GOVERNOR CHIEF JUSTICE SUPREME COURT NJ VICE PRESIDENT CAND HUGHES PHOTO SIGNED!

Description

Here’s an Autograph Note Signed on a Photograph of and by 1960’s Governor of New Jersey
RICHARD J. HUGHES
(1909 - 1992)
45
th
GOVERNOR OF NEW JERSEY 1962-70,
CHIEF JUSTICE OF THE NEW JERSEY SUPREME COURT 1973-1979,
CLOSE FRIEND OF PRESIDENT LYNDON B. JOHNSON
-&-
DEMOCRATIC PARTY VICE PRESIDENTIAL TIMBER IN 1968
!
When Hughes was Chief Justice, the NJ Supreme Court issued a unanimous ruling in the
famous
Karen Ann Quinlan case
, allowing an individual the right to refuse medical treatment and the right of a guardian to exercise that right if the patient cannot.
Hughes is the only person to have served New Jersey as both Governor and Chief Justice. Hughes was also the first
Roman Catholic
governor in New Jersey's history
.
The
Richard J. Hughes Justice Complex
in Trenton is named in his honor.
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HERE’S A B&W PHOTOGRAPH OF A SKETCH OF HUGHES WITH AN ANS BY HIM WHICH READS:
“
To my friend & colleague Jim Compton With Best wishes~~Richard Hughes”
.
The document measures 8” x 10” and is in FINE CONDITION.
A FINE RELIC OF NEW JERSEY POLITICAL HISTORY.
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President John F. Kennedy (left) meets with Richard J. Hughes (right), the Governor-elect of New Jersey. Oval Office, White House, Washington, D.C.
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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF THE HONORABLE
RICHARD J. HUGHES
Richard Joseph Hughes
(August 10, 1909 – December 7, 1992) was an American lawyer, politician, and judge. A
Democrat
, he served as the
45th
Governor of New Jersey
from 1962 to 1970, and as Chief Justice of the
New Jersey Supreme Court
from 1973 to 1979. Hughes is the only person to have served New Jersey as both governor and chief justice. Hughes was also the first
Roman Catholic
governor in New Jersey's history.
Early life and education
He was born into an Irish-American family on August 10, 1909, in
Florence Township, New Jersey
. Hughes graduated from
St. Joseph's College
in Philadelphia and the New Jersey Law School, now
Rutgers Law School
.
Lawyer and state judge
Hughes was
admitted to the bar
in 1932 and entered private practice in
Trenton
. He became active in
Mercer County
Democratic politics in 1937 and later became a Democratic state committeeman from the county, as well as president of the New Jersey Young Democrats. Hughes sought election to the
U.S. House of Representatives
in 1938 from
New Jersey's 4th congressional district
, running as a strong supporter of
Franklin D. Roosevelt
; he was defeated by Republican
D. Lane Powers
by a broad margin but established a reputation as a robust campaigner.
In December 1939, Hughes became a federal
prosecutor
at the
U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey
. In that role, he prosecuted federal crimes, including against members of the pro-
Nazi
German-American Vocational League. Hughes secured numerous convictions, which bolstered his bolstered standing. Hughes stepped down as Assistant U.S. Attorney in June 1945, after being elected chairman of the Mercer County Democratic Party, and resumed private practice in partnership with
Thorn Lord
, who had been U.S. Attorney.
In 1948, Hughes was appointed by acting Governor
John M. Summerill, Jr.
as a judge of the Court of Common Pleas (which, after the state court system was reorganized, became Mercer County Court). After
Superior Court
judge
William J. Brennan, Jr.
was appointed as a justice of the state supreme court in February 1952, Governor
Alfred E. Driscoll
appointed Hughes to fill the vacancy on the Superior Court bench. Hughes was later appointed to be assignment judge for
Union County
and was thereafter elevated to the
Superior Court, Appellate Division
. As a Superior Court judge, Chief Justice
Arthur T. Vanderbilt
appointed Hughes as chair of a committee tasked with studying the state's handling of
juvenile offenders
and making recommendations for changes; the state supreme court accepted the committee's recommendations, leading to a reform of the New Jersey juvenile and domestic-relations courts.
Hughes was considered by Governor
Robert B. Meyner
as a possible nominee to the state supreme court bench. Seeking to support his large family, however, Hughes resigned from the bench in November 1957 in resume the practice of law. In his successful practice, Hughes' clients included the Association of New Jersey Railroads,
Public Service Electric & Gas Company
, and manufacturers of polio vaccines, whom Hughes defended in
antitrust
matters.
Governor, 1962-1970
Hughes was little known at the time he ran for
governor of New Jersey
in 1961, and was selected as the Democratic nominee only after the first choice of powerful party leaders,
Attorney General
Grover C. Richman
, had a
heart attack
. Hughes proved to be a strong campaigner, however, and achieved an upset victory over Republican nominee
James P. Mitchell
, who had been
U.S. Secretary of Labor
during the
Eisenhower administration
, by slightly under 35,000 votes.
One of the important issues of Hughes' term as governor was state taxation; at the time Hughes took office in 1962, "New Jersey was one of only a handful of states that had neither an
income tax
nor a
sales tax
." Hughes suffered a political defeat when a bond question, which would have issued 0 million in bonds for capital construction, was voted down in the
November 1962 elections
. Hughes announced his support for enactment of a state personal income tax; consideration of the proposal was delayed by leaders in the state legislature. During Hughes' campaign for re-election, the tax issue was overshadowed by a political controversy arose when
Eugene Genovese
, an instructor at
Rutgers University
, publicly stated that he would "welcome a
North Vietnamese
victory" in
Vietnam
. Hughes' Republican challenger, State Senator
Wayne Dumont
, called for Genovese to be fired; Hughes criticized Genovese's views as "outrageously wrong" but robustly but supported
academic freedom
.
With the backing of
organized labor
, Hughes was re-elected with 1,279,589 votes, with Dumont taking 915,996. In his second term, he pushed for passage of a state income tax. Although both chambers of the legislature has Democratic majorities, the bill failed, having passed the state House but being defeated by a single vote in the state Senate. In a compromise, the Legislature passed, and Hughes signed, the Sales and Use Tax Act, which established a 3% state sales tax effective in July 1966.
Hughes said "that to turn down any broad-based tax would relegate the state to second-class status."
Hughes was a delegate to three
Democratic National Conventions
representing New Jersey. He attended
Harry S. Truman
's nomination for a full term as president in
Philadelphia
in
1948
(as an alternate), Vice President
Hubert H. Humphrey
's selection as standard bearer in
Chicago
in
1968
and Senator
George S. McGovern
's
1972
convention in
Miami Beach
.
Many credit the fact that then-President
Lyndon B. Johnson
had a very close friendship with Hughes, as one reason that
Atlantic City
hosted the
1964 Democratic National Convention
.
Hughes was one of three final candidates considered by Vice President and Presidential nominee Hubert Humphrey to be the Democratic Party's nominee for Vice President of the United States in 1968.
Chief Justice, 1973-1979
After serving as governor from 1962 to 1970, he served as the Chief Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court from 1973–1979, having been nominated for the post by his successor,
William T. Cahill
. When Hughes was Chief Justice, the court issued a unanimous ruling in the
Karen Ann Quinlan case
, allowing an individual the right to refuse medical treatment and the right of a guardian to exercise that right if the patient cannot.
Later life
Hughes left the Supreme Court in 1979 after reaching the
mandatory retirement age
of 70, and returned to the private practice of law. In retirement, Hughes was
of counsel
at Hannoch Weisman, a New Jersey law firm, and split his time between
Lawrenceville, New Jersey
and
Boca Raton, Florida
. He suffered a stroke in 1991, and died the following year of
congestive heart failure
in Boca Raton. He was interred at St. Mary's Cemetery in
Trenton, New Jersey
.
Legacy
The building in Trenton, New Jersey which bears his name that houses the
New Jersey Department of Law and Public Safety
(headed by the Attorney General), the courtroom, chambers and offices of the
State Supreme Court
, the courtroom and several chambers and offices of the
New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division
, and the administrative headquarters of the statewide court system, was dedicated as the
Richard J. Hughes Justice Complex
, in 1982 in his honor.
Personal life
Hughes had five sons, two daughters, and three stepsons. He married Miriam McGrory in 1935; they had four children. His first wife died in 1950; in 1955, he married Elizabeth Sullivan Murphy (d. 1983), and they had three children.
Several of his children have become prominent in New Jersey law and politics. Hughes' stepson W. Michael Murphy Jr., a former
Morris County
prosecutor, placed third in the
1997 Democratic primary
for
governor of New Jersey
. Hughes' son Brian M. Hughes is the elected
county executive
of
Mercer County
.
I am a proud member of the Universal Autograph Collectors Club (UACC), The Ephemera Society of America, the Manuscript Society and the American Political Items Collectors (APIC) (member name: John Lissandrello). I subscribe to each organizations' code of ethics and authenticity is guaranteed. ~Providing quality service and historical memorabilia online for over twenty years.~
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