Sweden nominates Charles Evans Hughes for World Court in 1928

Japan was considered the leading prospect in 1928 to nominate Charles Evans Hughes for the Permanent Court of International Justice, commonly known as the World Court.

But the honor went to Sweden, much to the surprise of reporters.

“It was known that a considerable number of powers were ready to propose the name of Mr. Hughes to the World Court, but hitherto Sweden has not been mentioned in Geneva dispatches,” The Associated Press reported in a report published July 2, 1928 in the Evening Star of Washington, D.C.

The United States traditionally had a seat on the World Court, but could not directly nominate a judge because the United States was not a member of the League of Nations.

Hughes was vacationing in Berlin with his wife and daughter the day news broke of the nomination, and he had little comment.

“You appreciate, of course, that I cannot say anything now, as I have no official word about this,” he told reporters, who interviewed Hughes as he left a visit with German President Paul von Hindenburg.

“The President received me most graciously,” Hughes said. “I consider it an honor to have met him. The visit was purely a courtesy call, so there is nothing to say about it.”

Earlier that day Hughes, his wife and daughter had an hour flight over Berlin and Potsdam, courtesy of the German Aerial League.

Hughes, a Glens Falls, N.Y. native, most recently had been U.S. Secretary of State in the Harding and Coolidge administrations.

He was the Republican nominee for President in 1916, narrowly losing to Democratic incumbent Woodrow Wilson.

Prior to that Hughes was a U.S. Supreme Court associate justice and New York governor.

Later he was Chief Justice of the United States.