Clarence Thomas: A Biography [Paperback]

Andrew Peyton Thomas (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2002

In this unauthorized biography, the most authoritative ever written about the controversial Supreme Court Justice, Andrew Peyton Thomas (no relation) explores Clarence Thomas' remarkable rise from a childhood of poverty in segregated Georgia to the nation's highest court. In his attempt to understand what drives the elusive and sometimes enigmatic Justice, the author located and conducted the first-ever interview with Clarence Thomas' father, as well as interviews with his mother, sister, and other relatives and friends.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Thomas (no relation to his subject), a sympathetic conservative author (Crime and the Sacking of America), delivers a biography curiously at odds with itself. The first two chapters, covering several centuries of local and family history, follow Clarence Thomas's self-mythologizing strategy whereby he portrayed himself as a black Horatio Alger from the segregated South when he was undergoing scrutiny as a Supreme Court nominee. Though lacking rich detail, the account of the justice's early life is engaging. Justice Thomas's grandfather's grinding work-ethic response to racism sowed the seeds of deeply enduring conflicts that neither Thomas nor this biographer appear to have examined. At Yale Law School (one of several affirmative action boons Thomas both exploited and resented, as this volume affirms), he eschewed theoretical studies for commercial law. After clerking at a civil rights law firm, he unsuccessfully sought work elsewhere before becoming a diversity hire of Missouri Attorney General John Danforth. Reagan's need for black conservatives to reverse the civil rights agenda gained Thomas two successive plum assignments the last as head of the EEOC before Bush appointed him first to the D.C. Court of Appeals, then to the Supreme Court. His special, fast-track treatment and apparent lack of preparation for this post are made painfully evident here. The author acknowledges the justice's evident periodic dishonesty and deep self-pity, citing the "dark side" of Thomas's political abilities as "a disingenuousness that sometimes seeped into dishonesty." Anita Hill and every liberal in sight are dutifully trashed, and major substantive criticisms of Thomas are ignored. Though the author (a graduate of Harvard Law School who has written for the Weekly Standard and the National Review) offers exaggerated outbursts of praise (for a man who "[put] his head down and charg[ed] through life as an independent moral agent... a free man"), he portrays a spoiled, bitter, insincere man. Photos not seen by PW. (For another take on Thomas, see Silent Justice, by John Greenya, reviewed on p.82)

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

The tenth anniversary of Clarence Thomas' appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court has already produced one biography: John Greenya's Silent Justice: The Clarence Thomas Story [BKL S 1 01]. Like Greenya, Thomas was unable to convince his subject to agree to one or more interviews. Instead, he relies on archival research into Justice Thomas' early life and education and the progressively more demanding government positions he served in after law school, along with interviews with relatives, friends, coworkers, former law clerks, and fellow conservatives. Recommend this biography to readers who consider Justice Thomas a hero (or, like President Bush, one of the best current members of the Court). Author Thomas dishes dirt about Anita Hill (one charge seems to be a poor work ethic) to establish a context for her role in the Senate hearings considering Thomas' appointment. Because of the controversy surrounding his nomination, it may take a generation before we see a truly objective biography of Clarence Thomas. Mary Carroll
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 672 pages
• Publisher: Encounter Books (November 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1893554597
• ISBN-13: 978-1893554597
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.7 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,140,266 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a fascinating look at a complex man, October 27, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Clarence Thomas: A Biography (Hardcover)

This is a remarkable book. The author has achieved what Samuel Johnson said was the ultimate end of a good biography--exploring the faults of a subject to gain credibility for praise of his virtues. The author shows Clarence Thomas as a flawed and human man, anxious for advancements, prickly in his pride. He also shows the Justice as an unbelievably strong and moral person, someone whose hard-won achievements are real--and really honorable. The author has new information on Anita Hill and on each stop that Clarence Thomas has made on his long journey to the Highest Court. He has also recreated the long piece of history--from slavery, through Jim Crow, through the Second Revolution of the Civil Rights Movement--that produced this charismatic figure. This is biography and history at its best.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Man, Not Just the Controversy, April 24, 2007

By 

Dash Manchette - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Clarence Thomas: A Biography (Hardcover)

Finding a good biography is hard to begin with. This is even more true if the subject is the human lightning rod of Clarence Thomas, quite possibly the most polarizing figure out there. Indeed, Thomas Sowell once wrote something to the effect that one can tell a white liberal's level of commitment to his beliefs by how much he despises the man. I am therefore happy to say that CLARENCE THOMAS: A BIOGRAPHY is a true joy to read.

A major reason for this book being so good is because the author Andrew Peyton Thomas (no relation to the Justice) is so balanced. Other writers would either disparage Justice Thomas or act as little more than a literary cheerleader for the man based on ideological disposition. While the author A.P. Thomas obviously is an admirer of Justice Thomas, he nonetheless portrays the Justice warts and all. In fact, one of my friends, a white liberal who cannot discuss anything related to race without wallowing in white guilt and who simply cannot grasp the fact that blacks are responsible for their own lives, upon hearing that I was reading this book, asked me, his voice dripping with condescension and even hostility, whether the author goes over Justice Thomas having benefitted from affirmative action only to try to end such policies now. I was able to respond that, yes, indeed the author does cover this. In fact, quite extensively, while placing Justice Thomas' change of direction in the proper context and discussing the man's turmoil that others would focus on him rather than on the issues themselves (if my friend caught the irony, he did not let on).

CLARENCE THOMAS covers the Justices' early life extensively. I was initially hesitant that so many pages were devoted to what I considered to be basically an introduction. I was wrong. Thomas' early life and the influences upon him by his relatives, nuns and others with whom he came into contact is absolutely captivating.

As the book enters Thomas' adult years, the book loses none of its steam. Again, it is not just the facts of Thomas' life that are so captivating (though that is true), but that the author presents a vivid portrait of a man determined to stay true to himself in a context in which others want to use him for their own purposes and in the face of often seemingly insurmountable odds. We also get a focused picture of really just what kind of man Thomas is, as we read about his determination in the face of frustration after frustration. The author is not so much a fan of the Justice as to fail to acknowledge that Clarence Thomas, like many of us, has not always been able to live up to his ideals and that in some circumstances, subtle truths gave way to expediency.

The reader also understands how Thomas was able to rise so high so fast. This is a man, after all, who came to the helm of the EEOC when it was the worst run administrative agency of the federal government only to turn it into the crown jewel by the time he left, all the while laughing, having a good time and without the heads-will-roll attitude others would have brought to the task. And while others voiced the opinion that the cloistered life of a federal judge would not suit Thomas' personality, Thomas proved them wrong as well.

But again, CLARENCE THOMAS is not just a brightly colored paint job. The author also writes powerfully not only of Thomas' rough spots, but of the effect these had on the man and his approach to others. Justice Thomas was, not surprisingly, deeply seared by the attacks upon him during his confirmation hearing and with the insight that others would destroy every scrap of his good name simply for ideological purposes. Given the controversy surrounding the man, this book is probably the best source a reader could ask for to gain a good insight into Clarence Thomas, one of the more interesting figures to grace the American public stage.

12 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Profile in Courage, February 21, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Clarence Thomas: A Biography (Hardcover)

This biography of Justice Thomas is outstanding. It encompasses time from pre-civil war slavery to the decision of Bush v. Gore. Although the author's treatment of Justice Thomas is evenhanded, it would be difficult to complete this work without having a greater appreciation for Justice Thomas' independence and intelligence.