Comments (Famous Bearer Only)
Mildred is the real name of Blaineley, the season 3 host of the fictional reality TV show, Total Drama.
1
1
Mildred "Miria" Pomare OBE (née Johnson, 1877 – 1971), also known as Miria Tapapa, was a New Zealand community leader. Of Māori descent, she identified with the Rongowhakaata and Te Aitanga-a-Mahaki iwi.
1
1
Justice Sandra Day O’Connor was not the first woman to be considered for the Supreme Court. Several women had appeared on shortlists, some private and some publicly available, from the 1930s onward. The degree to which any of these was seriously considered is, however, debatable.
In 1971, though, Richard Nixon came as close as anyone had to nominating a woman for the Supreme Court. His choice was a California judge named Mildred Lillie.
The sheer prospect of a Justice Mildred Lillie sent the older, white, male legal establishment into a frenzy. Her credentials were debated; some debates were done in good faith, but some were unapologetically sexist in their nature. Laurence Tribe, the Harvard law professor who was a common presence during various legal proceedings of future Pres. Donald Trump, made public a memo that criticized Lillie for the number of decisions she had written that were overturned by the California Supreme Court. It was a good-faith effort to contemplate Lillie’s qualifications. Conversely, Chief Justice Warren Burger semi-publicly declared that no woman would ever be qualified for the Court and threatened to resign if one was nominated.
Ultimately, Lillie was not nominated. She became associated with a handful of publicly-mulled yet improbable Nixon nominees. Others included Herschel Friday, an Arkansas lawyer best known for defending school districts opposed to integration in court; Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV, 1969-2010); and a few other judges, including at least one woman.
As far as I can tell, there is no real answer to the question of Lillie’s preparedness and consideration for the Supreme Court. Was Lillie a qualified jurist who headbutted the chauvinist establishment? Or was she a meagerly-qualified woman who Nixon made public in an effort to get credit for publicly considering a woman?
Mildred Lillie was born in 1915 in Iowa, and grew up in California. She attended the University of California, Berkeley, for both her undergraduate and law degrees, earning her law degree in 1938. In interviews in 1989 and 1990, Lillie discussed how she had been treated in law school classrooms, describing law professors who referred to her as "mister" who screamed epithets at her and the few other women in her classes. (This kind of experience is pretty standard for women who attended law school into the 1970s.)
She began her law career as an assistant United States Attorney. She worked for a time in private practice. While in her early 30s, she was appointed by Gov. And future Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren (R-CA) first to the Los Angeles Municipal Court and then the Superior Court. In 1958 Gov. Goodwin Knight (D-CA) to the California Court of Appeals for the Second District. Though a Democrat, Lillie developed a reputation for being a staunch conservative. She had reportedly been considered for a spot on the California Supreme Court, but had been deemed too conservative.
In 1971, Richard Nixon was in an enviable situation with Supreme Court vacancies: in his first term, he had four slots to fill. First, he nominated Warren Burger for Chief Justice shortly after ascending to the presidency; Burger was a departure from retired Chief Justice Earl Warren, but was easily confirmed. The next seat was messier. Nixon nominated two Southern contenders for the seat, in an effort to further his now-infamous “Southern Strategy.” Both, though, had racist incidents in their not-so-distant pasts that were disqualifying. Harry Blackmun was finally nominated and confirmed easily. In late 1971, two additional seats opened up simultaneously: Judge Hugo Black, the KKK member-turned-New Deal Senator-turned-Justice, resigned from the Court due to health issues and died a week later; days later, Justice John Marshall Harlan resigned, also due to health issues. In less than one term, Nixon had enough Supreme Court vacancies to fundamentally reshape the Court after the Warren Court and it’s, in Nixon’s mind, overt liberal activism.
Nixon reportedly liked the idea of a conservative president nominating the first woman to the Supreme Court. He was further pressed by his wife, First Lady Pat, and their two daughters. Nixon had his team put together a shortlist of possible women for a possible nominee. They eventually focused on Lillie.
John Dean, Nixon’s White House Counsel, was sent to California to vet Lillie. Bob Haldeman reported to Nixon of Dean’s experience: “He says she’s a goddamn jewel. Says she’s tough, able, personable — marvelous woman. Absolutely clean. Solid conservative. Democrat. Catholic leader. Very big community type, which she is.”
Yet opposition was fierce, and it came first from the Court itself. Chief Justice Warren Burger was a staunch conservative who spent much of this period of his tenure relishing the chance to rip up anything that his predecessor, Earl Warren, had completed. Besides being personally conservative, it was Warren that had elevated Lillie to her earliest judgeships. Burger wrote a letter to Attorney General John Mitchell declaring there was no woman qualified to be on the bench. Burger also came to Mitchell’s office personally to read a letter of resignation should Nixon nominate a woman. Angered, Nixon threatened to accept it.
Nevertheless, Lillie impressed Nixon and his aides. Attorney General John Mitchell declared her “just conservative period,” something Nixon himself affirmed. Nixon was also quoted as saying, “A conservative woman from California! God. That will kill them.” (While at these meetings with Nixon’s people, Lillie’s suitcase was carried around by the Assistant Attorney General, William Rehnquist. This would be important later.)
Nixon was serious enough to offer her name to the American Bar Association (ABA). The ABA panel evaluating Lillie returned a unanimous verdict: of the twelve representatives evaluating Lillie, eleven declared Lillie to be “not qualified.” At the time, the ABA was a male-only organization. The undeniably chauvinism of the group resulted in prejudice of, quite likely, every woman. This was leaked to the press.
The ABA had also been secretly lobbied to rule against Lillie by Chief Justice Warren Burger. Nixon had approached Burger about the possibility of Lillie’s nomination, and had ordered him to be a ‘good soldier.” But Warren was unwilling to let the possibility move forward unchallenged.
Earlier mentioned was Laurence Tribe’s memo criticizing Lillie’s record. Tribe focused specifically on the number of opinions that were overturned by the California Supreme Court. Seven such opinions were specifically noted. In 2009, Tribe was asked about the memo. He continued to defend his earlier opinions, describing Lillie as "both right-wing and stupid."
Assistant Attorney General William Rehnquist defended Lillie against this line of attack, declaring that of 1,160 opinions Lillie had written, only 69 had been reviewed by the higher court, and only 38 had been reversed; these numbers were consistent with California's judicial reversal rates.
Nixon ultimately decided not to nominate Lillie. After the opposition had mounted against her, it seemed unlikely the Senate would confirm her. Nixon had already experienced two Senate rejections of his nominees. Instead, he decided to nominate Lewis Powell, a Richmond, Virginia lawyer who had rebuffed Nixon multiple times over the Court previously, and William Rehnquist, the Assistant Attorney General who had carried Lillie’s suitcase around for her. Both were confirmed, though Rehnquist was subject to some tough questions over racially-problematic legal memoranda he had written. (Two of Rehnquist’s future antagonists, Pres. Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary Clinton, would come to view Rehnquist as an unapologetic racist.)
The degree to which Nixon was serious in his considerations was somewhat debatable. Many believed that he wanted the credit of having publicly considered a woman, without actually having to appoint a woman. In one recording from his infamous White House tapes, he is heard saying that he could take credit for trying to nominate her but could deflect blame for the defeat to the ABA.
In the decades since, it has become common parlance that Lillie was never a serious contender. Histories often uncritically cite the ABA’s “not qualified” designation as proof. This is a mistake, one that lessens Lillie unjustly. John Dean, Nixon’s White House Counsel at the time of Lillie’s consideration, later said, "I later - after Sandra Day O’Connor was selected = I lined up the credentials of these two women and Mildred Lillie was every bit, if not more, qualified to be a Justice than Day O’Connor.”
First Lady Pat Nixon was reportedly infuriated that her husband had declined to nominate Lillie. Nixon told his wife that no woman shared his strict constructionist judicial philosophy. (One wonders what he would have thought of Justice Amy Coney Barrett.)
Lillie didn’t sulk about not being selected. Nixon-era taint largely escaped her. She reportedly enjoyed telling curious folks that the man at the Justice Department who had carried her suitcase when she met with Nixon aides was William Rehnquist.
As for the two men nominated Powell would serve on the Court until 1987. William Rehnquist became Chief Justice in 1986 and would serve until his death in 2005.
Lillie continued her work in California. In 1984, she was elevated to Presiding Judge of the California Court of Appeals for the Second District, where she was still serving upon her death in 2002. At the time of her death, she was 87 years old and had been an appellate judge for 44 years.
2
In 1971, though, Richard Nixon came as close as anyone had to nominating a woman for the Supreme Court. His choice was a California judge named Mildred Lillie.
The sheer prospect of a Justice Mildred Lillie sent the older, white, male legal establishment into a frenzy. Her credentials were debated; some debates were done in good faith, but some were unapologetically sexist in their nature. Laurence Tribe, the Harvard law professor who was a common presence during various legal proceedings of future Pres. Donald Trump, made public a memo that criticized Lillie for the number of decisions she had written that were overturned by the California Supreme Court. It was a good-faith effort to contemplate Lillie’s qualifications. Conversely, Chief Justice Warren Burger semi-publicly declared that no woman would ever be qualified for the Court and threatened to resign if one was nominated.
Ultimately, Lillie was not nominated. She became associated with a handful of publicly-mulled yet improbable Nixon nominees. Others included Herschel Friday, an Arkansas lawyer best known for defending school districts opposed to integration in court; Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV, 1969-2010); and a few other judges, including at least one woman.
As far as I can tell, there is no real answer to the question of Lillie’s preparedness and consideration for the Supreme Court. Was Lillie a qualified jurist who headbutted the chauvinist establishment? Or was she a meagerly-qualified woman who Nixon made public in an effort to get credit for publicly considering a woman?
Mildred Lillie was born in 1915 in Iowa, and grew up in California. She attended the University of California, Berkeley, for both her undergraduate and law degrees, earning her law degree in 1938. In interviews in 1989 and 1990, Lillie discussed how she had been treated in law school classrooms, describing law professors who referred to her as "mister" who screamed epithets at her and the few other women in her classes. (This kind of experience is pretty standard for women who attended law school into the 1970s.)
She began her law career as an assistant United States Attorney. She worked for a time in private practice. While in her early 30s, she was appointed by Gov. And future Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren (R-CA) first to the Los Angeles Municipal Court and then the Superior Court. In 1958 Gov. Goodwin Knight (D-CA) to the California Court of Appeals for the Second District. Though a Democrat, Lillie developed a reputation for being a staunch conservative. She had reportedly been considered for a spot on the California Supreme Court, but had been deemed too conservative.
In 1971, Richard Nixon was in an enviable situation with Supreme Court vacancies: in his first term, he had four slots to fill. First, he nominated Warren Burger for Chief Justice shortly after ascending to the presidency; Burger was a departure from retired Chief Justice Earl Warren, but was easily confirmed. The next seat was messier. Nixon nominated two Southern contenders for the seat, in an effort to further his now-infamous “Southern Strategy.” Both, though, had racist incidents in their not-so-distant pasts that were disqualifying. Harry Blackmun was finally nominated and confirmed easily. In late 1971, two additional seats opened up simultaneously: Judge Hugo Black, the KKK member-turned-New Deal Senator-turned-Justice, resigned from the Court due to health issues and died a week later; days later, Justice John Marshall Harlan resigned, also due to health issues. In less than one term, Nixon had enough Supreme Court vacancies to fundamentally reshape the Court after the Warren Court and it’s, in Nixon’s mind, overt liberal activism.
Nixon reportedly liked the idea of a conservative president nominating the first woman to the Supreme Court. He was further pressed by his wife, First Lady Pat, and their two daughters. Nixon had his team put together a shortlist of possible women for a possible nominee. They eventually focused on Lillie.
John Dean, Nixon’s White House Counsel, was sent to California to vet Lillie. Bob Haldeman reported to Nixon of Dean’s experience: “He says she’s a goddamn jewel. Says she’s tough, able, personable — marvelous woman. Absolutely clean. Solid conservative. Democrat. Catholic leader. Very big community type, which she is.”
Yet opposition was fierce, and it came first from the Court itself. Chief Justice Warren Burger was a staunch conservative who spent much of this period of his tenure relishing the chance to rip up anything that his predecessor, Earl Warren, had completed. Besides being personally conservative, it was Warren that had elevated Lillie to her earliest judgeships. Burger wrote a letter to Attorney General John Mitchell declaring there was no woman qualified to be on the bench. Burger also came to Mitchell’s office personally to read a letter of resignation should Nixon nominate a woman. Angered, Nixon threatened to accept it.
Nevertheless, Lillie impressed Nixon and his aides. Attorney General John Mitchell declared her “just conservative period,” something Nixon himself affirmed. Nixon was also quoted as saying, “A conservative woman from California! God. That will kill them.” (While at these meetings with Nixon’s people, Lillie’s suitcase was carried around by the Assistant Attorney General, William Rehnquist. This would be important later.)
Nixon was serious enough to offer her name to the American Bar Association (ABA). The ABA panel evaluating Lillie returned a unanimous verdict: of the twelve representatives evaluating Lillie, eleven declared Lillie to be “not qualified.” At the time, the ABA was a male-only organization. The undeniably chauvinism of the group resulted in prejudice of, quite likely, every woman. This was leaked to the press.
The ABA had also been secretly lobbied to rule against Lillie by Chief Justice Warren Burger. Nixon had approached Burger about the possibility of Lillie’s nomination, and had ordered him to be a ‘good soldier.” But Warren was unwilling to let the possibility move forward unchallenged.
Earlier mentioned was Laurence Tribe’s memo criticizing Lillie’s record. Tribe focused specifically on the number of opinions that were overturned by the California Supreme Court. Seven such opinions were specifically noted. In 2009, Tribe was asked about the memo. He continued to defend his earlier opinions, describing Lillie as "both right-wing and stupid."
Assistant Attorney General William Rehnquist defended Lillie against this line of attack, declaring that of 1,160 opinions Lillie had written, only 69 had been reviewed by the higher court, and only 38 had been reversed; these numbers were consistent with California's judicial reversal rates.
Nixon ultimately decided not to nominate Lillie. After the opposition had mounted against her, it seemed unlikely the Senate would confirm her. Nixon had already experienced two Senate rejections of his nominees. Instead, he decided to nominate Lewis Powell, a Richmond, Virginia lawyer who had rebuffed Nixon multiple times over the Court previously, and William Rehnquist, the Assistant Attorney General who had carried Lillie’s suitcase around for her. Both were confirmed, though Rehnquist was subject to some tough questions over racially-problematic legal memoranda he had written. (Two of Rehnquist’s future antagonists, Pres. Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary Clinton, would come to view Rehnquist as an unapologetic racist.)
The degree to which Nixon was serious in his considerations was somewhat debatable. Many believed that he wanted the credit of having publicly considered a woman, without actually having to appoint a woman. In one recording from his infamous White House tapes, he is heard saying that he could take credit for trying to nominate her but could deflect blame for the defeat to the ABA.
In the decades since, it has become common parlance that Lillie was never a serious contender. Histories often uncritically cite the ABA’s “not qualified” designation as proof. This is a mistake, one that lessens Lillie unjustly. John Dean, Nixon’s White House Counsel at the time of Lillie’s consideration, later said, "I later - after Sandra Day O’Connor was selected = I lined up the credentials of these two women and Mildred Lillie was every bit, if not more, qualified to be a Justice than Day O’Connor.”
First Lady Pat Nixon was reportedly infuriated that her husband had declined to nominate Lillie. Nixon told his wife that no woman shared his strict constructionist judicial philosophy. (One wonders what he would have thought of Justice Amy Coney Barrett.)
Lillie didn’t sulk about not being selected. Nixon-era taint largely escaped her. She reportedly enjoyed telling curious folks that the man at the Justice Department who had carried her suitcase when she met with Nixon aides was William Rehnquist.
As for the two men nominated Powell would serve on the Court until 1987. William Rehnquist became Chief Justice in 1986 and would serve until his death in 2005.
Lillie continued her work in California. In 1984, she was elevated to Presiding Judge of the California Court of Appeals for the Second District, where she was still serving upon her death in 2002. At the time of her death, she was 87 years old and had been an appellate judge for 44 years.
2
The character Mildred Ratched, from the Netflix drama show "Ratched" (2020) bears this name.
1
1
Mildred Peacock is the main character in Terry McMillan's novel Mama (1987).
2
2
Mildred Clinton (1914-2010) was an American actress.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mildred_Clinton
2
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mildred_Clinton
2
In the little mermaid, when Ariel had no voice, prince Eric tried to guess her name. His first guess was Mildred and Ariel's reaction was of disgust. Apparently, she didn't like the name, but I'm guessing prince Eric did XD. I think it sounds cute and vintage.
13
13
As to George Washington-- though he had a sister named Mildred who died when she was a year old, the main Mildreds in his life were his paternal grandmother (named after her own mother) and an aunt:
https://www.geni.com/people/Mildred-Warner/6000000003110467510
https://www.geni.com/people/Mildred-Willis/6000000000062184652
George Washington did not have any children of his own.
6
https://www.geni.com/people/Mildred-Warner/6000000003110467510
https://www.geni.com/people/Mildred-Willis/6000000000062184652
George Washington did not have any children of his own.
6
Mildred Hillary Davis (February 22, 1901 – August 18, 1969) was an American actress who appeared in many of Harold Lloyd's classic silent comedies and eventually became his wife.
4
4
Mildred Augustine Wirt Benson (1905-2002) wrote 23 of the first 25 Nancy Drew mystery novels under the pseudonym Carolyn Keene.
5
5
Also, this name makes me think of "The Parent Trap" with Lindsay Lohan when she's on the phone with her twin. XD
1
1
A famous bearer was influential 1930s jazz singer Mildred Bailey (1908 - 1951). Known as "Mrs. Swing", her popular songs included "Please Be Kind", "Darn That Dream", and "Says My Heart".
4
4
On June 17, 1880, twin sisters Mildred Widman Philippi and Mary Widman Franzini are born in St. Louis, Missouri. Both live to be 104 years old with Mildred passing away first on May 4, 1985.
4
4
Mildred Loving was the African American woman whose challenge led to a Supreme Court ruling striking down bans on interracial marriage.
9
9
This name is borne by Nurse Mildred Ratched in Ken Kesey's 1962 novel "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest", its 1963 stage adaptation, and its acclaimed 1975 film adaptation. On stage, she was portrayed by such actresses as Janet Ward, Amy Morton, and Amanda Magnavita. In the film, she was portrayed by Louise Fletcher, who won an Academy Award for the performance. In the story, she is the administrative nurse of the Salem, Oregon State Hospital.
1
1
Mildred Montag was the wife of Guy Montag in Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451. She was a shell of a person, whose life was meaningless because of technology. Not a good connotation for a little girl.
-6
-6
Mildred Hubble is the cool young heroine of The Worst Witch books by Jill Murphy. The character was played by Georgina Sherrington in the TV series based on the books.
5
5
Actress Mildred Harris.
2
2
Mildred is the name of Helen Keller's sister. I learned this in the "Miracle Worker".
3
3
Mildred Didrikson also known as Babe Zaharias was one of the best American athletes of all time.
1
1
Mildred Pierce was a novel by James. M. Cain. It was later made into a film in 1945 starring Joan Crawford as the character of the same name.
5
5
W. Somerset Maugham chose the name Mildred Rogers for a slatternly waitress in his novel "Of Human Bondage." She was a dreadful sort. I cringe whenever I think of her.
1
1
Mildred was the first name of Mrs. Roper in the British TV sitcom "George and Mildred."
3
3
Comments are left by users of this website. They are not checked for accuracy.