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Title: John Marshall : Definer of a Nation by Jean Edward Smith ISBN: 0-8050-5510-X Publisher: Henry Holt & Company, Inc. Pub. Date: 15 March, 1998 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $22.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.86 (14 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: The TRUE Powers That Be
Comment: John Marshall is without a doubt the most influential man in the history of this country. In a sense, his imporance and influence parallelled that of Washington in that the precedents he established became the tradition which lasted. Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence, Adams obtained European aid, Madison authored the Constitution but in the overall scheme of things, the shape and direction of our country, its economy and balance of powers, its legal and political system was virtually set by the power of one man - John Marshall.
What is even more amazing is how singular he was and how his stewardship was a near miss. At a time when it seemed the whole country converted to anti-Federalisism and the Federalist party disappeared, there was Marshall, stalwart to the end. WIth a vigor that lasted to the end, he fought the Jeffersonians and their vision of America as a pastoral, agrarian society of gentlemen farmers. His rulings established the basis for the corporate capitalist system of property rights that has given this nation a level of prosperity never before seen.
More important, his rulings on Constitutional interpretation established the Supreme Court as the final arbiter of political decisions - something particularly handy in the 2000 election. Although Marshall represented a "strict Constructionist" viewpoint in the sense that he decried expansion of Federal power in what he deemed the wrong direction, i.e. the Jeffersonian direction, he was not averse to using the Federal government when the issue warranted. When he died he was the last of the "old school" but he set the pattern that has been adhered to every since.
Theh book is quite readable, the research admirable and can be understood by historian, lawyer or layman.
Rating: 5
Summary: Better than my constitutional law class.
Comment: I pretty much only read biographies. Of all the ones I have read, this is one of the best. I put in the same group as Robert Caro's LBJ books, Edmund Morriss' first biography of Teddy Rooseveldt (2nd wasn't quite as good), the Last Lion series on Churchill, the Manchester bio on MacArthur, and Mcullogh's Truman book. Those are the ones I really enjoyed reading the most.
This book is a mix between biography, history, and legal principles. All 3 parts were interesting. In law school, we spent much time studying Marbury v. Madison, but this book really put it in a great perspective, setting up one of the major themes of the book--the debate between Federalists and Republicans, ie Marshall and Jefferson.
The Federalist-Republican theme really helped put much of the reading into perspective, explaining Marshall's beleif in a strong central government and his philosophy in deciding the big cases like Marbury, Gibbons, Dartmouth College, Mcullough v. MD, and many others.
For me, this was one of those books I felt proud to have read. Marshall played an enormous role in shaping the Court, and I hardly knew a thing about him before this book. The author has a nice smooth style, and packs each sentence with research. I repsect the effort such a book must have taken.
Rating: 4
Summary: Mike
Comment: This is a good read about a fascinating individual. John Marshall is clearly one of the most underrated shapers of our country and this book goes a long way in providing the texture and context of his life. The author does a good job of balancing history with legal scholarship and I believe that this is worthwhile for both the "lay-man" and the "law-man". I did believe that the author abridged the content a bit too much at times(for example, he did not cover Marshall's point of view on the Declaration of Independence or Articles of Confederation, and he covered the last 12 years of Marshall's life as Chief Justice in less than 50 pages), but overall, it was a solid investment of my time.
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Title: What Kind of Nation: Thomas Jefferson, John Marshall, and the Epic Struggle to Create a United States by James F. Simon ISBN: 0684848716 Publisher: Simon & Schuster Pub. Date: 10 March, 2003 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: John Marshall and the Heroic Age of the Supreme Court (Southern Biography Series) by R. Kent Newmyer ISBN: 0807127019 Publisher: Louisiana State University Press Pub. Date: January, 2002 List Price(USD): $39.95 |
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Title: Washington: The Indispensable Man by James Thomas Flexner ISBN: 0316286168 Publisher: Back Bay Books Pub. Date: 22 February, 1994 List Price(USD): $17.95 |
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Title: The Great Chief Justice: John Marshall and the Rule of Law by Charles F. Hobson ISBN: 0700610316 Publisher: Univ Pr of Kansas Pub. Date: March, 2000 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
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Title: ALEXANDER HAMILTON, American by Richard Brookhiser ISBN: 0684863316 Publisher: Free Press Pub. Date: 12 April, 2000 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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