Letter from Washington

Initiative for the withdrawal of Representative Richard Poff (R., Va.) from consideration for the Supreme Court seat vacated by Hugo Black came from the Administration. Poff withdrew his name because of an anticipated fight against confirmation in the Senate, after hints from the White House and the Department of Justice that confirmation couldn’t be assured. Poff is still under consideration for an appellate court vacancy and might well be considered for a Supreme Court seat in the future, when the President is in a stronger position.

Poff’s troubles began when civil-rights forces announced opposition to his nomination on grounds that he had signed the 1956 Southern manifesto opposing the Supreme Court’s desegregation decision. The Administration had anticipated a fight from such activists as Joseph Rauh, but it had not counted on opposition from AFL-CIO President George Meany. Meany, stung by the wage-price freeze, leapt into the fight against Poff.

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Initiative for the withdrawal of Representative Richard Poff (R., Va.) from consideration for the Supreme Court seat vacated by Hugo Black came from the Administration. Poff withdrew his name because of an anticipated fight against confirmation in the Senate, after hints from the White House and the Department of Justice that confirmation couldn’t be assured. Poff is still under consideration for an appellate court vacancy and might well be considered for a Supreme Court seat in the future, when the President is in a stronger position.

Poff’s troubles began when civil-rights forces announced opposition to his nomination on grounds that he had signed the 1956 Southern manifesto opposing the Supreme Court’s desegregation decision. The Administration had anticipated a fight from such activists as Joseph Rauh, but it had not counted on opposition from AFL-CIO President George Meany. Meany, stung by the wage-price freeze, leapt into the fight against Poff.