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John Jay, Defender Of Liberty Against Kings & Peoples (History - United States)

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John Jay until quite recently, had been largely forgotten as one of the country's founding fathers. He was a devout Christian, quite pious, a family man, an exempliary law expert (was the first chief justice of the supreme court), at one time the president of the United States (pre-constitution days), governor of New York State, Foreign Minister, Federalist, fiercely anti-slavery, President of the American Bible Society, and above all, an American at heart.

This biography, written in 1935 by Frank Monaghan was quite comprehensive and very informative in covering most of Jay's political, judicial and social life, including most of the relevent history of the time. The writing style was slightly dry when compared to a McCollough or Dinker Bowen biography, but generally the story of Jay's life was quite interesting. Monaghan credits Jay with being an early federalist at a time when most people were either patriots or indifferent or tories. Jay seemed to be neither. He fiercely loved this country, but he also was able to view human machinations for what they were. He was present at the continental congresses but didn't get to sign the declaration of independance because he had to return home to attend to some responsibilities. He was also one of the authors of the Federalist Papers along with Hamilton and Madison. He never shirked from responsibility even when it was fashionable to do so (during the years under the articles of confederation). He refused to answer ill for ill; this being an unheard of behavior in today's acidicly partison times: interesting to note that the early days of this country were also dreadfully partison at times. He helped form many of the statutes and customs of the supreme court was was THE MODEL of judicial restraint, refusing to even hear a case for the first year and a half. Interestingly enough, Jay's time on the supreme court came to an end because he resigned partly due to the fact that the circuit court responsibilities (which the supreme court justices were required to serve on back then) required extensive travel all over the country and had the results of being physically draining and an impediment to seeing his family.

All in all, this was a very good book about John Jay. I found him to be of the same caliber as any of the other founding fathers that today we recognize. If you have any interest in American history or if you are interested in law, I would recommend this book whole heartedly. Fan's of Christians in politics and judicial systems would also find this book quite interesting and enjoyable.