The Great Decision: Jefferson, Adams, Marshall, and the Battle for the Supreme Court

by: Cliff Sloan and David McKean

Published by: Public Affairs

Reviewed by Elizabeth Bright

The political and economic drama of the United States in 2009 is as intense as I’ve ever experienced. Our way of life and the Constitution is in constant threat of being torn apart. But it is not the first drama our country has experienced and it won’t be the last.

Cliff Sloan (former Supreme Court clerk and Slate publisher) and David McKean (veteran political aide) take an important legal case (that could be dull and dry reading) and breathe life into it. It is history that reads like a novel.

All students of history know about the American Revolution. But in 1800 the United States was awash in drama that put the country on the brink of another revolution and might even be its downfall. Thomas Jefferson and John Adams election was a tie and bitterly contested.

The constitution was young and hadn’t clearly defined the power of the judicial. There hadn’t been much interference with other government branches by the judicial branch, but in the 1803 Marbury v. Madison decision, the Supreme Court struck down Congress’s act that would make the Supreme Court the third branch of government with the power to overrule Congress and the President.

The Marbury v. Madison decision set the stage–and now with Barack Obama in the White House and with his desire to “change” the country–the political climate of intensity builds once again. The Supreme Court will take center stage in the fight for the constitution and the country.

Armchair Interviews: The Great Decision is a must read. It is an informative look at a major decision in U.S. history that impacts the present.