Haynsworth at Home

Friday, Oct. 24, 1969

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When Clement F. Haynsworth Jr. left Greenville, S.C., for Washington last month, the judge expected a triumphal anointment as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. So did the town in which his family has played an aristocratic part for five generations. Instead, Greenville saw a bitter dispute over Haynsworth's fitness. Last week, as the Senate battle lapsed temporarily, a subdued Haynsworth returned to his Greenville refuge. "It's quiet here," Haynsworth said, and he seemed grateful for the respite.

Despite the furor over his nomination, neither Haynsworth nor his wife publicly expressed bitterness about the contest that could undermine both his reputation and his present position as chief judge of the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. Mrs. Haynsworth was philosophical: "Sad, but que sera sera." Haynsworth refused to discuss the substantive issues in the controversy. But he did point out that the press had failed to report testimony in his favor given to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

No Chances. A painfully shy man. Haynsworth has kept to himself since his return from Washington. He spent most of last week in his office, where his staff protected him from visitors as he tried to catch up on his work and read the hundreds of letters he has received since President Nixon first submitted his nomination. He returns home each day to lunch with his wife, who calls herself his "home secretary," and to tend his camellias. Haynsworth has let his private-pilot's license lapse for want of time to pursue that hobby. His hunting days are over because of legal hazards. "The hunting laws became so strict," he says, "that I finally decided I was taking a chance of breaking some laws any time I went hunting." Without a trace of irony, he adds: "And you know a judge can't afford to take chances."

Haynsworth has taken none—at least not knowingly—in his 56 years. His lawyer forebears, long associated with the textile interests that have dominated the small (pop. 73,700) city for many decades, left him a legacy of Southern gentility that in no way prepared him for his current troubles. Born and reared only a few doors from the two-acre estate he now occupies, he attended nearby Furman University; one of its founders was his great-great-grandfather. His proper manner and the fact that he neither smoked nor drank led some fellow students to call him "the clean-clean boy." Upon graduation from Harvard Law School, Haynsworth returned to Greenville to join his family's law firm. Except for World War II Navy service in Charleston and San Diego, he has lived in Greenville since.

His career as lawyer, civic leader and judge was almost preordained by Greenville's social order, as are his friends: bankers, lawyers and old-line business leaders. They meet each other in private homes or such white, Christian islands as the Green Valley Country Club. The judge's relationships outside his own class—and race—have been few and distant.