Justice Van Devanter of Wyoming: a "mainstay" on the Court

The odds were against Willis Van Devanter ever winning an appointment to the Supreme Court. Widespread talk that he suffered from “pen paralysis,” an affliction that subverted his production, made President William Howard Taft “hesitant” to nominate the Wyoming transplant to fill a vacancy on the nation’s High Court.

Various factors, however, convinced President Taft to overcome his reluctance. In...