Levi Woodbury

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Levi Woodbury (December 22, 1789 – September 4, 1851) was an American lawyer, judge, and politician from New Hampshire. He grew up in Francestown, NH, studied at Dartmouth College, briefly attended Litchfield Law School, and then read law to become a lawyer in 1812. He was the first U.S. Supreme Court justice who had attended law school.

Woodbury held many public jobs. In New Hampshire, he served as a judge, was the speaker of the state House of Representatives in 1825, and was governor from 1823 to 1824. He also served as a U.S. Senator from New Hampshire from 1825 to 1831 and again from 1841 to 1845. He was Secretary of the Navy from 1831 to 1834 under President Andrew Jackson, and Secretary of the Treasury from 1834 to 1841 under Jackson and Martin Van Buren. In 1845, President James K. Polk appointed him to the Supreme Court, and he served as an associate justice until his death in 1851.

A Democratic-Republican and then a Democrat, Woodbury was a strong supporter of Andrew Jackson. He helped end the Second Bank of the United States and backed an independent treasury to manage the government’s funds. He was known for a careful, constitutional approach to law and for arguing that the Constitution should be interpreted to protect valid contracts and limit federal power when appropriate.

In the Supreme Court, Woodbury wrote influential opinions on the Contract Clause and issues related to slavery and federal authority. In Planters’ Bank v. Sharp (1848), he protected contract rights against a state law. In Jones v. Van Zandt (1847), he upheld the Fugitive Slave Act as constitutional, reflecting the era’s view of slavery as a political question within the framework of the Constitution. He also contributed to the Court’s case-by-case approach to federal versus state power in later decisions.

Woodbury’s career made him one of the few people to hold high office in all three branches of government while also serving as a U.S. governor. He died in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, at age 61.