ABSTRACT
This chapter shows how the social class origins of the first ninety-six justices appointed to the Supreme Court were related to their levels of performance on the bench. The political variation on the Horatio Alger theme—any boy, but preferably one of humble origins, might become President—has long been one of the most satisfying of the myths of American political recruitment. The Horatio Alger story has been far more applicable to the appointed members of the aloof Supreme Court than to the popularly elected presidents. At the top of the aristocracy of the robe are the justices of the United States Supreme Court, who are appointed for life by the president and who are responsible only to their own private and professional consciences. Nomination to the Supreme Court by the President of the United States, with the advice and consent of the Senate, is the highest honor available to the members of the American legal profession.
