Without Precedent

The inspiring biography of John Marshall, the most influential chief justice in history, who in the early 1800s shaped the Supreme Court into the co-equal branch of the U.S. government that it is today.No member of the Founding Generation had a great... Read more

The inspiring biography of John Marshall, the most influential chief justice in history, who in the early 1800s shaped the Supreme Court into the co-equal branch of the U.S. government that it is today.No member of the Founding Generation had a greater impact on the American Constitution than Chief Justice John Marshall, and no one did more to preserve the fragile unity of the fledgling United States as it struggled to establish itself. Marshall led the Supreme Court for thirty-four years (1801-1835), longer than any other chief justice, and he singlehandedly established its supremacy in American life. Buffeted by political enemies who'd do anything to stop him, Marshall brilliantly outflanked them. Against forces that threatened to shatter the Union, Marshall defended his vision of a strong national government. Armed with nothing more than his innate intelligence, eloquence, and his gift for thinking innovatively, Marshall triumphed against all odds. At a time when many of his peers were from wealthy landowning famiiies—Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe—Marshall grew up in a two-room log cabin shared with fourteen siblings on the hardscrabble Virginia frontier. His only formal education consisted of a year of grammar school and six weeks of law school. Yet in the space of two decades he went from being an unschooled frontiersman to a military officer, a successful attorney, a diplomat, a national hero, Washington's biographer, a congressman, Secretary of State, and Chief Justice. During a tumultuous time and against myriad enemies, John Marshall held the Supreme Court, the Constitution, and the Union together. Without Precedent is the engrossing true story of the life and times of this exceptional man, who both understood the balance of power and mastered the art of self-invention. Less