FDR and Chief Justice Hughes : the president, the Supreme Court, and the epic battle over the New Deal / James F. Simon.
2012
KF8745.H8 S57 2012 (Mapit)
Available at General Collection
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Title
FDR and Chief Justice Hughes : the president, the Supreme Court, and the epic battle over the New Deal / James F. Simon.
Author
Simon, James F.
Edition
1st Simon & Schuster hardcover ed.
ISBN
9781416573289
1416573283
9781416573296 (pbk.)
1416573291 (pbk.)
1416573283
9781416573296 (pbk.)
1416573291 (pbk.)
Publication Details
New York : Simon & Schuster, 2012.
Language
English
Description
461 p., [16] p. of plates : ill. ; 25 cm.
Call Number
KF8745.H8 S57 2012
Dewey Decimal Classification
973.917092
Summary
The dramatic story of the struggle between FDR and Chief Justice Hughes that decided the fate of the New Deal.
Roosevelt and Chief Justice Hughes' fight over the New Deal was the most critical struggle between an American president and a chief justice in the twentieth century. The confrontation threatened the New Deal in the middle of the nation's worst depression. The activist president bombarded the Democratic Congress with a fusillade of legislative remedies that shut down insolvent banks, regulated stocks, imposed industrial codes, rationed agricultural production, and employed a quarter million young men in the Civilian Conservation Corps. But the legislation faced constitutional challenges by a conservative bloc on the Court determined to undercut the president. Chief Justice Hughes often joined the Court's conservatives to strike down major New Deal legislation. Frustrated, FDR proposed a Court-packing plan. His true purpose was to undermine the ability of the life-tenured Justices to thwart his popular mandate. Hughes proved more than a match for Roosevelt in the ensuing battle. In grudging admiration for Hughes, FDR said that the Chief Justice was the best politician in the country. Despite the defeat of his plan, Roosevelt never lost his confidence and, like Hughes, never ceded leadership. He outmaneuvered isolationist senators, many of whom had opposed his Court-packing plan, to expedite aid to Great Britain as the Allies hovered on the brink of defeat. He then led his country through World War II to become the greatest president of the twentieth century. -- Publisher description
Roosevelt and Chief Justice Hughes' fight over the New Deal was the most critical struggle between an American president and a chief justice in the twentieth century. The confrontation threatened the New Deal in the middle of the nation's worst depression. The activist president bombarded the Democratic Congress with a fusillade of legislative remedies that shut down insolvent banks, regulated stocks, imposed industrial codes, rationed agricultural production, and employed a quarter million young men in the Civilian Conservation Corps. But the legislation faced constitutional challenges by a conservative bloc on the Court determined to undercut the president. Chief Justice Hughes often joined the Court's conservatives to strike down major New Deal legislation. Frustrated, FDR proposed a Court-packing plan. His true purpose was to undermine the ability of the life-tenured Justices to thwart his popular mandate. Hughes proved more than a match for Roosevelt in the ensuing battle. In grudging admiration for Hughes, FDR said that the Chief Justice was the best politician in the country. Despite the defeat of his plan, Roosevelt never lost his confidence and, like Hughes, never ceded leadership. He outmaneuvered isolationist senators, many of whom had opposed his Court-packing plan, to expedite aid to Great Britain as the Allies hovered on the brink of defeat. He then led his country through World War II to become the greatest president of the twentieth century. -- Publisher description
Bibliography, etc. Note
Includes bibliographical references and index.
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Table of Contents
Prologue
"An honest, fearless, square man"
"Rising star"
"Common sense idealism"
Searching for the next Jefferson
"An emergency more serious than war"
"Black Monday"
"A stratosphere of icy certainty"
The "most dangerous, implacable enemy"
"The great arsenal of democracy"
Epilogue.
"An honest, fearless, square man"
"Rising star"
"Common sense idealism"
Searching for the next Jefferson
"An emergency more serious than war"
"Black Monday"
"A stratosphere of icy certainty"
The "most dangerous, implacable enemy"
"The great arsenal of democracy"
Epilogue.