Stone, Harlan Fiske (1872-1946), served as chief justice of the United States from 1941 until his death. His years as chief justice were marked by changing constitutional views and by division within the Supreme Court. He became an associate justice in 1925. Although a conservative, Stone often joined Louis D. Brandeis and Oliver Wendell Holmes in upholding liberal measures.
Stone was born on Oct. 11, 1872, in Chesterfield, New Hampshire. He graduated from Amherst College and studied at the Columbia University Law School. From 1899 to 1905, he taught law at Columbia. He became a noted corporation lawyer in New York City. Stone was dean of the Columbia University Law School from 1910 to 1923. He became attorney general of the United States in 1924 and cleaned up scandals in the Department of Justice. That same year, he appointed J. Edgar Hoover director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Hoover’s controversial leadership of the FBI lasted 48 years (see Hoover, J. Edgar ). Stone died on April 22, 1946.
