Charles Evans Hughes (1862-1948) Chief Justice of the United States of America.
Charles Evans Hughes was the son of a Welsh Baptist Minister who had emigrated to the USA. Hughes served as the 11th Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court. He was also the 36th Governor of New York in 1906, an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court from 1910-1916, the Republican presidential nominee in the 1916 presidential election, and the 44th United States Secretary of State 1920-25. Before becoming Chief Justice, Hughes was one of the most prominent attorneys in the country.
In 1930, President Herbert Hoover appointed Hughes as Chief Justice. Along with Associate Justice Owen Roberts, Hughes emerged as a key swing vote on the bench, positioned between the liberal and conservative wings of the Court in cases arising from the New Deal programs in the early and the mid-1930s.
Although proud of his Welsh ancestry and a patron of Welsh American causes, Charles Evans Hughes regarded himself as thoroughly American and twice declined the offer an honorary degree from the University of Wales.