He was elected Governor of New York in 1907, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court by 1910, defeated as a presidential candidate against Woodrow Wilson in 1916, Secretary of State by 1921, and...
No, Charles Evans Hughes was not a socialist. In 1920, he defended a group of socialists accused of sedition under the draconian Alien and Sedition Act and won an acquittal for them in court....
Charles Evans Hughes was important for two reasons: his opposition as Chief Justice to the New Deal, and for reuniting the Republican Party during his candidacy for President in 1916.