The Howard T. Markey National Courts Building (formerly the National Courts Building) is a courthouse in Washington, D.C., which houses the United States Court of Federal Claims and the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. It is located at 717 Madison Place NW, east of Lafayette Square and north of the White House, and borders the Benjamin Ogle Tayloe House at 721 Madison Place NW, the former Cosmos Club building at 725 Madison Place NW, and the Cutts-Madison House at 1520 H Street NW.
Originally, the plan for the courthouse and an office building for White House staff had called for the historic houses on both sides of Lafayette Square to be razed. First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, a believer in historic preservation, urged President John F. Kennedy to find an alternative solution. Kennedy tapped architect John Carl Warnecke to come up with a plan to preserve the houses. Warnecke and Jacqueline Kennedy envisioned that the courthouse and the New Executive Office Building, a twin structure to be built on the other side of Lafayette Square, would form a backdrop for the historic houses. The two buildings remain distinctive in their own right.
The Building Committee included Chief Judge John Marvin Jones, Commissioner Marion Tinsley Bennett, and Chief Commissioner Arnold Wilson Cowen. The building was dedicated on September 20, 1967.
The courthouse was initially built for the United States Court of Customs and Patent Appeals and the United States Court of Claims, so when the two courts were abolished and merged to create the Federal Circuit in 1982, they already had a domicile in common.
In 1998, President Bill Clinton signed legislation renaming the National Courts Building after Howard Thomas Markey. The re-dedication celebration was held on October 23, 1998, during a special joint session of the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and the Court of Federal Claims.
Famous quotes containing the words howard t, howard, national, courts and/or building:
“No, the only things which do not bother me are the elements. I can overcome them without a fight. All one has to do to get the best of the elements is to stand pat and one will win.”
—William Howard Taft (1857–1930)
“Scarlett O’Hara: What shall we do? Ashley, what’s to become of us?
Ashley Wilkes: What do you think becomes of people when their civilization breaks up? Those who have brains and courage come through all right. Those who aren’t are winnowed out.”
—Sidney Howard (1891–1939)
“Prestige is the shadow of money and power. Where these are, there it is. Like the national market for soap or automobiles and the enlarged arena of federal power, the national cash-in area for prestige has grown, slowly being consolidated into a truly national system.”
—C. Wright Mills (1916–1962)
““With the gracious consent of the audience, you will be made to don the red tophat”Ma token phrase that the courts had evolved, whose true meaning was known to every schoolboy.”
—Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977)
“By building relations...we create a source of love and personal pride and belonging that makes living in a chaotic world easier.”
—Susan Lieberman (20th century)