New York Press Unanimous in Lauding Goldberg’s Appointment

New York newspapers were unanimous today in lauding President Kennedy’s appointment of Arthur Goldberg to be a Justice on the United States Supreme Court.

The New York Times, which also paid tribute to retiring Justice Felix Frankfurter, declared that “the appointment of Arthur J. Goldberg brings to the Supreme Court a strong believer in the necessity for expanding Government activities to meet the complex requirements of our industrial society. His record as Secretary of Labor has demonstrated the astonishing diversity of his talents.”

The Herald-Tribune linked Justice Frankfurter’s retirement with Mr. Goldberg’s appointment, declaring that the appointee’s legal experience is specialized if thorough. He will have much to learn but he has, fortunately, a particularly illustrious model” in retiring Justice Frankfurter.

The Journal-American said it was “confident that Mr. Goldberg has all the qualifications, plus the dedication, to make him a worthy successor to Mr. Justice Frankfurter. “The World Telegram and Sun referred to Mr. Goldberg’s “lack of prior experience on the bench” but added that he was “a man of obviously superior intelligence and unquestioned integrity, “and offered “our best wishes for a distinguished Judicial career.”

The New York Times, in a profile on Mr. Goldberg, said his father, an immigrant from Russia, worked as a peddler in Texas for a year-and a-half before moving on to Chicago. There he acquired a horse and wagon and started a small business carting fruits and vegetables. Secretary Goldberg, the Times emphasized, observes the Jewish holidays. The Chicago rabbi who married him and Dorothy Kurgans is a guest at the Goldberg home whenever he comes to Washington. Mr. Goldberg graduated from Northwestern University Law School at the top of his class.