The Supreme Court Reborn: The Constitutional Revolution in the Age of Roosevelt

The Supreme Court Reborn: The Constitutional Revolution in the Age of Roosevelt

by WilliamE.Leuchtenburg (Author)

Synopsis

To validate the revolutionary legislation of the New Deal, Franklin Roosevelt had to fight a ferocious battle against the opposition of the Supreme Court. Benefits like Social Security may now be seen as every American's birthright, but it took a Constitutional revolution to wrest such reform from the jaws of a laissez-faire Court.

In The Supreme Court Reborn, William E. Leuchtenburg deftly portrays the events leading up to Roosevelt's showdown with the Supreme Court, from the Court's relentless invalidation of regulatory laws to Roosevelt's notorious Court-packing plan which would have allowed the president to add one new justice for every sitting justice over the age of seventy. In fascinating detail Leuchtenburg shows that as a consequence of the Constitutional revolution that began in 1937, not only was the New Deal upheld (as precedent after precedent was overturned), but the Court also began a dramatic expansion of civil liberties that would culminate in the Warren Court.

This superbly crafted book sheds new light on the great Constitutional crisis of the century, illuminating the legal and political battles that created today's Supreme Court.

$22.28

Quantity

10 in stock

More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 366
Edition: n.e.
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 12 Dec 1996

ISBN 10: 0195111311
ISBN 13: 9780195111316

Media Reviews
For any reader who is looking to see what happened to the Constitution in 1937, Leuchtenburg here supplies the critical data. -The New Republic
An excellent account of Supreme Court history.... Leuchtenburg writes like a novelist. -Choice
These nine essays...combine careful documentation and total readability....Any lawyer who dismisses the constitutional history of the 1930s as old hat has a pleasant surprise in store once he or she begins any one of Professor Leuchtenburg's essays....Writing of refreshing clarity and precision. -New York Law Journal
An account that is always lucid and at times even gripping. -The New York Times
This collection of essays is highly recommended for individuals and scholars who wish to understand the separation of powers in the American national government during a time of national turmoil. -Library Journal
In terms of movement and upheaval in the Court itself, there is no match for the FDR era, and essayist Leuchtenburg's collection is matchless as well. -Booklist
The strength of The Supreme Court Reborn lies in Leuchtenburg's able combination of social, political, and constitutional history....For those who want to begin to understand how the constitution was transformed in the course of the century, Leuchtenburg is an engaging and able guide. -Newsday
Author Bio
William E. Leuchtenburg is William Rand Kenan Professor of History at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Visiting Professor of Legal History at Duke Law School. Winner of both the Bancroft and Parkman prizes, he is the author of many books, including The Perils of Prosperity and Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal.