Customer Reviews

The Supreme Court

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As an introduction to the history of the Supreme Court, Justice Rehnquist's book was just what I was looking for. Not only does he give a good explanation of the personalities and issues through the ages, he also explains the experience of being a clerk on the court.

Rehnquist begins by telling the story of how he came to be a clerk for Justice Jackson in the early 1950s. He then goes back and explains the origins of the court in the 19th century. From 1800 until the Civil War, only two men were chief Justice, John Marshall and Roger Taney. Rehnquist explains why both of these men were important and how they shaped the court for generations to come.

Rehnquist then explains that the next 100 years were without an important chief justice, but many significant associate justices. This period begins with cases like Plessy v. Ferguson and ends with Brown versus the Board of Education. Rehnquist does a good job of explaining the politics behind FDR's court packing plan in the 1930s, and the Steel Case that came before the court when he was a clerk in the early 1950s.

The book ends with how the process of deciding cases happens on the Supreme Court, and how Rehnquist's experience was different as an associate justice before he became the chief.

The book works as an excellent history and an insider's view to how the court operates. It's not an in-depth book, but I don't know a single volume could accomplish that. I was very happy with what I learned in 300 pages.

No matter what your political persuasion, I think the average reader will find this a cogent, witty history of the High Court.

The Chief is a surprisingly smooth writer, and has a good ear for deliniating the chief cases in U.S. History. However, the book does really presume a familiarity with U.S. History that International readers may not have. Not the worst weakness in the world.

This is also a wonderfully appropriate gift for a gifted child with an interest in politics or jurisprudence. Just don't bring up Bush v. Gore.

Chief Justice William Rehnquist presents an impressively well-written introduction to the history and the operations of the United States Supreme Court.

Beginning with the landmark case, Marbury v. Madison, Rehnquist guides the reader through a history of the Supreme Court, its notable Justices, and important cases. He traces this history through the court of Cheif Justice Earl Warren, the last Chief Justice with whom Rehnquist did not sit on the Court.

Rehnquist also sheds light on the inner workings of the Court. Topics covered include how the Court chooses which cases it will hear, what happens in the conference after the oral arguments are heard, and how opinions are written. For someone on the outside, this is perhaps the best glimpse into the most secretive of our three branches of government.

Chief Justice Rehnquist's book will astound all readers who bear even the least interest in highest court in the land through his deft handling and description of each of the topics he discusses.

I was surprised to read that some readers found this book a dry read. On the contrary, I would propose that Chief Justice Rehnquist is a wonderful writer who provides a short masterpiece on the history of the Court.

Two perspectives on the history of the Court create the primary structure of the book:
1) Rehnquist reviews specific cases in chronological order that have created the most imporant body of law used by the Supreme Court and required to be followed by the lower courts as they conduct their appellate work. He weaves in the personalities of the Court and sometimes of the Presidents who impact the Court, along with the historical perspective driving these issues by using a narrative structure. We are told stories rather than being forced to review lists of dates and people. This portion of the book also describes how the Court accepts cases through the eyes of a young court clerk, William Rehnquist himself.
2) There are a couple of chapters in the back of the book that explains how the court conducts its work, such as oral argument and how the court decides cases and delegates the writing of rulings and opinions. While interesting to read Rehnquist's perspecive, Bob Woodward's "The Brethern: Inside the Supreme Court" provides a more complete picture of the inner-workings of the Court.

Justice Rehnquist surprised me with the lack of ideology contained in this book. As opposed to Mr. Gingrich's new book that is basically a propaganda tract rife with deceptions, Rehnquist provides a mostly honest and fair assessment of not only the perspective of conservatives like him, but also the liberal side. Rehnquist, like Kenneth Starr's "First Among Equals", can be counted on to provide an accurate protrayal of the issues worked out by previous courts.

Mr. Rehnquist also surprised me with his writing talent, while his opinions have always been first rate reading, they are those of an advocate for a certain position which filter-out competing positions. This book is truly a well-written, honest look at the history of the court; Rehnquist provides respectful commentary of competing positions. This book is one of my primary resources I've continuously used over the years when I require some insight into a past case, court, or justice.

In purchasing this book, I noted that the index covered some major cases and I anticipated a review of the court as perceived through the writings of it major decisions. And although the book starts out this way, it changes to more to a memoir of the Chief Justice, his time working clerking on the court and arguing in front of it. The book's final chapters focuses on the procedures within the court. How they oral arguments occur, how they discuss decisions behind chambers, etc. This part was indeed fascinating, but again, not really what I had imagined when I purchased the book. Overall, the Chief Justice does a good job of reviewing some major cases, and identifying the tone and procedures inside the most important arm of government that few people really know.

This able jurist takes the reader into the heart and history of the nation's high court, beginning with his own beginnings there as a clerk to one of the Justices.

His flair for the historical setting and the surrounding circumstances makes for easy reading. He does not assume that his readership is well versed in technical legal jargon so is careful to define and explain as he goes, which this reviewer found very helpful. Even when I thought I knew what he was referring to, his clarity and succinctness helped immensely in the experience.

For much of our country who harbors wrong thinking about the Supreme Court, how they operate and what they are to do Constituionally this is just the book to give the needed correction. Essentially this book serves that purpose well: to provide the chronolical history of the court's developments including profiles of the justices, its changing legal posture, its historic, landmark cases and Chief Justice Rehnquist's running commentary on such.

It is lucid, well structured and thus easy to follow and insightful. Especially was his valuable contributions on just how the court has functioned, now functions on selecting cases to hear. I was intrigued especially by the government's seizure of the steel industry and Montgomery Ward's Chicago headquarters during WWII.

Just a great read from beginning to end which will and should span a wide breath of readers. Worthy to become classic on the topic. Glad that he didn't write this as memoirs on his court term. That likely will to come, or be published posthumously.

Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist has recently revised and expanded his book on the history and operation of the US Supreme Court. The book comes in at around three hundred pages, and is accessible to a general reading audience. Yet, those trained in political science and the law can also benefit from this work, as it provides a nice overview of Supreme Court history and how the justices operate today.

In terms of history, the Chief Justice's book provides brief discussion spanning from the Marshall court in the early Nineteenth Century until then end of the Warren court in the latter part of the Twentieth Century. Again, this work remains light in terms of doctrinal analysis, giving the orthodox views of cases as Marbury v. Madison (1803) and Dred Scott v. Sanford (1857), and likewise giving standard, summary treatments to landmark cases like Lochner v. New York (1905) and the court's Commerce Clause cases. The Chief Justice does a fine job in framing the historical backdrop and context in which cases like Dred Scott and Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer (1952) were decided, discussing the Missouri Compromise and Kansas-Nebraska Act in setting up the former case and the Korean Conflict and labor disputes in the latter.

Since the Chief Justice was himself a Supreme Court law clerk for Justice Robert Jackson during the Youngstown case (aka the "Steel Seizure Case"), his discussion of that case serves the twofold purpose of covering a significant decision in separation of powers jurisprudence and describing the work of a clerk. Justice Jackson also figures prominently in the Chief Justice's enjoyable summary of President Theodore Roosevelt's failed "Court Packing" plan, as the book covers the history behind the appointments of many of the justices.

Being rather appreciative of Justice Jackson's career and Supreme Court opinions, I longed for a more intimate portrayal of the man by his former law clerk, but I nonetheless realize that this book is too short for that, and likewise too short to go into detail in a great many of the areas that were touched upon. But I did enjoy his short biographical overviews of many of the justices who have served on the high court, including Joseph Story and Stephen J. Field.

For the most part, the Chief Justice gives a balanced look at the figures and cases of the court, but he does show his feelings about such cases as Korematsu v. US (1944) (an infamous Japanese internment case), as well as the Warren court's general approach to constitutional rights guarantees for criminal defendants.

I found later chapters dealing with the Supreme Court's administrative operations less interesting than the history, and his brief descriptions of more recent and current members of the court something read like a tourist brochure. Understandably and wisely, the Chief Justice likewise declines to discuss the events surrounding his own appointments and confirmations as well as major cases that have come before the Supreme Court during his own time as an Associate Justice and Chief Justice. (For a treatment of more recent cases and development of constitutional jurisprudence I recommend Judge Kenneth W. Starr's "First Among Equals: The Supreme Court in American Life.")

This newer edition is now available in paperback and it receives my recommendation.

The highlight of this book for me were those chapters that dealt directly with the author's personal experience. At the age of twenty-seven he drove a heaterless Studebaker from his home in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in midwinter to start his first job in the legal profession, clerking for Supreme Court Associate Justice Jackson. He describes his initial experiences as a clerk and his impressions of the justices who served at that time, especially Frankfurter and Douglas. One case that made a particularly strong impression upon him concerned Truman's seizure of steel mills during the Korean War. The concern about abuse of Presidential power, seen at close range here, is extended in the book to a chapter devoted to FDR's attempt to pack the Court. He does not go into lengthy detail about his particular experiences as an Associate Justice and then as Chief Justice, but the three chapters on how cases are chosen, oral arguments presented, and cases decided are very interesting. He lists what he views as the different types of lawyers who present oral arguments, and blends his own experience in mentioning what a memorable and pressure-cooker situation it can be for those doing the presenting.

The problem with the historical part of the book is that it is very selectively focused and somewhat wanting in broadly addressing the issues involved. He provides helpful background concerning the railroad monopolies and the struggles of farmers to lessen the control of middle men, but in other instances of the laissez-faire economics of the industrial revolution, I have to question whether he is telling the full story. For a very long time, the balance between the monopoly power of the few at the expense of the welfare of the community was weighing heavily toward the few. When the New Deal came along, it may have shifted the balance too far the other way, but coming on the heels of the Great Depression, it did finally provide for worker's rights which could only be of positive benefit to the community. The Court packing chapter was interesting and FDR certainly sounds like he overstepped his bounds, but at the same time there were other things going on in the Court that were of historical significance and it is notable that people at that time faced many hardships. In the same vein, he could have written more about Brown vs. Board of Education, especially since he was a clerk at the Court at least part of the time during which the case was considered: In particular, the story of the rather remarkable feat that resulted in an unanimous decision, and also the events leading up to that decision, especially those efforts to right wrongs after the Civil War. He may have made good points about the Radical Republicans overstepping their bounds but there were also other things going on at the time.

Whatever side of the ideological fence you may be on, I think that Bernard Schwartz's book HISTORY OF THE SUPREME COURT gives a broader and easier to grasp view of Supreme Court history that includes more about constitutional trends and is less bogged down in dry detail even though it no doubt offers more.

I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the United States Supreme Court. Chief Justice Renhquist has given us an excellent history of the United State as view through the eyes of the court. I was expecting a book written by a lawyer for a lawyer. What I got was a wonderful history of the court written in a style that any layman can enjoy.

Greg Puttmann

For the interested layman. Interesting chapters on the inner workings of the Court. Reviews of important cases going back to Marbury v. Madison. Fascinating discussion of the interaction of politics with the judicial process focusing on the Steel Seizure case.