Supreme Power: Franklin Roosevelt vs. the Supreme Court

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More About This Book

Overview

Beginning in 1935, in a series of devastating decisions, the Supreme Court’s conservative majority left much of FDR’s agenda in ruins. The pillars of the New Deal fell in short succession. It was not just the New Deal, but democracy itself, that stood on trial. In February 1937, Roosevelt struck back with an audacious plan to expand the Court to fifteen justices—and to “pack” the new seats with liberals who shared his belief in a “living” Constitution.

The ensuing fight was a firestorm that engulfed the White House, the Court, Congress, and the nation. The final verdict was a shock. It dealt FDR the biggest setback of his political life, split the Democratic party, and set the stage for a future era of Republican dominance. Yet the battle also transformed America’s political and constitutional landscape, hastening the nation’s march into the modern world.

This brilliant work of history unfolds like a thriller, with vivid characters and unexpected twists. Providing new evidence and fresh insight, Jeff Shesol shows why understanding the Court fight is essential to understanding the presidency, personality, and legacy of FDR—and to understanding America at a crossroads in its history.

Editorial Reviews

Alan Brinkley
Jeff Shesol…is not the first to chronicle what became known as the "court-packing" controversy, but Supreme Power is by far the most detailed—and most riveting—account of this extraordinary event…an impressive and engaging book—an excellent work of narrative history. It is deeply researched and beautifully written. Even readers who already know the outcome will find it hard not to feel the suspense that surrounded the battle, so successfully does Shesol recreate the atmosphere of this great controversy.
—The New York Times
Seth Stern
Shesol…is a fine writer with a gift for telling detail. He has produced a thorough and well told history…
—The Washington Post
More Reviews (2) Fewer Reviews
Library Journal
Franklin Delano Roosevelt owes his presidential greatness to his handling of the Great Depression and World War II, but he was also capable of blunder. This book considers his first major political mistake in the White House—how he dealt with the Supreme Court, which had begun to declare his New Deal economic reforms unconstitutional. Though this story is well known, Shesol (Mutual Contempt) presents it in a fuller and more balanced manner, pitting a great President against an equally great justice, Charles Evans Hughes. Unlike James MacGregor Burns's recent Packing the Court, on the same topic, Shesol sides with Hughes while recognizing FDR's multiple talents. Both books are necessary to appreciate the tug of war between the elected and nonelected branches of government, with Shesol's the more complete account of FDR's ill-fated court-packing plan. If a dimension is missing here, it's that FDR inherited a "mom and pop" presidency at a time when many abroad and some at home considered democracy outdated, so although Shesol mentions that FDR's judicial reorganization was tied to his executive reorganization effort, he doesn't explain its context or fate. VERDICT An accessibly written page-turner; essential reading for both general readers and specialists. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 10/1/09.]—William D. Pederson, Louisiana State Univ., Shreveport
Kirkus Reviews
The ideological battle between the New Deal president and the Supreme Court's Nine Old Men. Working secretly with Attorney General Homer Cummings, in 1937 Franklin Roosevelt drafted a bill to enlarge the Court, allowing the president to make immediate appointments of more ideologically congenial justices. The plan resulted in a humiliating defeat, the biggest blunder of Roosevelt's presidency. How and why did the most talented politician of the 20th century miscalculate so horribly? While not entirely rejecting the consensus that attributes FDR's court-packing fiasco to sheer hubris, former Clinton speechwriter Shesol (Mutual Contempt: Lyndon Johnson, Robert Kennedy, and the Feud that Defined a Decade, 1997, etc.) offers a more nuanced take, making clear FDR's move against the court involved more than momentary presidential pique or landslide giddiness. Rather, the president's scheme emerged after two years' worth of careful consultation about various proposals to "fix" the Court, including amending the Constitution. Moreover, there was genuine, widespread disgust with the Court's refusal to sanction modern solutions to an unprecedented economic crisis. FDR might well have prevailed, but for a concatenation of events: his own penchant for mystery and surprise that shut off debate among advisors at the critical point when the measure was finalized; his absurd masking of a straightforward fight against outcome-oriented judges as an attempt to help aging jurists with their workload; and his abandonment by progressives threatened by his power and party regulars too long taken for granted. In addition, the untimely death of Majority Leader Joe Robinson, the surprise retirement of conservativeJustice Willis Van Devanter and the Court's subsequent string of decisions upholding important New Deal laws-the famous "switch in time [that] saved nine"-blunted enthusiasm for radical judicial reform. With insight and more than occasional humor, Shesol covers all aspects of the controversy, deftly explaining the issues at stake in a variety of legal opinions and shrewdly analyzing the intra-Court dynamics. A thorough and thoroughly smart rendering of a dramatic Constitutional showdown. Author tour to New York, Washington, D.C., Boston

Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780393064742
  • Publisher: Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
  • Publication date: 3/22/2010
  • Pages: 644
  • Sales rank: 340,511
  • Product dimensions: 6.10 (w) x 9.30 (h) x 2.00 (d)

Meet the Author

Jeff Shesol is the author of Supreme Power: Franklin Roosevelt vs. the Supreme Court and Mutual Contempt: Lyndon Johnson, Robert Kennedy, and the Feud That Defined a Decade. He was a speechwriter in the Clinton administration and lives in Washington, DC.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

1 Complete Control 8

2 Storm Center 24

3 Shortcuts 42

4 The Dying of the Light 60

5 Heavy Bombardment 74

6 The Golden Ruling 87

7 The Last Thin Line 107

8 Black Monday 127

9 Opening Gun 147

10 Vigilantes 158

11 Slow Poison 173

12 A Project of Great Importance 199

13 No-Man's-Land 218

14 Plans and Purposes 239

15 Warning Bell 259

16 Preserve, Protect, Defend 276

17 The Beginning of the End of Everything 291

18 The First Wedge 307

19 Punch Drunk 336

20 The Real Mischief 350

21 This New Roar 371

22 The Yielding 392

23 Blood or Ink 416

24 The Switch in Time 429

25 Consent 444

26 Striking a Blow for Liberty 461

27 To Fight Against God 479

Epilogue We Have Only Just Begun to Fight 501

Acknowledgments 531

Notes 535

Bibliography 603

Index 617

Customer Reviews
Average Rating 4
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  • Posted November 15, 2010

    more from this reviewer

    would recommend for anyone who is an FDR student

    An excellent read, details very nicely the political, social and cultural ramifications of this issue.

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  • Posted October 3, 2010

    Excellent Easy Read!!

    This is one of those books that reads like fiction. Usually nonfiction is tough to get through but not with Jeff Shesol. He is so easy to read, you feel like you're reading a story. Just like David McCullough. Excellent! There is nothing else I can say.

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  • Posted May 5, 2010

    WONDERFUL HISTORY THAT RELATES TO TODAY

    This is a well researched, well written history that takes us back to the future...as FDR wrestled with many of the same issues and conflicts and constuencies that Obama is dealing with. This book sheds a great deal of light on today.

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  • Posted April 22, 2010

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    Terrific Read

    So often, the workings of the Court are often discounted next to those of Congress and of past and present occupants of the White House. In this book, Shesol shows us what happens when two branches of government attempt to circumvent the other.

    This is a terrific read for those that like history!

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