Supreme Power: Franklin Roosevelt vs. the Supreme Court

by Jeff Shesol

Overview

"A stunning work of history."—Doris Kearns Goodwin, author of No Ordinary Time and Team of Rivals

Beginning in 1935, 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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780393338812
Publisher:	Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Publication date:	03/14/2011
Pages:	656
Sales rank:	234,039
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Jeff Shesol is the author of Supreme Power and Mutual Contempt, both selected as New York Times Notable Books of the Year. He is a former speechwriter for President Bill Clinton and is a founding partner of West Wing Writers.

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

What People are Saying About This

Bill Clinton

Supreme Power is an extraordinary book that rings with relevance for our time. One of the most eloquent historians of his generation, Jeff Shesol has a deep understanding of the presidency, and the interplay of politics, personalities, and principles, all of which he brings to life in this rich, remarkable book. Full of surprises and new insights—each rendered in clear and confident prose – this book is about more than FDR’s plan to pack the Court. It’s about America’s enduring struggle to reconcile our founders’ ideals with conflicting challenges in our constant pursuit to build a more perfect union.

From the Publisher

"Shesol is a terrific storyteller, and he brings the book's events to life by taking the [listener] inside the key places where the constitutional conflict took shape." —-The Boston Globe

Editorial Reviews

"One of the most eloquent historians of his generation, Jeff Shesol has a deep understanding of the presidency, and the interplay of politics, personalities, and principles, all of which he brings to life in this rich, remarkable book."

President Bill Clinton

Shesol…is a fine writer with a gift for telling detail. He has produced a thorough and well told history…
—The Washington Post

Seth Stern

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

Alan Brinkley

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

Library Journal

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

Kirkus Reviews

"Written with a novelist's eye, a historian's care, and a blogger's energy, Jeff Shesol's Supreme Power is a fascinating reconstruction of one of the great political and legal battles of the twentieth century. The story of FDR's court-packing plan is a citizen's education in the twenty-first."

Jeffrey Toobin

"[T]imely, for the light it casts on the politics of our current economic situation and on the situation itself. The book is also splendid to read. It will fascinate anyone who is interested in Roosevelt, the New Deal, the 1930s, Congress, the presidency, the Great Depression, judges, the Supreme Court, or constitutional law."

The New Republic

"Once in a generation a groundbreaking book comes along to provide a major reinterpretation of a familiar historical event. Shesol tells the story of FDR's court packing plan as it has never been told before. This is a stunning work of history."

Doris Kearns Goodwin

"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."

The New York Times Book Review

"Shesol is a terrific storyteller, and he brings the book's events to life by taking the [listener] inside the key places where the constitutional conflict took shape." ---The Boston Globe

From the Publisher

As President Obama’s health-care plan is threatened by its opposition (possibly all the way to the Supreme Court) and the nation struggles with joblessness, no episode in American history is more instructive than Franklin Roosevelt’s battle with the Supreme Court and its allies in the spring of 1937. Few political episodes in the history of American democracy are more important and less understood. Mel Foster’s perfectly metered baritone gives life to Jeff Shesol’s detailed account of the “court fight.” Shesol’s narrative is carefully researched and structured. Foster’s occasional attempts to mimic the voices of the pompous participants add variety and humor. Despite the enormous cast of characters rushing on and off the stage of history, the core story is easy for the listener to follow. F.C. © AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine

JULY 2010 - AudioFile