Supreme Power: Franklin Roosevelt vs. the Supreme Court
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- ISBN13: 9780393064742
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
Product Description
In the years before World War II, Franklin Roosevelt’s fiercest, most unyielding opponent was neither a foreign power nor “dread itself.” It was the U.S. Supreme Court.
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 fleeting succession. It was not just the New Deal, but democracy itself, that stood on examination. In February 1937, Roosevelt struck back with an audacious plot 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 largest 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 plain 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.
16 pages of photos.
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Mr. Shesol has made a wonderful and readable account of politics in the 1930’s. Even the chapter titles are colorful and implies the high stakes involved in the political showdown between the liberal President and the conservative Supreme Court. The leader does not start his tale in 1937 (the year of the court-packing political battle), but in 1932 with Roosevelt’s election in a time of economic turmoil. He clearly covers Roosevelt’s first term with the New Deal programs that were overturned by the Supreme Court, the 1936 earthquake victory by Roosevelt and then his political choice to deal with all the 5-4 and 6-3 court rulings that he lost. With 500+ pages of text and 100 pages of supporting documentation/pointer, this is an brilliant work of political history.
Reader’s Rating: 5 / 5