--- title: Constitution Day: Why 1937 Was the Most Controversial Ever description: The annual Sept. 17 observance was the occasion for one of FDR's more scandalous oratories canonical: https://time.com/4030457/1937-constitution-day/ author: Lily Rothman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-09-16T20:00:12.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-14T02:16:42.000Z article:section: History og:title: Constitution Day: Why 1937 Was the Most Controversial Ever og:description: The annual Sept. 17 observance prompted one of FDR's more scandalous oratories og:url: https://time.com/4030457/1937-constitution-day/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfe47d6345b7c97d7/6988632aa988ca55a66b449a/constitution.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Signing The US Constitution og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Constitution Day: Why 1937 Was the Most Controversial Ever twitter:description: The annual Sept. 17 observance prompted one of FDR's more scandalous oratories twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfe47d6345b7c97d7/6988632aa988ca55a66b449a/constitution.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Most Controversial Constitution Day in American History > Sponsored content. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-sub-2026q3/newsletters?i=04416029-8cb9-474b-a111-108941ddcf97&cr=time-sub-2026q3-v1) * TIME Subscriptions: [time.com/subscribe-agent](/c/time-sub-2026q3/subscribe?i=04416029-8cb9-474b-a111-108941ddcf97&cr=time-sub-2026q3-v1)  by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Updated: Dec 14, 2023 2:16 AM UTCPublished: Sep 16, 2015 8:00 PM UTC  The Signing of the Constitution of the United States, with George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and others at the Constitutional Convention of 1787; oil painting on canvas by Howard Chandler Christy, 1940. The Signing of the Constitution of the United States, with George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and others at the Constitutional Convention of 1787; oil painting on canvas by Howard Chandler Christy, 1940. GraphicaArtis#Unified ED / Getty Images  by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Updated: Dec 14, 2023 2:16 AM UTCPublished: Sep 16, 2015 8:00 PM UTC When the United States marks the anniversary of the Sept. 17, 1787, signing of the Constitution, it’s usually with a warm and fuzzy patriotism aimed at educating citizens about the document on which the nation stands. But not every Constitution Day has been a happy one. In 1937—although the day only became an official national observance in 2004, it had long been celebrated—President Franklin Roosevelt delivered a speech commemorating the 150th anniversary of the signing that was anything but sedate. “Having made the Constitution the most controversial U. S. political subject of the year, the President took the opportunity to define his views on it, emphasize the familiar theme that in the past four years the Supreme Court has obstructed the will of the U. S. electorate by legalistic interpretations,” TIME [observed](http://time.com/vault/issue/1937-09-27/page/11/). Roosevelt had started a new term that year, and was eager to see his New Deal plans to ease the Depression actually implemented. Until that year, the Supreme Court had blocked much of his agenda on the grounds of governmental overreach. Though his plan to add more and more favorably-disposed justices to the court had been rendered moot, his Constitution Day speech was seen as a sign that he had not given up on the idea. FDR took lawyers to task for their interpretations of the founding document and reassured the crowd that the Constitution never enumerated the number of justices. “For us the Constitution is a common bond, without bitterness, for those who see America as Lincoln saw it, ‘the last, best hope of earth,'” his [speech](http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=15459) concluded. “So we revere it, not because it is old but because it is ever new, not in the worship of its past alone but in the faith of the living who keep it young, now and in the years to come.” The remarks delivered to some 65, 000 people at the base of the Washington Monument [drove down the markets](http://time.com/vault/issue/1937-09-27/page/67/) and prompted strong rebukes [from the nation’s legal scholars](http://time.com/vault/issue/1937-10-11/page/24/). **Correction, Nov. 26, 2018:** _The original photo caption that appeared with this story misstated who is pictured in Howard Chandler Christy’s painting of the signing of the U.S. Constitution. 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