New Yorker Reviewers' Favorite Books from 2010 The New Yorker Read the full review
“Hugely impressive … told with the style and panache of a born storyteller …. A magisterial work that will be read and appreciated for decades — as well as provide Obama with food for thought as he faces up to his own judicial battles.” The Sunday Business Post Read the full review
"Superb .... Remarkably assured and eminently readable ... a fluid, entertaining yet tremendously perceptive book." The Nation Read the full review
"I have a simple request: Anyone who has anything to do with the Kagan confirmation, and anyone who cares about the Supreme Court and the Constitution, ought to read Shesol's new book." Politics Daily Read the full review
“A richly detailed, beautifully written and, well, judicious account.” The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Read the full review
“His exhaustive research and deft writing produced a book that is an easy and enjoyable read …. An account that will delight political junkies of any persuasion. And Hollywood could not devise a more dramatic ending.” The Washington Times Read the full review
"Truly entertaining ... superb .... The parallels between Obama today and FDR ... are in the zillions."
The Daily Beast Read the full review
"Shesol ... breathes new life into an old fight with intelligence and excitement ... one of the most interesting books about the Supreme Court in years." NPR Read the full review
"Riveting .... Revealing .... Supreme Power is an impressive and engaging book — an excellent work of narrative history. It is deeply researched and beautifully written. Even readers who already know the outcome will find it hard not to feel the suspense that surrounded the battle, so successfully does Shesol recreate the atmosphere of this great controversy." ALAN BRINKLEY, The New York Times Book Review Read the full review
"Impressive .... Supreme Power is history come alive." The Dallas Morning News Read the full review
"Superb .... Shesol is a terrific storyteller, and he brings the book’s events to life by taking the reader inside the key places where the constitutional conflict took shape — the courtroom where the major decisions were announced, the smoky meetings where Roosevelt and his advisers hatched the court-packing plan, the halls of Congress where FDR’s supporters and opponents battled for legislative supremacy." Boston Globe Read the full review
Starred Review. “With insight and more than occasional humor, Shesol covers all aspects of the controversy, deftly explaining the issues at stake in a variety of legal opinions and shrewdly analyzing the intra-Court dynamics …. A thoroughly smart rendering of a dramatic Constitutional showdown.” Kirkus Reviews
"Shesol skillfully illustrates the nexus of personality and principle .... A book sure to recruit history readers, especially those eyeing present political currents." Booklist
"Timely .... Splendid to read. It will fascinate anyone who is interested in Roosevelt, the New Deal, the 1930s, Congress, the presidency, the Great Depression, judges, the Supreme Court, or Constitutional law." Judge Richard Posner, The New Republic Read the full review
“Written with a novelist's eye, a historian's care, and a blogger's energy, Jeff Shesol's Supreme Power is a fascinating reconstruction of one of the great political and legal battles of the twentieth century. The story of FDR's court-packing plan is a citizen’s education in the twenty-first.” Jeffrey Toobin, author of The Nine
“Once in a generation a groundbreaking book comes along to provide a major reinterpretation of a familiar historical event. Shesol tells the story of FDR's court packing plan as it has never been told before. This is a stunning work of history.” Doris Kearns Goodwin, author of No Ordinary Time and Team of Rivals
“Supreme Power is an extraordinary book that rings with relevance for our time. One of the most eloquent historians of his generation, Jeff Shesol has a deep understanding of the presidency, and the interplay of politics, personalities, and principles, all of which he brings to life in this rich, remarkable book. Full of surprises and new insights — each rendered in clear and confident prose — this book is about more than FDR’s plan to pack the Court. It’s about America’s enduring struggle to reconcile our founders’ ideals with conflicting challenges in our constant pursuit to build a more perfect union.” President Bill Clinton
“Important and timely.” Katrina vanden Heuvel, The Nation
Jeff in the News
The State of the Union Jeff joins a discussion of President Obama's third State of the Union address. Interview on SiriusXM Satellite Radio
Obama's Many Acts Command Debt-Ceiling Stage Jeff Shesol talks to NPR's Ari Shapiro about President Obama's use of the bully pulpit during negotiations over raising the nation's debt ceiling. Interview on Morning Edition
Should Justices Keep Their Opinions to Themselves?
Virtually everything the nine do and say — whether in robes, suits or leisure wear — has potential bearing on the reputation of the court. Which helps explain why the justices’ activities have aroused so much controversy during this past term, perhaps more so than in recent years. As much as any string of decisions, this has been a central story line of the term. Commentary in the New York Times
An Illustrated History of the Funny Papers
Brian Walker’s book The Comics: The Complete Collection makes clear how much the comics once mattered and why. The son of Mort Walker (creator of “Beetle Bailey” and other strips) and a cartoonist himself, Walker is one of the comics’ greatest enthusiasts, and there is plenty here to be enthusiastic about. Review in the New York Times Download the PDF
Can Trump Close the Deal With Voters? This Isn't Reality TV
The question of whether Donald Trump has a chance — a question that is right now gripping every American who hosts a cable news program — probably needs a bit of reframing. Commentary in the New York Times
Repealing Common Sense
The conservative mission to destroy the Constitution in order to save it. Essay, with Dahlia Lithwick, on Slate
Review: "Revival," Richard Wolffe's look inside Obama White House
In "Revival," Wolffe, a cable news commentator and veteran journalist, zeroes in on the first few months of 2010, a brief but, he contends, "defining period" in which President Obama "was forced to reexamine himself and his team" and emerged wiser and stronger. Review in the Washington Post
Purpose-Driven Prose
Political rhetoric has a bad rap. Except in certain college courses — where the speeches of Lincoln and Churchill are pinned down like dead frogs and inspected for signs of logos, elocutio, and aposiopesis — rhetoric is held beneath contempt. And not without cause. Commentary in the Wall Street Journal
Room for Debate: The Justices and Decorum Outside the Courtroom
If the nation is going to maintain its faith and confidence in the “least democratic branch,” we need to believe that the justices are doing their best every day to keep their minds open. Commentary in the New York Times
Evolving Circumstances, Enduring Values
“If my fellow citizens want to go to hell,” Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes once wrote, “I will help them. It’s my job.” This, for much of the last century, has stood as the purest (or at least the most pungent) distillation of “judicial restraint” — the idea that judges should, for better or worse, leave the business of governing to the people’s duly elected representatives. As practiced by the jaundiced Holmes, restraint was often a shrug of the shoulders: lawmakers, in his view, were predisposed to foolishness, and the Constitution entitled them, in most cases, to be fools. Review in the the New York Times
Joy Behar Was Right
The co-hostess of The View faulted Obama for failing to tell the country where he was leading us. Jeff Shesol on what the president could learn from FDR about vision. Commentary on the Daily Beast
Populist Interest in the Constitution is Nothing New
The Constitution is getting a lot of attention these days. Depending on your perspective, our national charter is being trampled, twisted, shredded, protected, upheld — everything, it appears, but neglected. Commentary for the History News Network
For President Obama, Many Gaps to Fill on the Bench
There ought to be a place on the bench for judges who understand, as President Obama put it, "how our laws affect the daily realities of people’s lives." Commentary in the New York Times
Activist Judges, Class Is in Session
The professor-in-chief held an impromptu seminar in constitutional law last night on Air Force One, and he drove home a powerful lesson. Commentary on the Huffington Post
Buy My Book
The Court-packing fight is one of those historical events that gets mentioned frequently and yet, despite its significance, is never really explained. Commentary on brennancenter.org
The Buzz Board: Smart People Recommend
What I'm reading (and relishing) right now is Jules Feiffer's just-published memoir, Backing Into Forward. Commentary on the Daily Beast
1965 All Over Again?
At a book party last week for Supreme Power, Jeff Shesol's reinterpretation of Franklin Roosevelt's efforts to reorganize the Supreme Court, Bill Clinton made an appearance [and] previewed what could be a coming clash between Obama and the high court. Mention in Newsweek
Talk and book signing at the FDR Presidential Library and Museum Audio Slideshow
Keeping the Supreme Court Impartial Appearance on MSNBC's The Daily Rundown
Justices Will Prevail
In his State of the Union address, when President Obama criticized the Supreme Court, Justice Samuel Alito shook his head, scowled and mouthed a two-word dissent: “Not true.” Chief Justice John Roberts, meanwhile, smiled serenely, apparently untroubled by the president’s attack. Now we know what Chief Justice Roberts really thinks. Commentary in the New York Times
Delivering a Successful State of the Union Appearance on MSNBC's The Daily Rundown
Room for Debate: A New, Improved State of the Union?
The Constitution mandates these annual reports to Congress. But does this mean the State of the Union Message has to follow the speech-making rituals of the modern era? How can this annual obligation be changed or improved? Commentary in the New York Times
