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Like President Truman, you can call her a liberal on some issues, and you can call her a conservative on others. However, it is clear that she has enabled the High Court to continue its role in the racial integration of our society, and the recognition of gender equality, and in protection of fundamental rights of expression, political participation, and due process of law. And therefore, Justice O'Connor, it is my pleasure to award you the 2005 Harry Truman Good Neighbor award.

Sandra Day O'Connor [automatically transcribed, may contain inaccuracies]
Thank you so much indeed.

This is an award that means a great deal to me. It's a wonderful experience to be here as the recipient of the Harry

Good Neighbor award. I have on my desk at the court, a little wooden piece that I bought at the Truman library, when I first visited it when Mr. celebre senior over here was was heading that and it says the buck stops here. And I have proudly had that at my desk as President Harry Truman developed it and had it and he is and President Truman. His reputation, and his legacy has only grown and strengthened with the passage of time.

He liked to say he did his best and he did his best throughout his seven years as president from 1945 to 1952. He had to preside over an apprehensive a nation in the midst of a tumultuous world. Soon after, he took over as president World War Two and with the surrender of Germany and 45. the surrender of Japan later at that same year, when the Soviet Union began expanding communist regimes in Eastern Europe and elsewhere. President Truman responded with a policy of containment, and was Secretary of State marshals brilliant plan to rebuild Europe from the ashes of the war. Meanwhile, on the domestic front, the fear of communism and communist influence within the government led the far reaching anti subversive legislation and strict loyalty policies for government and other workers, and those sensational espionage accusations and trials. And in 1950, the North Korean communist forces invaded South Korea. The United States soon became embroiled in yet another conflict, the Korean conflict and an order to do his best in this shaky world situation. President Truman thought it was necessary for the executive branch to have wide ranging powers to combat communism and protect national security. Perhaps in order to ensure that his assertions of presidential power would not be challenged. He put four of his friends on the Supreme Court Justice Harold Burton as Chief Justice Fred Vinson, Justice Tom Clark, and justice Sherman Minton. It's unusual for president to have so many Supreme Court vacancies to fail. Indeed, we've had a bench there for almost 12 years now without a change. In interestingly, President Truman was apparently the first president to give serious consideration to a woman nominee, Judge Florence, alum of Ohio. She was a new deal democrat and a respected appellate judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. President Truman expected his appointees to share his views of government in the Constitution. And indeed, they generally did. The most notable exception to the Supreme Court's agreement with the President on questions of national security, of course, came when the nation riveted its attention on the most celebrated Supreme Court case of the Roman presidency. The steel seizure case in the latter part of 1951, after US forces in Korea had been driven back south and after armistice negotiations had begun, but we're proceeding at a snail's pace, a dispute around between the nation steel producing companies and their employee and their employees over the new collective bargaining agreements, and specifically, wages. lengthy negotiations fail to resolve the dispute. The Employees Union, the United Steelworkers of America gave notice of a nationwide strike. Steel of course, is an indispensable component of substantially all military weapons and materials. President Truman thought that proposed work stoppage would jeopardize our national defense, and that governmental seizure of the steel mills was necessary to ensure the continued availability of steel during the Korean crisis. So in April 1952, a few hours before the strike was to begin, the President issued an executive order directing the Secretary of Commerce to take possession of most of NA steel mills and keep them running.

The public was surprised what began as a labor dispute had blossomed into a major constitutional crisis. The steel companies promptly brought suit against the government, saying the seizure of the Mills was not authorized by an act of Congress or by any provision of the Constitution. The government responded that a strike disrupting steel production for even a brief period would so endanger the well being and safety of the nation that the President had inherent power to do what he had done. After a hastily arranged hearing before the federal district court in the District of Columbia. The District Court rejected the government's argument and issued a preliminary injunction restraining the Secretary of Commerce from continuing the seizure and possession of the plants. The Supreme Court granted expedited review just a few days later, the stage was set for a classic confrontation over the power of the presidency. lawyers and laymen alike joined in the immediate surge of speculation about how the case should and would be decided. The fact that all nine justices had been appointed by two democratic presidents, President Roosevelt and President Truman, was not lost on the speculators and many suspected that in a close case, at least some of the justices would be swayed by their closest association with President Truman.

The oral arguments in the case were filled with dramatic tension. Finally, on June 2, the court announced its decision, as Justice Jackson has remarked to his law clerks at the time, one of whom, incidentally is now our Chief Justice William Rehnquist. Jackson said soon after the conference in which the justices voted on the case. Well, both the president elect he said six members of the court including two of President Truman's appointees, had voted to affirm the district court's ruling that the President's action was unconstitutional. justices black Frankfurter, Douglas Jackson, Burton and Clark, three of their justices voted with the government, just Chief Justice Vinson and justice Reid and Menton, Justice Black's opinion for the court reason that the President's action was beyond the President's authority unless Congress had authorized it, which I did not. Justice jackson joined that, but he wrote separately, and opinion that has proven valuable to subsequent courts and lawyers, and discussing the limits of presidential power.

Now, legal theory aside, the bottom line was that the Supreme Court of the United States had told the president that he had acted beyond his constitutional authority. President Truman immediately wrote the Secretary of Commerce directing him to return custody of the males to the owners and the Secretary did so. The court's decision in that case left President Truman acutely unhappy. He obviously realize that had all four of us appointees to the court voted with and that is, if justice is Burton and Clark had done so the outcome of the case would have been altered 180 degrees. According to recent writings on this case, President Truman who was never one to keep his feelings mask, asked a top advisor to put down on a single sheet of paper, the reasons why the court's decision was wrong. Now, Justice Hugo black, decided to have a dinner party, maybe as sort of a peace offering to the beleaguered president, he invited all the members of the Supreme Court there was all to this dinner. And we're told that President Truman attended and he took that sheet of paper with him to the dinner. Now, the first line of that paper were told Redis follows the Supreme Court substituted its judgment for that if the president as to the seriousness of the cessation of production of steel at this time. Now, whether President Truman ever actually delivered that message is unclear. However, it is reported that at the conclusion of that dinner, President Truman turned his his house justice black and said, Well, I don't like your law. But this is mighty good bourbon.

Now, the lesson is not that are presidents appointments to the Supreme Court often disappointing, though that is true as well. It is that our system of government is one of delegated authority and separation of powers. By their ruling and Miss Steele sees your case president Truman's appointees prove their friendship, I think, not by siding with the president for personal reasons. But by fulfilling their duty to decide each case as impartially as possible as members of a separate branch of government, in short, as members of a truly independent judiciary.

Harry Truman was a great president who served our nation very well indeed, during some of our most difficult times. It is a very great honor to receive this award name for him. And thank you very much.