ABSTRACT
Few good American democrats, especially hard-edge liberals, would expect that the Horatio Alger myth has been far more applicable to the aristocrats of the robe than to the popularly elected presidents. If Horatio Alger’s “rags to riches” stories are a conservative’s democratic daydream, the thought of an American aristocracy may be a liberal’s nightmare. Earl Warren’s was one of the truly great Horatio Alger stories in American history. 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 surely the highest honor available to the members of the American legal profession.
