(2 of 4)
Feeling "like a sucked orange," Davis returned, not at all reluctantly, to his old profession, his old firm, his old (and many new) clients. In time, Davis Polk moved into three floors of rambling, book-lined offices at the corner of Broad & Wall, linked by a secret elevator (behind a panel) to the House of Morgan. But in the place of honor on the senior partner's wall there still hangs a black-and-gold shingle, proudly inscribed DAVIS & DAVIS, ATTORNEYS-AT-LAW—relic of John W.'s country-lawyer days in partnership with his father (John J.), back home in Clarksburg, W. Va. (Even today, Davis sometimes wistfully calls himself a "country lawyer." With a Fifth Avenue apartment and a 16-room house in Locust Valley, wealthy, twice-widowed Davis can be described more accurately as a town & country lawyer.)
Living Legend. In the 29 years since his defeat, Davis has all but faded from popular memory ; in his own profession, he is a living legend. Most Davis Polk business never reaches a courtroom at all. But the courtroom is still the showcase of the legal profession, and John W. Davis the acknowledged star of the show. His finest role is not swaying juries at a trial, but persuading judges on an appeal.
In five years (1913-18) as Solicitor General, "the Government's lawyer," Davis won these famous victories: U.S. v. Midwest Oil Co., upholding President Wilson's executive order withdrawing oil lands from use* Guinn and Beal v. U.S., holding unconstitutional, under the 15th Amendment, the notorious "Grandfather Clause" denying Oklahoma Negroes the vote; Wilson v. New, upholding one of the first U.S. wage & hour laws; The Selective Draft Law Cases. Davis' biggest defeat as Solicitor: Hammer v. Dagenhart, holding the first Child Labor Act unconstitutional† 5-4 (Mr. Justice Holmes dissenting).
Among his major appeals in private practice: Cement Manufacturers Protective Association v. U.S., holding that members of a trade association had not violated the Anti-Trust laws by swapping business information; U.S. v. Macintosh, rejecting, 5-4, Davis' argument that a conscientious objector should not on that account be denied citizenship;* Associated Press v. NLRB, in which the Supreme Court, 5-4, applied the NLRA to newspapers, rejecting Davis' "freedom of the press" argument; Niagara Mohawk Power Corp. v. Federal Power Commission, now "in the bosom of the court" awaiting decision (issue: Who owns Niagara Falls?).