Executive Order 9715—The Death of Harlan Fiske Stone

The death of the Honorable Harlan Fiske Stone, Chief Justice of the United States, occurred on the evening of April 22, 1946. Through his untimely death the people of the United States have lost the services of an eminent jurist and a distinguished public servant. His service on the Supreme Court of the United States was characterized by his high sense of duty, his great legal learning and the clarity of his judicial reasoning. He began his public career as Attorney General of the United States on April 7, 1924, after a long and noteworthy career as a teacher and practitioner of the law. He was nominated Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States by President Coolidge on January 5, 1925 and entered on the duties of that office on March 2, 1925. On June 12, 1941 he was appointed Chief Justice of the United States by President Roosevelt and he took the oath of office on July 3, 1941. In testimony of the respect in which his memory is held by the Government and people of the United States, and in recognition of his eminent and varied services as a public servant, I do hereby direct that the National Flag be displayed at half staff upon all the public buildings of the United States for thirty days; that the usual and appropriate military and naval honors be rendered, and that on all the embassies, legations, and consulates of the United States in foreign countries, the National Flag shall be displayed at half staff for thirty days from the receipt of this order. HARRY S. TRUMAN THE WHITE HOUSE, April 23, 1946