Other Sellers on Amazon
+ $3.98 shipping
96% positive over last 12 months
& FREE Shipping
98% positive over last 12 months
FREE Shipping
Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required. Learn more
Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.
Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.
A Republic, If You Can Keep It Hardcover – September 10, 2019
| Price | New from | Used from |
|
Audible Audiobook, Unabridged
"Please retry" |
$0.00
| Free with your Audible trial | |
Explore your book, then jump right back to where you left off with Page Flip.
View high quality images that let you zoom in to take a closer look.
Enjoy features only possible in digital – start reading right away, carry your library with you, adjust the font, create shareable notes and highlights, and more.
Discover additional details about the events, people, and places in your book, with Wikipedia integration.
Purchase options and add-ons
As Benjamin Franklin left the Constitutional Convention, he was reportedly asked what kind of government the founders would propose. He replied, “A republic, if you can keep it.” In this book, Justice Neil Gorsuch shares personal reflections, speeches, and essays that focus on the remarkable gift the framers left us in the Constitution.
Justice Gorsuch draws on his thirty-year career as a lawyer, teacher, judge, and justice to explore essential aspects our Constitution, its separation of powers, and the liberties it is designed to protect. He discusses the role of the judge in our constitutional order, and why he believes that originalism and textualism are the surest guides to interpreting our nation’s founding documents and protecting our freedoms. He explains, too, the importance of affordable access to the courts in realizing the promise of equal justice under law—while highlighting some of the challenges we face on this front today.
Along the way, Justice Gorsuch reveals some of the events that have shaped his life and outlook, from his upbringing in Colorado to his Supreme Court confirmation process. And he emphasizes the pivotal roles of civic education, civil discourse, and mutual respect in maintaining a healthy republic.
A Republic, If You Can Keep It offers compelling insights into Justice Gorsuch’s faith in America and its founding documents, his thoughts on our Constitution’s design and the judge’s place within it, and his beliefs about the responsibility each of us shares to sustain our distinctive republic of, by, and for “We the People.”
- Print length352 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherForum Books
- Publication dateSeptember 10, 2019
- Dimensions6.37 x 1.13 x 9.5 inches
- ISBN-100525576789
- ISBN-13978-0525576785
The Amazon Book Review
Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. Read it now.
Frequently bought together

What do customers buy after viewing this item?
- Most purchasedin this set of products
The Courage to Be Free: Florida's Blueprint for America's RevivalHardcover
Editorial Reviews
Review
“Justice Gorsuch has written a temperate book, with civility shown to all. Such fairness, though, does not reduce the fervor with which he urges that we keep this country a republic.”—National Review
“Serves as an introduction to the man and his philosophy while reminding the reader of the need to understand and participate in the nation’s civic affairs.”—Washington Examiner
“This book and Justice Gorsuch’s distinguished judicial career confirm the reputation I heard so long ago—he is a legal superstar. The stories in his book, including a delightful one about an airplane ride sitting next to a young girl who was frightened of the turbulence and just needed a friend, also confirm my early impression of his kindness.”—Legal Communication & Rhetoric
“A Republic, If You Can Keep It is a powerful legacy for the next generation of Americans. Justice Gorsuch reminds us of the necessity for judges to do the right thing even when unpopular, to dispense justice dispassionately, to promote consistency in the law, and to be content serving in anonymity.”—Alberto Gonzales, former United States Attorney General
“Justice Neil Gorsuch’s Western spirit—friendly, forthright, optimistic, and deeply egalitarian—shines through in A Republic, If You Can Keep It. Addressing urgent problems of law, ethics, and government, he is practical rather than abstract, humane rather than technical, and incorrigibly good humored.”—Christopher DeMuth, Distinguished Fellow, Hudson Institute
“A Republic, If You Can Keep It is a delightful primer on civics as well as the reflections of a deeply thoughtful judge.”—Mary Ann Glendon, Learned Hand Professor of Law, Harvard University
“A glimpse of the character and career of a Justice who will profoundly influence American law for decades to come. And there’s plenty in these essays for interested readers of all stripes, whether conservative, libertarian, moderate, or liberal.”—Eugene Volokh, Gary T. Schwartz Distinguished Professor of Law, UCLA School of Law
“In A Republic, If You Can Keep It, Justice Gorsuch speaks to where we have been as a country and where we are going. It should be required reading for anyone interested in our Constitution and our Republic in the twenty-first century.”—Tim Meyer, professor and director, International Legal Studies Program, Vanderbilt University Law School
“In this powerful book, Justice Neil Gorsuch explains why he has chosen to make the connection between civic knowledge, civil dialogue, and self-government the focus of his public activities. A Republic, If You Can Keep It is an invaluable case for the importance of civics and civility that will inform constitutional debates among Americans of all perspectives.”—Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center
About the Author
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
“A Republic, If You Can Keep It”
When you start a new job, your friends and family inevitably ask, “Is it what you expected?” The answer to that question is usually a mix of yes and no. It certainly has been for me.
The “no” part is pretty obvious. After all, no one can really expect or prepare for the job of Supreme Court justice. To serve the American people on our highest court is a humbling responsibility. In our history, only 114 men and women have done so.
The “yes” part may be a little less obvious. But in many ways the people and place are happily familiar. A surprising number of the Court’s employees still remember me from my days as a law clerk years ago—and all have gone out of their way to offer me a warm welcome. It is an honor to work with such dedicated public servants.
As it happens, too, three of the justices who served on the Court back then were still serving when I returned. Justice Anthony Kennedy, for whom I clerked, is rightly regarded in our profession as a model of civility and judicial temperament. It was a special joy to be able to work by his side again—and apparently the first time a law clerk and his former boss had the chance. When I was serving as Justice White’s law clerk, he retired and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was appointed to serve as his successor. I remember the day my old boss passed along to his new colleague his law clerk manual, just in case she’d find it helpful in setting up her office. Shortly after my confirmation, Justice Ginsburg returned that same document to me, along with many helpful updates she had added over the years. That was quite a moment for me. I also have a distinct memory from my time as a law clerk of watching Justice Clarence Thomas walk from his chambers to the Justices’ Conference Room to discuss cases. He was lugging a rolling book cart filled with briefs and binders and papers, his booming laugh filling the hallways. Fast-forward and, on one of my first days as a justice, I’m walking to the Conference Room to discuss cases, and what do I see? Justice Thomas, with his book cart filled with briefs and binders and papers, and his same booming laugh.
More than all that, though, my new day job is a little like the one I shared for many years with wonderful colleagues on the court of appeals. Now, as then, the days are filled with reading briefs, listening to the arguments of lawyers, studying the law in solitude, and engaging with colleagues and law clerks. Each court, too, bears rites and rituals that serve to remind us of the seriousness of our common enterprise and the humanity of each person in it. When we conferred on cases at the Tenth Circuit, inevitably someone would volunteer to bring coffee, mugs would be passed around, and before getting down to the business of discussing cases we’d begin by asking after one another’s families. When a new member joined the court, we convened in a retreat to welcome the new judge, answer questions, express our support, and reflect on our aspirations as colleagues. Every other year, we gathered in conferences with the lawyers who regularly appeared before us to discuss the state of the circuit, along the way coming to appreciate one another more fully not just as professionals but as persons.
At the Supreme Court, the rituals are different but the point is the same. We eat lunch together regularly and share experiences and laughs along the way (Justice Stephen Breyer seems to possess an endless reservoir of knock-knock jokes). We flip burgers together at the Court’s annual picnic and celebrate birthdays and the holidays with song (always enthusiastically if not always melodically). We welcome employees’ children in our chambers for trick-or-treating as they parade costumed around the building. Every justice at some point in the year sits down for lunch with the law clerks of every other justice. And whenever we gather for work, no matter how stressful the moment, each justice shakes the hand of every other justice. That practice dates back to the late nineteenth century and may seem a small gesture, but those thirty-six handshakes can break the ice and lead to kind words or a personal story. More recently, Justice William Rehnquist introduced an end-of-term party in which our law clerks put on a skit whose primary purpose seems to be to rib each of the justices good-naturedly. When he wrote to Chief Justice Warren Burger proposing the idea, Justice Rehnquist reportedly quipped, “I should think we could have a very enjoyable evening out of it”—and we do. At the gathering, there’s also a contest where the law clerks try their hand at trivia questions about the Court, its cases, and its history. In front of all the Court’s employees, the Chief Justice grills the clerks with questions like “What phrase is inscribed on the back of the Supreme Court Building?” (“Justice the Guardian of Liberty”) and “Where and when did the first meeting of the Supreme Court take place?” (The Royal Exchange in New York City in February 1790). Simple traditions like these help renew our mutual respect and affection even, and especially, when we are unable to agree on the work at hand. They help ensure, too, that as a Court we never lose sight of our shared history.
My worry is that in our country today we sometimes overlook the importance of these kinds of bonds and traditions, and of the appreciation for civility and civics they instill. The problem can be summed up in a few numbers. According to polling by the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation, 60 percent of U.S. citizens would flunk the U.S. citizenship test. In fact, it seems only one state—Vermont—has a majority of people who could pass it (and even then, only with a D). A quarter of Americans don’t know that freedom of speech is protected by the First Amendment. And, yes, it seems about 10 percent believe Judith Sheindlin serves on the Supreme Court. You may know her better as Judge Judy. Meanwhile, nearly three-quarters of Americans believe the country is suffering from a crisis in civility. A quarter have reported enduring cyberbullying or incivility online. About the same percentage have transferred children to different schools because of incivility. At the same time, other people are actually calling for an end to civility. They say that civility is a coward’s virtue and that more anger is needed—that the stakes are too high and the ends justify the means.
But a government of and by the people rests on the belief that the people should and can govern themselves—and do so in peace, with mutual respect. For all that to work, the people must have some idea how their own government operates—its essential structure and promises, what it was intended to do and prohibited from doing. We must, as well, be able to talk to one another respectfully; debate and compromise; and strive to live together tolerantly. As Lincoln put it in far more trying times, “[W]e must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection.” History teaches what happens when societies fail to pass on civic understandings and come to disdain civility: Civilization crumbles. Europe in the twentieth century had people, too, who, seeking to remake the social order in the vision of their ideology, thought the stakes of the day were too high to tolerate discourse and dissent. They also believed the ends justified the means, and it didn’t end well.
None of this means, of course, that we are destined for the same path. The essential goodness of the American people is a profound reservoir of strength, and this nation has overcome much graver challenges time and again. But we should never ignore the fact that republics have a mixed record in the history books. Our blessings cannot be taken for granted and need constant tending. As Franklin said, we have been given a republic, if we can keep it.
Product details
- Publisher : Forum Books; NO-VALUE edition (September 10, 2019)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 352 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0525576789
- ISBN-13 : 978-0525576785
- Item Weight : 1.3 pounds
- Dimensions : 6.37 x 1.13 x 9.5 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #115,837 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #39 in United States Judicial Branch
- #97 in Lawyer & Judge Biographies
- #4,253 in Memoirs (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more
Customer reviews
Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.
To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.
Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonReviewed in the United States on September 29, 2019
-
Top reviews
Top reviews from the United States
There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.
As soon as I saw this one written by Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, I ordered it. I did spend a portion of yesterday afternoon reading about Supreme Court Justice Gorsuch including his background. I was also intrigued with the idea that a Justice of the Supreme Court would write a book while still on the 'bench'.
An absolutely fascinating read for me which covered a lot of topics. Respect for each other seemed to be a recurring theme and one that I feel is greatly missing today in our society. One quote from an early chapter which set the tone for me.... 'We must be able to talk to one another respectfully, debate and compromise, and strive to live together tolerantly'.
Civics and civility are covered in great detail, as well. One thing that I appreciated so much were the examples that Judge Gorsuch supplied along the way. He goes back in time and offers quotes from many of our leaders as well as Mother Teresa. The tombstone engraving of Increase Sumner was indeed excellent. Outstanding, just outstanding.
The Bill of Rights, the US Constitution as well as many cases Judge Gorsuch has heard are presented. Originalism versus Living Constitutionalism was so enlightening to me. Courage was also covered ...admit your mistakes and once again to paraphrase ....not just respect but affection for your fellow citizen.
This quote from Harvard and University of Melbourne stated that 'only about 30% of U.S. millennials agree that it's essential to live in a democracy'. Absolutely mind-boggling to read this statement.
Access to affordable judicial processes also has its own chapter. In this one, he offers ideas from an essay he wrote with 3 excellent solutions, I feel, to the high cost of obtaining legal assistance.
One other thing that was mentioned that was most interesting to me was the mention of the VA and the manner in which that system is set up now. This concerns offering expert medical opinion on the compensation for disabilities. We can only hope that someday this will be changed ...
As Judge Gorsuch states....'be kind and serve something greater than yourself'. If all of us would follow these two ideals, the world would be a much greater place and more gentle...
There is a lot to digest in this book and will go back and read some of the chapters again. Glad that I purchased it and have it on my Kindle for future reference.
Most highly recommended.
Also well done is his discussion of precedent, a subject on which he has written extensively. In a fairly compact discussion, the reader receives a concise but complete rundown on this concept. The practical justifications, as well as the criticisms of stare decisis, are all laid out and examined thoroughly. Justice Thomas currently has become a public critic of this idea, so it will continue to be useful to learn about its origins and development.
But there are additional topics the Justice touches upon: the separation of powers structure in the Constitution; a critical view of the "living constitution" school of interpretation (though I am not quite sure he understands the concept fully); the weaknesses in his view of the "administrative state"; Judge Posner's interpretive pragmatism; canons of construction (which I thought Posner had pretty much mulched); the dangers in his view of legislative history; and some weaknesses of access to affordable justice, discovery in civil cases, and the dying jury trial.
The fact that I disagree with much of the Justice's arguments in no way foreclosed me from learning much from this book. Gorsuch has included with most chapters some case extracts or excerpts from his own opinions which well illustrate the themes he is discussing. One deficiency, however, is that he does not end note many of the materials he makes reference to, and this is frustrating if you want to follow up on your own. There is also a helpful section of family and other pictures; I felt like leaving for Colorado immediately. So a fine book with many virtues and for me at least the potential for raising my blood pressure--but at least better informed blood pressure.
Top reviews from other countries
Well, Judge Neil Gorsuch in his new book vigorously explains and supports textualism / originalism. This is already indicated by the title he chose for his book: A Republic, if you can keep it. These were the words of Benjamin Franklin in explaining what the Constitutional Convention had created. The essence of originalism for the survival of the Republic, writes Gorsuch, arises from the separation of powers. If judges abandon their constitutional role of simply interpreting (though often not so simple) what the political branches have done, they will assume the roles that the other branches must play (which is not insane but highly inadvisable).
Gorsuch said the book is for general citizens, not academics (perhaps this reflects the author's ability to explain complex topics extremely easily). He wants to revive and encourage "the interest in the constitution of the authors' project and the judge's role in it." Even with that in mind, the author gives much to those who know the meaning of the expressions (especially to all who were orphaned by Judge Scalia's premature farewell in 2016). A significant portion of Gorsuch's book reprint speeches, court opinions, and other earlier writings, with some new questions interspersed throughout the text.
The book is divided into only seven chapters. In most of them, there are previous writings of the author, including long passages of judicial opinions. He analyzes the importance of the separation of powers in one chapter and of originalism and textualism in another. A chapter on the "art of judging" focuses on the need for courage to pursue the right outcome, not the comfortable and easy one. He argues that good intentions led to the worst decisions of the Supreme Court, such as Dred Scott, who found constitutional protection for slavery in 1857, and Korematsu, who in 1944 found no constitutional barrier to imprisoning American citizens during the war if their home country, Japan, started a war with the United States. He argues convincingly that both decisions resulted from the Supreme Court's search for what appeared to be the best political outcome of the day, rather than applying the clear language of the Constitution.
Gorsuch's writing style is extremely pleasing - he has the right temperament to write about difficult subjects very easily (this can also be seen in Supreme Court rulings), while many others follow the opposite. He leaves his descriptions of legal debates with other aspects, such as, after admitting that letting the courts update the constitution to achieve the best results was not "completely insane," saying that many things may not be insane, but are still advised against. Score that he usually does for his teenage daughters.
In addition to using originalism to interpret the constitution, Gorsuch promotes textualism, to interpret statutes. Both approaches rely on the words of the relevant text, as they would have been understood at the time of their creation. He acknowledges that these tools do not always provide a clear answer. Reviewing a quote from Churchill on democracy as a form of government, he says that at least originalism "is the worst form of constitutional interpretation except all the others." Provides considerable determination; as far as humanly possible, it leaves out of the judicial analysis the political wishes of judges; allows compromises inherent in the form of government to be maintained - Congress decides what the bylaws should do, and the difficult method of amending the constitution remains the only way to make revisions. Recently, and surprisingly, the fact that judges got rid of such texts became apparent when a lawyer in his oral argument dismissively stated that the only thing the other side had to support his position was statute, while his side had jurisprudence.
His book on originalism / textualism comes two years after his confirmation victory. Judge Gorsuch wrote a temperate book, with civility demonstrated to all. Such a stance, however, does not reduce the fervor with which it calls on the United States to remain a republic. I hope this book is reprinted and translated in other countries as well, the chaos in legal interpretation has spread all over the world.














