Page "James Crawford Biggs" Paragraph 4

President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed Biggs Solicitor General in May 1933, at the start of the New Deal.

Biggs was well out of his depth in his new position, and lost 10 of the 17 cases he argued in his first five months in office.

By the end of his ' first term, Justice Stone commented that " Biggs was not fit to argue a cow case before a justice of the peace, unless the cow was fatally sick.

" According to former Solicitor General Seth Waxman, " he Justices informally sent word to Roosevelt that Biggs should not be permitted to argue any case the United States hoped to win.

Attorney General Homer Cummings stepped in to ensure that important cases would be handled by attorneys outside the Solicitor General's office.

Thus, even before the first New Deal case was argued in the Supreme Court, the Solicitor General -- the person whose principal responsibility it is to represent the interests of the United States -- was out.

By the time a more capable successor took office, the New Deal was in deep legal trouble.

" ( Cummings and Assistant Solicitor General Angus D. MacLean argued the Gold Clause Cases, which eventually marked some of the first successes for New Deal economic policies.

) Biggs resigned on March 14, 1935.

His successor ( and future Supreme Court Justice ) Stanley Reed was named his replacement on March 18 and confirmed by the Senate on March 25.

Reed immediately set about dismissing several cert petitions filed by the government ( e. g., Belcher v. United States ) because the cases were poorly postured to result in opinions upholding the New Deal.