Jefferson, Adams, Marshall, and the Battle for the Supreme Court
March 1, 2009
Spanning the years 1801 to 1835, John Marshall's nationalist-leaning Supreme Court greatly expanded the powers of the federal government, much to the chagrin of states' rights advocate Thomas Jefferson and the Republican Party. No case exemplified that political conflict more so than the Supreme Court's 1803 decision in the landmark case "Marbury v. Madison", a decision that established the court's power of judicial review. Quickly following up Lawrence Goldstone's "The Activist: John Marshall, Marbury v. Madison, and the Myth of Judicial Review", former Supreme Court clerk Sloan (former publisher, "Slate") and top-level Senate aide McKean ("Tommy the Cork") have written a lucid and compelling account of the well-known but seldom understood court battle that secured the place of the judiciary as a coordinate branch of the federal government. While William Nelson's "Marbury v. Madison: The Origins and Legacy of Judicial Review" more thoroughly examines the complex legal details of the case, Sloan and McKean have given generalists and academics alike a fascinating, straightforward narrative that is highly recommended for larger public and academic libraries.Brian Odom, Pelham P.L., AL
Copyright 2009 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
Starred review from March 1, 2009
In 1800, when Thomas Jefferson took office as third president of the U.S., it represented the first peaceful transfer of power from one party to another in the new nation, but it also aggravated growing tensions between the outgoing Federalists and the incoming Republicans. The nascent U.S. Supreme Court, led by John Marshall, Jeffersons distant cousin and sometime antagonist, was caught in the middle when a case pitting the two political parties against each other landed before the court. Marbury v. Madison challenged Jeffersons authority to rebuff the court-packing efforts of outgoing President Adams. Sloan and McKean begin by detailing the behind-the-scenes machinations attending the transfer of power to Jefferson. They go on to focus on the particulars of the Marbury case and Marshalls efforts to shape the courts tradition by wearing black robes, deliberating, and balancing politics against legal equity, to establish gravitas for an institution that had been a laughingstock. An astute politician, Marshall managed to avoid a confrontation with Jefferson but firmly established the Supreme Court as the last word in interpreting the Constitution. In this highly accessible book, the authors skillfully build suspense and tension around an outcome readers may already know.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)