John Marshall: Definer of a Nation by Jean Edward Smith

A percentage of the proceeds from your purchase of this book from Amazon.com will benefit the
Ashbrook Center.

When, in 1801, John Marshall became Chief Justice of the United States, the Supreme Court was little more than a clause in the Constitution and a gaggle of conflicting opinions. For the next thirty-five years, Marshall was to mold the Court into a major force. Under his leadership, it learned to speak with one voice, becoming a powerful and respected third branch of government. It enunciated the principle of judicial review, established itself as the arbiter of constitutional authority, and affirmed the Constitution as an instrument of the people, not of the states. As a result, the implied powers of the federal government took on definition, the workings of the national government gained authority, and the economic system was made viable through a sophisticated understanding of the commerce clause. In truth, if George Washington founded the nation, John Marshall defined it. But who was this son of yeoman Virginia stock, this soldier who endured the terrible suffering at Valley Forge, this lawyer who was a moving force behind Virginia's ratification of the Constitution, this diplomat who outwitted Talleyrand and thereby raised the profile of a raw young country in the capitals of Europe? Confidant of presidents, friend to the founding fathers, statesman, envoy, and legislator: who was this man who gave up a flourishing legal practice to take on the thankless task of shaping the Court and went on to make it into the institution we see today? Working from primary sources, Jean Edward Smith draws an elegant portrait of this remarkable man. Lawyer, jurist, scholar; soldier, comrade, friend; and, most especially, lover of fine Madeira, good food, and animated table talk: the Marshall who emerges from this book is as 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.

Table of Contents

Preface

Introduction: The Inauguration of 1801

Marshall's Virginia Heritage

Soldier of the Revolution

Student and Suitor

Husband, Lawyer, Legislator

The Fight for Ratification

At the Richmond Bar

Virginia Federalist

Mission to Paris (The XYZ Affair)

To Congress from Richmond

Secretary of State

Opinion of the Court

The Gathering Storm

Marbury v. Madison

The Center Holds

Treason Defined

Yazoo

"A Band of Brothers"

National Supremacy

Steamboats

The Chief Justice and Old Hickory

Notes

Bibliography

Acknowledgments

Index