Editing Robert H. Jackson (section)

==U.S. Solicitor General, 1938–1940==
In March 1938, Jackson became [[United States Solicitor General]], succeeding [[Stanley Forman Reed]], who had been appointed to the Supreme Court. Jackson served as Solicitor General until January 1940, working as the government's chief advocate before the [[Supreme Court of the United States|U.S. Supreme Court]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Black |first1=Ryan C. |last2=Owens |first2=Ryan J. |date=2012 |title=The Solicitor General and the United States Supreme Court |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HJlGrP60bJkC&pg=PA18 |location=New York, NY |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=18 |isbn=978-1-107-01529-6 |access-date=March 11, 2017 |archive-date=March 12, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170312135638/https://books.google.com/books?id=HJlGrP60bJkC&pg=PA18 |url-status=live }}</ref> During his time in this post, he argued 44 cases to the Supreme Court on behalf of the federal government, and lost only six.<ref>{{cite magazine |date=October 18, 1954 |title=Of the World: The Court Loses a Justice |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pFIEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA51 |magazine=LIFE |location=New York, NY |publisher=Time, Inc. |page=51 |access-date=March 11, 2017 |archive-date=March 12, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170312135334/https://books.google.com/books?id=pFIEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA51 |url-status=live }}</ref> His record of accomplishment caused Justice [[Louis Brandeis]] to once remark that Jackson should be Solicitor General for life.<ref>{{cite book |last=Cushman |first=Clare |title=The Supreme Court Justices: Illustrated Biographies |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=02IshbCXeHYC&pg=PA370 |location=Thousand Oaks, CA |publisher=Sage Press |page=370 |isbn=978-1-60871-832-0 |year=2013 |access-date=March 11, 2017 |archive-date=March 12, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170312135159/https://books.google.com/books?id=02IshbCXeHYC&pg=PA370 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Roosevelt regarded Jackson as a possible successor to the presidency in 1940, and worked with his staff on an effort to raise Jackson's public profile.{{sfn|''That Man: An Insider's Portrait of Franklin D. Roosevelt''|pages=xv-xvi}} Their plan was to mention Jackson favorably in presidential remarks as often as possible, and to have Jackson take part frequently in Roosevelt's public appearances.{{sfn|''That Man: An Insider's Portrait of Franklin D. Roosevelt''|pages=xv-xvi}} Roosevelt and his advisers next intended for Jackson to become the Democratic nominee for Governor of New York in 1938. They abandoned their effort to create a groundswell of support for Jackson's gubernatorial candidacy when they ran into resistance from state Democratic Party leaders.{{sfn|''That Man: An Insider's Portrait of Franklin D. Roosevelt''|pages=xv-xvi}} In addition, Roosevelt's decision to run for a third term in 1940 rendered moot the need to identify and promote a successor.{{sfn|''That Man: An Insider's Portrait of Franklin D. Roosevelt''|pages=xv-xvi}} Instead of running for Governor or President, Jackson joined Roosevelt's cabinet when he was appointed as Attorney General.{{sfn|''That Man: An Insider's Portrait of Franklin D. Roosevelt''|pages=xv-xvi}}