Synopses & Reviews
How have the legal careers of twenty-five American presidents shaped their presidencies?
Of America's forty-three presidents, twenty-five have been lawyers.
America's most beloved and admired president, Abraham Lincoln, was involved in more than 5,100 cases during his 25-year legal career. John Adams, the first lawyer-president, combined a twenty-year law practice with significant contributions to our nation's founding charters. His son, John Quincy Adams, argued landmark U.S. Supreme Court cases both before and after his presidency. He was one of eight lawyer-presidents to appear as counsel before the highest court in the land. Rutherford Hayes, Benjamin Harrison, and other lawyer-presidents gained fame handling sensational murder trials and equally high profile cases.
These are but a few of the fascinating stories about the legal careers of America's lawyer-presidents. Yet, these stories have largely been untold--until now. America's Lawyer-Presidents sheds light on the legal backgrounds of each of these chief executives and how their experiences as lawyers impacted and shaped their presidencies. Written by historians and presidential scholars and featuring an engaging and image-rich presentation, America's Lawyer-Presidents provides new insights into our national leaders and their lives and times, from colonial days to the present.
Review
"Twenty-five of the United States' forty-three Presidents have been lawyers, and yet their careers as attorneys have tended to receive scant attention when compared to their political lives, even though the training and activity of these men as lawyers often contributed deeply to their views on American institutions.
America's Lawyer-Presidents, which is the work of an impressive assembly of respected scholars, is lucid, informative, and highly engaging. The book provides intriguing biographical perspectives on the professional lives of a number of our most influential citizens, and also demonstrates yet again the profound relationship between the development of American law and our democracy." -Scott Turow
Synopsis
The historic election of Barack Obama was rife with references to Abraham Lincoln, perhaps the greatest lawyer-president, whose legal career spanned 25 years and 5,100 cases. President Obama's ties to Lincoln are part of a great tradition begun by John Adams, the first lawyer-president, who combined a twenty-year law practice with major contributions to our nation's founding charters. His son, John Quincy Adams, argued landmark U.S. Supreme Court cases both before and after his presidency, one of eight lawyer-presidents to appear as counsel before the highest court in the land. And Rutherford B. Hayes and Benjamin Harrison were among those lawyer-presidents who handled notable high-profile cases, including sensational murder trials.
These are but a few of the fascinating--yet still largely unknown--stories about America's lawyer-presidents. Now available in an updated, expanded paperback edition, America's Lawyer-Presidents sheds light on the legal backgrounds of each of these chief executives and how their experiences as lawyers impacted and shaped their presidencies. Written by historians and presidential scholars and featuring an engaging and image-rich presentation, America's Lawyer-Presidents provides unique insights into our national leaders and their lives and times, from colonial days to the present.
Synopsis
How have the legal careers of twenty-five American presidents shaped their
About the Author
A lawyer and educator, Norman Gross is currently director of the ABA Museum of Law in Chicago. He formerly served as director of Entrepreneurial Projects for the ABA and headed its Division for Public Education.
America's Lawyer Presidents is a co-publication with the American Bar Association Museum of Law.
Individual chapters on the "lawyer-Presidents" have been written by professors, lawyers, and historians of the Presidency.
Table of Contents
Foreword by Justice Sandra Day O'Connor
Preface
James R. Silkenat and Robert A. Stein
Introduction
Norman Gross
Founding Fathers and Sons
Law in Colonial America
Lawrence M. Friedman
John Adams: Patriot Lawyer
L. Kinvin Wroth
Thomas Jefferson: Legal Wordsmith
David T. Konig
James Monroe: Occasional Lawyer
Daniel Preston
John Quincy Adams: Eloquent Advocate
Howard Jones
Antebellum Presidents
Law in Antebellum America
Lawrence M. Friedman
Andrew Jackson: Frontier Justice
David S. Heidler and Jeanne T. Heidler
Martin Van Buren: Boy Lawyer
James A. Henretta
John Tyler: Virginia Counsel
E. Lee Shepard
James K. Polk: Sometime Lawyer
Robert W. Johannsen
Millard Fillmore: Lawyer Mentor
Elbert B. Smith
Franklin Pierce: Courtroom Orator
Christopher M. Johnson
James Buchanan: Strict Constructionist
Jean H. Baker
Lawyer Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln: Prairie Lawyer
Paul Finkelman
Selected Cases of A. Lincoln, Esq., Attorney and Counsellor-at-Law
John A. Lupton
Lincoln's Notes for a Law Lecture
Gilded Age Presidents
Law in the Gilded Age
Lawrence M. Friedman
Rutherford B. Hayes: Volunteer Counsel
Ari Hoogenboom
James A. Garfield: Supreme Court Counsel
Allan Peskin
Chester A. Arthur: War Claims Lawyer
Thomas C. Reeves
Grover Cleveland: An Honest Lawyer
Eugene C. Gerhart
Benjamin Harrison: High-Priced Counsel
Allen Sharp
William McKinley: A Good Lawyer
Lewis L. Gould
New Century Presidents
Law in the New Century
Lawrence M. Friedman
William Howard Taft: Mr. Chief Justice
Melvyn Dubofsky
Woodrow Wilson: Reluctant Lawyer
Melvin I. Urofsky
Calvin Coolidge: Country Lawyer
Russell Fowler
Franklin Delano Roosevelt: Contrarian Counselor
Jerome J. Shestack
The Modern Presidency
Law in Modern America
Lawrence M. Friedman
Richard M. Nixon: Bicoastal Practitioner
Irwin F. Gellman
Gerald R. Ford: All-American Counsel
David Horrocks
William Jefferson Clinton: Political Lawyer
David H. Bennett
Presidential Appointments: Supreme Court Justices and Chief Government Lawyers
Lawyer-Presidents and Their Supreme Court Appointments
Barbara A. Perry
Supreme Court Appointments
Lawyer-Presidents and Their Attorneys (General)
Cornell W. Clayton
Attorneys General Appointments
Solicitors General Appointments
Further Reading
Contributors
Illustration Credits
Index