Floyd H. Roberts

Floyd Hurt Roberts (March 29, 1879 - January 29, 1967) was a Virginia lawyer, state court judge, and, briefly, a United States federal judge, whose nomination after a recess appointment was rejected overwhelmingly by the United States Senate.

Roberts was born in Bristol, Virginia (known as Goodson until renamed after the English town in 1890) to Henry B. Roberts (1846 - 1913) and his wife Mary Catherine Hortenstine Roberts (1847 - 1906). He had three sisters and five brothers. Roberts attended Abingdon Male Academy, then the University of Virginia, graduating in from the college in 1899 and the law school in 1902.

He married Eliza Clapp Roberts (1880 - 1967), and they had three sons who survived their parents--Bradley Roberts (1908 - 1976), Randolph Roberts (1911 - 1992), and James Clapp Roberts (1917 - 1995). Their son Floyd Hurt Roberts Jr. died as an infant. Billie Dungan Roberts and Irene Roberts are also buried near Judge and Eliza Roberts.

After admission to the Virginia bar, Roberts practiced law in Bristol, Virginia. He served as Commonwealth's Attorney for the City of Bristol, and, from September 5, 1914, judge of the Corporation Court.

Franklin D. Roosevelt gave Roberts a recess appointment on July 6, 1938 to the new second seat on the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia, and in January 1939 sent his nomination for the position to the Senate. Roosevelt reportedly "made the decision to nominate Roberts in order to discipline" Virginia's senators, Harry F. Byrd and Carter Glass "for their consistent opposition to the New Deal and in an effort to assure a friendly Virginia delegation to the 1940 Democratic convention." In the "broader political context" of 1938, Roosevelt tried to oppose the renomination of Democrats who opposed his New Deal. The timing of the Roberts' nomination corresponded with Roosevelt's efforts across the board to reassert his authority over Democratic legislators. At stake were not only the immediate prospects for Roosevelt's legislative agenda, but also the prospect of a future struggle over the presidential nomination in 1940, as Roosevelt sought to use federal patronage to woo Democratic supporters away from Democratic opponents of the New Deal, in Virginia and elsewhere.

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