PDF John Marshall Definer of a Nation Jean Edward Smith Books
Download As PDF : John Marshall Definer of a Nation Jean Edward Smith Books
A New York Times Notable Book of 1996
It was in tolling the death of Chief Justice John Marshall in 1835 that the Liberty Bell cracked, never to ring again. An apt symbol of the man who shaped both court and country, whose life "reads like an early history of the United States," as the Wall Street Journal noted, adding Jean Edward Smith "does an excellent job of recounting the details of Marshall's life without missing the dramatic sweep of the history it encompassed."
Working from primary sources, Jean Edward Smith has drawn an elegant portrait of a remarkable man. Lawyer, jurist, scholars; soldier, comrade, friend; and, most especially, lover of fine Madeira, good food, and animated table talk the Marshall who emerges from these pages is noteworthy for his very human qualities as for his piercing intellect, and, perhaps most extraordinary, for his talents as a leader of men and a molder of consensus. A man of many parts, a true son of the Enlightenment, John Marshall did much for his country, and John Marshall Definer of a Nation demonstrates this on every page.
PDF John Marshall Definer of a Nation Jean Edward Smith Books
"Been reading biographies of the Presidents, (now up to Harrison) and along the way I copy down others that spiked my interest. Like John Jay, Samuel Adams, Ben Franklin, Henry Clay and others. Then I saw this one. I just finished reading it, and of the many I have read, I learned quite a bit, if not the most, from this one. While not a "President" this amazing founding father developed the third part of government up to Andrew Jackson. His resume is stupendous, and rivals any American through today (my opinion of course). This man and his other Justices basically developed what we have today It also described in good detail Jefferson, Washington, and others up to Jackson giving and addition lot of information on each, sort of balancing the Biographies I already have read. I would recommend this highly, especially if you are interest in the Revolution and up to Andrew Jackson, the Supreme Court, and the major decisions and conflicts."
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John Marshall Definer of a Nation Jean Edward Smith Books Reviews :
John Marshall Definer of a Nation Jean Edward Smith Books Reviews
- The last half of this biography of John Marshall is one of the clearest examples around of explaining the cases of the Marshall Supreme Court. Smith goes through each of the years Marshall was Chief Justice, interspersing these with what was happening in Marshall’s personal life. Smith briefly gives the number of decisions, whether they were unanimous and who (if rarely) dissented. He also gives synopses of the other Justices and their background, both political and legal. But most importantly he devotes several pages each to cases that established critical precedents for the Court and for the country, especially the concept of judicial review in all its variations and the Court’s relationship to the other two branches of government. Given the necessarily legal language of the opinions, Smith makes this historically important material readable and clear for the reader not trained in the law. It is excellent writing.
The first half of the book covers, among other events, Marshall’s role in the Continental Army during the Revolution, his work as a practicing lawyer, his years in Congress and as Secretary of State under John Adams, and his role as an emissary in Paris during the XYZ Affair. It is also well done. But surprisingly I found this section somewhat heavier reading in a few places because Smith tends to write a continuous narrative that could be better organized at times. Related to this point, I wish the chapters would have had space breaks to distinguish different subtopics in the chapter. But these are really minor points about organization in the context of an overall superb biography. Marshall's life before he went on the Court is presented in a well-rounded fashion that does justice both to him and to those who disagreed with him.
John Marshall had a superb mind combined with a genuine and engaging personality that allowed him to compromise and find the middle ground between extremes throughout his career. His integrity and ability to pull together differing views through logic and persuasion comes out clearly in the book. I highly recommend Smith’s biography of Marshall for readers interested in the history of the Supreme Court and the man who did more than anyone else to shape the Court, establish its role in the U.S. government, and interpret the way the Constitution has been understood since then. - Been reading biographies of the Presidents, (now up to Harrison) and along the way I copy down others that spiked my interest. Like John Jay, Samuel Adams, Ben Franklin, Henry Clay and others. Then I saw this one. I just finished reading it, and of the many I have read, I learned quite a bit, if not the most, from this one. While not a "President" this amazing founding father developed the third part of government up to Andrew Jackson. His resume is stupendous, and rivals any American through today (my opinion of course). This man and his other Justices basically developed what we have today It also described in good detail Jefferson, Washington, and others up to Jackson giving and addition lot of information on each, sort of balancing the Biographies I already have read. I would recommend this highly, especially if you are interest in the Revolution and up to Andrew Jackson, the Supreme Court, and the major decisions and conflicts.
- This is a definitive biography of the country's first important chief justice of the Supreme Court (with apologies to John Jay--the first). Marshall transformed the Court from an equivocal position among the three branches of government to a coequal branch, as per the Founding Fathers' preference.
The book makes several contributions (a) it provides a good depiction of Marshall the person; (b) it gives the reader a sense of his effect on the American governmental system through his influence on the Supreme Court. A few words about each.
John Marshall as a person is an important issue, since, in some ways, it affected his performance as Chief Justice. He was an affable person. Less politicized than others in the Federalist political camp. By the mid-1790s, the country had begun to develop its political party system in a rather primitive way. The Federalists--the party of President George Washington (who despised the concept of political party) and of those who desired an energetic national government. Then, the Democrat-Republicans--the party of Jefferson and Madison, desiring a less powerful national government. Marshall was a Federalist, but not of the fire-breathing variety. He was more an accommodationist. One point He and Jefferson were related but had a healthy dislike for one another. The volume does a very good job depicting Marshall as a person. And this was not unrelated to his performance as Chief Justice.
The book also does a fine job of describing his jurisprudence. It covers his role in such major cases as Marbury v. Madison, Ogdens v. Gibbons, the Dartmouth case, McCulloch v. Maryland and so on. His impact on constitutional law is immense and the book details this nicely,
There is also tidbits about his self perception. Late in his career, he noted of himself "Non sum qualis ernam" (if my memory is accurate)--"I am no longer who I was." I find the passage powerful in that it shows his understanding of where he was as opposed to where he had been in his powers, acuity, and so on.
All in all, a masterful biography of a major figure in American history.
