Supreme Court The Personalities & Rivalries That Defined America

"[The Supreme Court] covers the same territory as the [PBS] documentary with an even sharper focus on the role of judicial personality in shaping the court . . . While Rosen's book and the TV series are largely about the court's past, the subject of greatest interest right now is the court's future. Both series and book give us a glimpse of that through interviews with [Chief Justice] Roberts. They include reflections by the new chief on what can be learned from the court's history, what the chief justice's role ought to be, and how he hopes to execute that role during his tenure. The final chapter of Rosen's book is devoted almost entirely to Roberts's views. It makes fascinating reading."Mark C. Rahdert, Temple University Beasley School of Law, Chronicle of Higher Education

"Part scholar, part popularist, [Rosen] has fashioned a set of Plutarchian pairings of leading legal figures that combines fine biography with nuanced discussions of jurisprudential debates, from the founding to the present . . . He had me on the first page."Slate"A thoughtful, thought-provoking, and only occasionally textbookish study of the Court's history and its possible future under new Chief Justice John Roberts."Luther Spoehr, The Providence Journal “An enjoyable and interesting take to the writing on Supreme Court history.”Stephen Wermiel, Trial

“Offers fascinating insights into the inner workings of one of the nations most mysterious institutions. Unlike many books that deal almost exclusively with the Supreme Court as an institution, Rosens focus is on the people who contribute to the development of the Courts decisions . . . This book is must reading for anyone who wants to better understand how the Supreme Court works . . . Essential.”R. Stidham, Appalachian State University, Choice

"Jeffrey Rosen combines the spellbinding talents of a master storyteller, the astute eye and ear of a master journalist, and the penetrating insights of a scholar steeped in the law and politics of his subject. Rare is the book I'd call a must-read for every Supreme Court justice and every president and senator faced with the awesome tasks of nominating or confirming oneas well as for every citizen who cares about what's at stake. This is just such a book."Laurence Tribe"It was all very well for John Adams to say that the great political goal is 'a government of laws and not of men.' But government, emphatically including the judicial branch, is men and women. In this lively, nuanced history, Jeffrey Rosen, one of America's most acute writers on constitutional law, shows how clashes of large personalities have shaped conflicts about important principles."George F. Will "Jeffrey Rosen has written a superb and accessible history of the Supreme Court and, in doing so, has given readers an opportunity to understand both the past and the present importance of the institution."Alan Brinkley "Jeffrey Rosen, one of our most astute observers of the Supreme Court, understands that personalities can play a critical role in deciding American law. His arresting new book focuses on some of the most dramatic and consequential chapters in American legal history, depicting them as deeply human events in which temperament as well as legal philosophy came to the fore."Sean Wilentz "Authoritative analysis of how the justices' 'quirks of personality and temperament' have shaped American law and made the Court one of our strongest institutions. Rosen traces the Court's evolution through the stories of four pairs of personalities and their clashes over important issues. The most successful ju

The Supreme Court is the most mysterious branch of government, and yet the Court is at root a human institution, made up of very bright people with very strong egos, for whom political and judicial conflicts often become personal.

In this compelling work of character-driven history, Jeffrey Rosen recounts the history of the Court through the personal and philosophical rivalries on the bench that transformed the law--and by extension, our lives. The story begins with the great Chief Justice John Marshall and President Thomas Jefferson, cousins from the Virginia elite whose differing visions of America set the tone for the Court's first hundred years. The tale continues after the Civil War with Justices John Marshall Harlan and Oliver Wendell Holmes, who clashed over the limits of majority rule. Rosen then examines the Warren Court era through the lens of the liberal icons Hugo Black and William O. Douglas, for whom personality loomed larger than ideology. He concludes with a pairing from our own era, the conservatives William H. Rehnquist and Antonin Scalia, only one of whom was able to build majorities in support of his views.

Through these four rivalries, Rosen brings to life the perennial conflict that has animated the Court--between those justices guided by strong ideology and those who forge coalitions and adjust to new realities. He illuminates the relationship between judicial temperament and judicial success or failure. The stakes are nothing less than the future of American jurisprudence.

Superbly well written . . . a wonderfully informative guide to the Supreme Court both past and present.--David J. Garrow, American History

Jeffrey Rosen recounts the history of the Supreme Court through the personal and philosophical rivalries that have transformed the law--and by extension, our lives. With studies of four crucial conflicts--Chief Justice John Marshall and President Thomas Jefferson; post-Civil War justices John Marshall Harlan and Oliver Wendell Holmes; liberal icons Hugo Black and William O. Douglas; and conservative stalwarts William H. Rehnquist and Antonin Scalia--Rosen brings vividly to life the perennial rivalry between those justices guided by strong ideology and those who cared more about the court as an institution, forging coalitions and adjusting to new realities. He ends with a revealing conversation with Chief Justice John Roberts, who is attempting to change the court in unexpected ways. The stakes, he shows, are nothing less than the future of American jurisprudence.