The Firebrand

VANITY FAIR • Dec 2022-Jan 2023

THE CONSERVATIVES ON the US Supreme Court are considered by many to be ardent activists. And yet, truth be told, there has never been a more activist justice than William O. Douglas. Appointed by Franklin D. Roosevelt, Douglas was a committed conservationist, vocal opponent of the Vietnam War, best-selling author, would-be candidate for president, and, at 36-plus years, the longest-serving high court justice in American history. With all the current hand-wringing about the politicization of the judiciary, Douglas was Exhibit A in pushing his own political agenda—as a liberal, libertarian, and crusading environmentalist. Between cases, he plotted campaigns to preserve many areas, including Maine's Allagash River watershed.