Early Years

A native son of New Jersey, Clifford Philip Case had a distinguished career in the United States Congress, including five terms in the House of Representatives (1945-1953) and four terms in the Senate (1954-1978). He was born in Franklin Township, April 16, 1904, the son of Reverend Clifford P. Case, a Rutgers College graduate, and Jeannette McAlpin Benedict Case. When Clifford was three years old, the family moved to Poughkeepsie, New York, where his father was pastor of the First Dutch Reformed Church.

Following his father's unexpected death in 1920, young Clifford matriculated at Rutgers College in 1921. While there, he was active in the Glee Club, played the tuba in the band, and served as manager for the student musical clubs. Academically, he focused on the liberal arts and was named to the college's Phi Beta Kappa chapter. It was at Rutgers that Case met his future wife, Ruth Smith, a member of the New Jersey College for Women (later Douglass College) Class of 1928. After graduating from Rutgers in 1925, Case attended Columbia Law School, receiving his degree in 1928. In that year, he and Ruth Smith were married. She would serve as his life partner for the next fifty-four years.