Four Horsemen (Supreme Court)

The Four Horsemen of the U.S. Supreme Court

Butler

McReynolds

Sutherland

Van Devanter

The "Four Horsemen" (in allusion to the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse) was the nickname given by the press^[1] to four conservative members of the United States Supreme Court during the 1932–1937 terms, who opposed the New Deal agenda of President Franklin D. Roosevelt.^[2] They were Justices Pierce Butler, James Clark McReynolds, George Sutherland, and Willis Van Devanter. They were opposed by the liberal "Three Musketeers"—Justices Louis Brandeis, Benjamin Cardozo, and Harlan Stone. Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes and Justice Owen J. Roberts controlled the balance. Hughes was more inclined to join the liberals, but Roberts was often swayed to the side of the conservatives.^[3]