FDR v. The Constitution
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Narrated by:
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Louis Milgrom
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By:
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Burt Solomon
About this listen
The fascinating, behind-the-scenes story of Franklin Roosevelt's attempt to pack the Supreme Court has special resonance today as we debate the limits of presidential authority.
The Supreme Court has generated many dramatic stories, none more so than the one that began on February 5, 1937. Franklin Delano Roosevelt, confident in his recent landslide reelection and frustrated by a Court that had overturned much of his New Deal legislation, stunned Congress and the American people with his announced intention to add six new justices. Even though the now-famous court packing scheme divided his own party, almost everyone assumed FDR would get his way and reverse the Courts conservative stance and long-standing laissez-faire support of corporate America, so persuasive and powerful had he become.
In the end, however, a Supreme Court justice, Owen Roberts, who cast off precedent in the interests of principle, and a Democratic senator from Montana, Burton K. Wheeler, led an effort that turned an apparently unstoppable proposal into a humiliating rejection and preserved the Constitution.
FDR v. Constitution is the colorful story behind 168 days that riveted and reshaped the nation. Burt Solomon skillfully recounts the major New Deal initiatives of FDR's first term and the rulings that overturned them, chronicling as well the politics and personalities on the Supreme Court from the brilliant octogenarian Louis Brandeis, to the politically minded chief justice, Charles Evans Hughes, to the mercurial Roberts, whose switch in time saved nine. The ebb and flow of one of the momentous set pieces in American history placed the inner workings of the nation's capital on full view as the three branches of our government squared off.
Ironically for FDR, the Court that emerged from this struggle shifted on its own to a liberal attitude, where it would largely remain for another seven decades. Placing the greatest miscalculation of FDRs career in context past and present, Solomon offers a reminder of the perennial temptation toward an imperial presidency that the founders had always feared.
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Very infomative, and also refreshingly honest
- By Andy on 02-19-09
By: Jonathan Alter
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FDR
- By: Jean Edward Smith
- Narrated by: Marc Cashman
- Length: 32 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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One of today's premier biographers, Jean Edward Smith, has written a modern, comprehensive, indeed ultimate book on the epic life of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. This is a portrait painted in broad strokes and fine details. We see how Roosevelt's restless energy, fierce intellect, personal magnetism, and ability to project effortless grace permitted him to master countless challenges throughout his life. Smith recounts FDR's personal battles and also tackles head-on and in depth the numerous failures and miscues of Roosevelt's political career.
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Interesting but flawed
- By Mike From Mesa on 09-15-13
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The Triumph of William McKinley
- Why the Election of 1896 Still Matters
- By: Karl Rove
- Narrated by: Karl Rove
- Length: 15 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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From New York Times best-selling author and political mastermind Karl Rove comes a fresh look at President William McKinley, who found a message that healed his nation, pried his party away from its bosses, and extended its reach to forge a governing majority that lasted 30 years.
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Understand Modern Presidential Campaigns
- By Anon on 02-27-16
By: Karl Rove
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The Woman's Hour
- The Great Fight to Win the Vote
- By: Elaine Weiss
- Narrated by: Elaine Weiss, Tavia Gilbert
- Length: 16 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Nashville, August 1920. Thirty-five states have ratified the Nineteenth Amendment, 12 have rejected or refused to vote, and one last state is needed. It all comes down to Tennessee, the moment of truth for the suffragists, after a seven-decade crusade. The opposing forces include politicians with careers at stake, liquor companies, railroad magnates, and a lot of racists who don't want black women voting. And then there are the "Antis" - women who oppose their own enfranchisement, fearing suffrage will bring about the moral collapse of the nation.
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Good book, poor choice of reader
- By Amazon Customer on 05-24-18
By: Elaine Weiss
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The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt
- By: Edmund Morris
- Narrated by: Mark Deakins
- Length: 26 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Selected by the Modern Library as one of the 100 best nonfiction books of all time. Described by the Chicago Tribune as "a classic", The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt stands as one of the greatest biographies of our time. The publication of The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt on September 14th, 2001 marks the 100th anniversary of Theodore Roosevelt becoming president.
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Very, very good, but very, very long.
- By Mike From Mesa on 03-29-13
By: Edmund Morris
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Coolidge: An American Enigma
- By: Robert Sobel
- Narrated by: Charles Bice
- Length: 16 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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Sobel instead exposes the real Coolidge, whose legacy as the most Jeffersonian of all twentieth-century presidents still reverberates today. Sobel delves into the record to show how Coolidge cut taxes four times, had a budget surplus every year in office, and cut the national debt by a third in a period of unprecedented economic growth.
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A Book Exciting As It's Subject!!!
- By Ted on 08-28-12
By: Robert Sobel
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Woodrow Wilson
- A Biography
- By: John Milton Cooper
- Narrated by: John McDonough
- Length: 35 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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John Milton Cooper, Jr., is widely acknowledged as one of the world’s preeminent Woodrow Wilson biographers. This thoroughly researched profile of America’s 28th president is universally hailed for its scholarship and insight into the life and career ofone of the nation’s most polarizing leaders.
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On the outside looking in
- By Doris on 09-02-13
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Henry Clay
- The Essential American
- By: David S. Heidler, Jeanne T. Heidler
- Narrated by: Jonathan Yen
- Length: 30 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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He was the Great Compromiser, a canny and colorful legislator whose life mirrors the story of America from its founding until the eve of the Civil War. Speaker of the House, senator, secretary of state, five-time presidential candidate, and idol to the young Abraham Lincoln, Henry Clay is captured in full at last in this rich and sweeping biography.
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"probably" "possibly" "maybe" "could have"
- By Thor Finn on 08-10-18
By: David S. Heidler, and others
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Leadership
- By: Doris Kearns Goodwin
- Narrated by: Beau Bridges, David Morse, Jay O. Sanders, and others
- Length: 18 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Are leaders born or made? Where does ambition come from? How does adversity affect the growth of leadership? Does the man make the times or do the times make the man? In Leadership, Goodwin draws upon four of the presidents she has studied most closely - Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Lyndon B. Johnson (in civil rights) - to show how they first recognized leadership qualities within themselves, and were recognized by others as leaders.
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What makes a president great?
- By tru britty on 09-25-18
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Star-Spangled Men
- America's Ten Worst Presidents
- By: Nathan Miller
- Narrated by: Andy Caploe
- Length: 9 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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Picking America's best presidents is easy. George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Franklin D. Roosevelt usually lead the list. But choosing the nation's worst presidents requires more thought. In Star-Spangled Men, respected presidential biographer Nathan Miller puts on display those leaders who were abject failures as chief executive. With pointed humor and a deft hand, he presents a rogues' gallery of the men who dropped the presidential ball, and sometimes their pants as well.
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Entertaining and factual
- By Sean on 10-25-14
By: Nathan Miller
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The Great Decision
- Jefferson, Adams, Marshall and the Battle for the Supreme Court
- By: Cliff Sloan, David McKean
- Narrated by: Peter Jay Fernandez
- Length: 7 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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The Great Decision tells the riveting story of Marshall and of the landmark court case, Marbury v. Madison, through which he empowered the Supreme Court and transformed the idea of the separation of powers into a working blueprint for our modern state.
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John Marshall & The Supremes
- By Cynthia on 08-13-13
By: Cliff Sloan, and others
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The New Deal
- A Modern History
- By: Michael Hiltzik
- Narrated by: Traber Burns
- Length: 19 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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As America struggles with an economic debacle akin to the Great Depression, nothing could be timelier than an authoritative account of the New Deal, masterfully written by Michael Hiltzik, author of the acclaimed history of the Hoover Dam, Colossus.
In this richly peopled, vividly rendered narrative, Hiltzik describes how the urgent short-term relief measures of Franklin Roosevelt’s Hundred Days evolved into a transformative concept of the federal role in American life.
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Another Excellent New Deal History
- By R.S. on 12-19-11
By: Michael Hiltzik
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1932
- The Rise of Hitler and FDR - Two Tales of Politics, Betrayal, and Unlikely Destiny
- By: David Pietrusza
- Narrated by: David Stifel
- Length: 19 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Two Depression-battered nations confronted destiny in 1932, going to the polls in their own way to anoint new leaders, to rescue their people from starvation and hopelessness. America would elect a Congress and a president - ebullient aristocrat Franklin Roosevelt or tarnished "Wonder Boy" Herbert Hoover. Decadent, divided Weimar Germany faced two rounds of bloody Reichstag elections and two presidential contests - doddering reactionary Paul von Hindenburg against rising radical hate-monger Adolf Hitler.
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What a waste of time
- By Pam Sullivan on 07-06-19
By: David Pietrusza
What listeners say about FDR v. The Constitution
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Ben
- 07-19-16
Interesting, But Intensely Biased
Solomon is clearly a lover of FDR, without regard to the principles of his actions. He gives a good account of events, but the details given to explain away the intent of key figures clearly has a strong liberal/progressive taste to it. This would be fine, but the facts are all given with the intent to convince the reader that the president was acting only to protect the poor, and the other side only acted to protect the rich; his constant ragging on the judges is disconcerting and makes the book difficult to listen to.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall
- Jason
- 05-25-10
sometimes too much info is just too much!
the author gives so much info about the smallest of details I don't need to know what someone ate or how many children a person that is unrelated to the story has
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