Perhaps fittingly, the 2010 State of the Union controversy coincides with the publication of Jeff Shesol’s Supreme Power: Franklin Roosevelt vs. The Supreme Court. Shesol, a former speechwriter in the Clinton administration and author of Mutual Contempt, has provided us with the definitive work to date on certainly the most notorious conflict between a president and the Supreme Court – FDR’s failed effort to “pack” the Court in the spring of 1937. While the story of Roosevelt’s court packing plan is familiar to constitutional scholars and historians, it is most likely not widely known among the lay public. Which makes this book all the more important: Shesol has taken a buried piece of American history on a highly esoteric topic and transformed it into an easy-to-read tale that unfolds like a thrilling novel.More
