Franklin Roosevelt and the Great Constitutional War: The Court-packing Crisis of 1937This new history of Franklin D. Roosevelt and the "Great Constitutional War" is a critical, revisionist portrayal of FDR's personal role in initiating, with the advice of his attorney general, Homer S. Cummings, a "reorganization of the federal judiciary," or what in fact constituted a bald-faced attempt to "pack" the Supreme Court in 1937. No issue in domestic politics ever aroused the country>'s anger as did the presidential proposal to increase the size of the Supreme Court to fifteen by giving the president power to appoint a new judge for every justice over the age of 70 who refused to resign or retire. For background, the case histories which led up to this bold stroke are, for the first time, chronicled and analyzed in a setting that places the stirring events which ensued in their proper perspective. The importance of the book's subject, the thorough documentation, its reasoned and reasonable criticism, all set forth in a lively, but lucid writing style should give this book a popular readership that reaches well beyond academia. |
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administration ALDL Alsop and Catledge American appeal appointment argument Arthur Krock asked attorney bench Borah Brandeis campaign chief justice Clapper Congress congressional constitutional amendment constitutionality Corcoran court bill court plan court-packing Cummings Papers Cummings's Deal decision defeat Democrats dissent draft Farley FDR's FDRL February February 11 federal courts Felix Frankfurter Frankfurter Garner gold clause Guffey Hughes Hugo Black Ibid Ickes issue Jackson January Joseph Alsop judges judicial Judiciary Committee June Justice Department labor lawyers legislation Leonard Baker letter majority March memo ment Moley O'Mahoney opinion preme Court president president's proposal Reed reform Republicans retirement Richberg Roberts Robinson Roosevelt ruling Schechter Secret Diary Senate Senate Judiciary Committee speech Stanley Reed statute Stone Supreme Court tion told unconstitutional vote wage Wagner Act wanted Washington Wheeler White House wrote York York Herald Tribune