Audiobook15 hours
FDR's Gambit: The Court Packing Fight and the Rise of Legal Liberalism
Written by Laura Kalman
Narrated by Rebecca Gallagher
Rating: 0 out of 5 stars
()
About this audiobook
In the past few years, liberals concerned about the prospect of long-term conservative dominance of the federal courts have revived an idea that crashed and burned in the 1930s: court packing. Today's court packing advocates have run into a wall of opposition, with most citing the 1930s episode as one FDR's greatest failures. In early 1937, Roosevelt-fresh off a landslide victory-stunned the country when he proposed a plan to expand the size of the court by up to six justices. Today, that scheme is generally seen as an instance where FDR failed to read Congress and the public properly.
In FDR's Gambit, legal historian Laura Kalman challenges the conventional wisdom by telling the story as it unfolded. While scholars have portrayed the Court Bill as the ill-fated brainchild of a President made overbold by victory, Kalman argues that acumen, not arrogance, accounted for Roosevelt's actions. FDR came close to getting additional justices, and the Court itself changed course. As Kalman shows, the episode suggests that proposing a change in the Court might give the justices reason to consider whether their present course is endangering the institution and its vital role in a liberal democracy.
FDR's Gambit offers a novel perspective on the long-term effects of court packing.
In FDR's Gambit, legal historian Laura Kalman challenges the conventional wisdom by telling the story as it unfolded. While scholars have portrayed the Court Bill as the ill-fated brainchild of a President made overbold by victory, Kalman argues that acumen, not arrogance, accounted for Roosevelt's actions. FDR came close to getting additional justices, and the Court itself changed course. As Kalman shows, the episode suggests that proposing a change in the Court might give the justices reason to consider whether their present course is endangering the institution and its vital role in a liberal democracy.
FDR's Gambit offers a novel perspective on the long-term effects of court packing.
Related to FDR's Gambit
Related audiobooks
Prosecuting the President: How Special Prosecutors Hold Presidents Accountable and Protect the Rule of Law Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Making the Supreme Court: The Politics of Appointments, 1930-2020 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsReal Americans: National Identity, Violence, and the Constitution Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Ulysses S. Grant: The American Presidents Series: The 18th President, 1869-1877 Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5How Rights Went Wrong: Why Our Obsession with Rights Is Tearing America Apart Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Great Dissenter: The Story of John Marshall Harlan, America's Judicial Hero Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Supreme Court: The Personalities and Rivalries That Defined America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Supreme Power: Franklin Roosevelt vs. the Supreme Court Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Burger Court and the Rise of the Judicial Right Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Taking Back the Constitution: Activist Judges and the Next Age of American Law Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Alabama v. King: Martin Luther King Jr. and the Criminal Trial That Launched the Civil Rights Movement Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Second Amendment: A Biography Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ratification: The People Debate the Constitution, 1787-1788 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5James Madison and the Struggle for the Bill of Rights Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Naming Names Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Columnist: Leaks, Lies, and Libel in Drew Pearson's Washington Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5George H. W. Bush: The American Presidents Series: The 41st President, 1989-1993 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Justice Deferred: Race and the Supreme Court Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAnything for a Vote: Dirty Tricks, Cheap Shots, and October Surprises in U.S. Presidential Campaigns Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Constitution Today: Timeless Lessons for the Issues of Our Era Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Fight to Vote Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Collapse of Constitutional Remedies Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Justice Scalia Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5On Wars Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Perfecting the Union: National and State Authority in the US Constitution Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Justices Behind Roe V. Wade: The Inside Story, Adapted from The Brethren Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Takeover: How a Conservative Student Club Captured the Supreme Court Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5History of the Supreme Court Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Our Man in Panama: The Shrewd Rise and Brutal Fall of Manuel Noriega Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
American Government For You
Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5You Have the Right to Remain Innocent Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Enough Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Romney: A Reckoning Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5UFO: The Inside Story of the US Government's Search for Alien Life Here—and Out There Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Life Sentence: The Brief and Tragic Career of Baltimore’s Deadliest Gang Leader Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Rage Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Democrat Party Hates America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Capitalist Punishment: How Wall Street Is Using Your Money to Create a Country You Didn't Vote For Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5My Own Words Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Courage to Be Free: Florida’s Blueprint for America’s Revival Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Why We're Polarized Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The White House Plumbers: The Seven Weeks That Led to Watergate and Doomed Nixon's Presidency Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5American Marxism Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Trump Tapes: Bob Woodward's Twenty Interviews with President Donald Trump Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Profiles in Ignorance: How America's Politicians Got Dumb and Dumber Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Fear: Trump in the White House Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Corruptible: Who Gets Power and How It Changes Us Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Settle for More Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Unbroken Bonds of Battle: A Modern Warriors Book of Heroism, Patriotism, and Friendship Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The American Constitution 101 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Anti-Communist Manifesto Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Blood Money: Why the Powerful Turn a Blind Eye While China Kills Americans Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5On Account of Race: The Supreme Court, White Supremacy, and the Ravaging of African American Voting Rights Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Leadership Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hatemonger: Stephen Miller, Donald Trump, and the White Nationalist Agenda Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Peril Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Untouchable: How Powerful People Get Away With It Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for FDR's Gambit
Rating: 0 out of 5 stars
0 ratings
0 ratings0 reviews