shoved toward the exit before you’ve even settled in. Douglas makes the Court sound less like a marble temple and more like a knife fight with robes.
The specific intent is defensive but controlled: he’s framing himself as embattled from day one, suggesting that the opposition wasn’t about isolated decisions but about who he was and what he represented. Douglas was a New Deal appointee (1939) and a muscular civil-liberties advocate who clashed with business interests, conservatives, and sometimes fellow justices. He also became the longest-serving justice in U.S. history, which turns the quip into a retrospective flex: they tried; they failed.
Subtext matters here. “People” is pointedly vague, implying a shadowy coalition - senators, ideological enemies, press operators - without granting them the dignity of names. “Trying to get me off” carries a blunt physicality, hinting that institutional politics can feel like coercion rather than debate. It also nods to the Court’s uniquely political paradox: justices are supposed to be above the fray, yet their tenure is surrounded by constant attempts to delegitimize, impeach, or pressure them.
Douglas isn’t merely describing early hostility. He’s exposing the Court as a contested arena where permanence is promised on paper and challenged in practice.
The specific intent is defensive but controlled: he’s framing himself as embattled from day one, suggesting that the opposition wasn’t about isolated decisions but about who he was and what he represented. Douglas was a New Deal appointee (1939) and a muscular civil-liberties advocate who clashed with business interests, conservatives, and sometimes fellow justices. He also became the longest-serving justice in U.S. history, which turns the quip into a retrospective flex: they tried; they failed.
Subtext matters here. “People” is pointedly vague, implying a shadowy coalition - senators, ideological enemies, press operators - without granting them the dignity of names. “Trying to get me off” carries a blunt physicality, hinting that institutional politics can feel like coercion rather than debate. It also nods to the Court’s uniquely political paradox: justices are supposed to be above the fray, yet their tenure is surrounded by constant attempts to delegitimize, impeach, or pressure them.
Douglas isn’t merely describing early hostility. He’s exposing the Court as a contested arena where permanence is promised on paper and challenged in practice.
Quote Details
| Topic | Justice |
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