Chief Justice: A Biography of Earl Warren

by Ed Cray

Book Overview

Earl Warren is rightly remembered not only as one of the great chief justices of the Supreme Court, but as one of the most influential Americans of the twentieth century. Warren Court decisions such... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0684808528
• ISBN13: 9780684808529
• Release Date: June 1997
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Length: 603 Pages
• Weight: 2.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.6" x 6.4" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

Great Man, Great Book

Earl Warren grew up in Bakersfield, California. To those of you who've been there, it seems an unlikely place to beget one of the great justices of the 20th century who was known for his ability to continue to mold and change his ideas. However, this comprehensive and excellent biography of Earl Warren, Governor of California and 14th Chief Justice of the United States, shows that he turned out far from where he might have been expected to wind up. The book starts with Warren's childhood, where he was an above-average student who went into the county courtroom every day because it was too hot outside and became entranced with the law. He would go to UC Berkeley for his undergraduate and law degrees, and after a few odd jobs would wind up as the Alameda County DA, where he made a name for himself by cleaning out organized crime, gambling, and prostitution from the county. His work gave him high visibility, from which to launch his campaign for Attorney General of California, where he would be responsible in the infamous forced internment of Japanese and Japanese-Americans after Pearl Harbor (as the author notes, only near the end of his life did he come to terms with this act). Then, as now, State AG was merely a stepping stone to the Governor's Mansion, to which he won three terms. Although a Republican, he pushed for progressive reforms in many areas: he tried to get all Californians covered for healthcare (and failed), he tried to make college in California excellent and inexpensive (and succeeded), and he tried to pass worker safety and environmental protection legislation (and did both). He was extremely popular in the state, in fact, in 1946 he won the primaries for the Democratic, Republican, and Progressive parties (Under California law at the time, you could file for the nominations of all parties). His reputation as a moderate consensus-builder in a Democratic state who had still accomplished most of what he wanted made him a lock for the Vice-Presidential slot alongside Tom Dewey, which seemed as sure a thing as possible. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) for Warren, the 1948 election was won by Harry Truman in the biggest surprise in American politics. He would run again four years later, in 1952, hoping to be able to become a consensus candidate for President. Instead, he ended up having to surrender his chances due to an insufficient budget and lobbying by Dwight Eisenhower. Ike, however, knew what Warren had given up and promised him the thing that he really wanted: an appointment to the Supreme court, which happened less than a year later, with the passing of Chief Justice Fred Vinson. This is where the book heats up. The book makes clear that Warren was neither an intellectual, nor a brilliant writer nor the possessor of a natural legal intuition. What he did have, though, was the willingness to work very hard, as well as the ability to persuade colleagues to vote with him. His leadership became apparent when the Brown decis

A great biography that does him justice

Earl Warren was one of the greatest Americans of the 20th Century, and Cray's biography does justice for him. Warren led the Supreme Court from 1953-1969, perhaps the most turbulent period in American history outside the Civil War. His rulings have shaped modern jurisprudence and, despite their controversial nature when they were issued, have repeatedly shown their wisdom since. The author also spends a lot of time on Warren's early political career as a District Attorney, Governor of California and failed Vice Presidential candidate in 1948. Overall, this is a fascinating and well-written biography.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

This book is really two completely distinctive stories. The first was about Earl Warren's youth and political career as District Attorney in Alameda County, Governor of California, and finally Republican Vice Presidential candidate. Then, half way through the book, Earl Warren is appointed Chief Justice and the story moves from California to Washington with a completely different cast of characters. The first part of the book was interesting; the second part was wonderful. The discussions about Supreme Court procedure and protocol, the history of the court, intermixed with the political climate of the 50's and 60's, and the various personalities and backgrounds of the justices were all fascinating. And the descriptions of the monumental decisions of the Warren Court were stirring.The book is not overtly dramatic. Earl Warren was a carefully guarded man performing a duty that required a non-partisan appearance. And some of the cases required several readings before I could really understand them. The writing was lucid, but the cases are complicated - at least for my limited mind. (The state law says this, legal precedent suggests that, the amendment applies to federal law, not the state, but only if it's a felony. Warren, Black, Douglas signed the majority opinion. Frankfurter wrote a dissenting opinion. Brennan wrote a concurring opinion agreeing with the decision but opposing the reasoning behind it. Then they all agreed to narrow the decision, but to remand it to state court. Hmmm.) I will have two lasting impressions of the book: First, Earl Warren's enormous and endemic sense of fairness. Second, how narrowly many of our civil liberties were won - often by just a 5-4 or 6-3 majority - and how little it would take to overturn those decisions.

Outstanding

Ed Cray provides a wonderfully clear and insightful depiction of Earl Warren, former Chief Justice of the United States. As someone who admires many of Warren's decisions, I enjoyed reading a full-length biography of him. Perhaps the best part of the book was Cray's discussion of the intellectual and judicial conflict between Justice Frankfurther--who believed in 'judicial restraint,' wanting to leave as many questions as possible to majoritarian democratic processes--and Warren, who believed the Court should lead the country by promoting social justice. From Cray's book, too, we learn that Warren's 'results-oriented' jurisprudence, while fortunately not mechanical and basically good-hearted, was not without its faults. All in all, this is a great book, one I not only enjoyed reading, but also recommend to others with similar interests.

A Biography That Does Justice to Earl Warren

Despite the reviews that are included here, this excellent biography has received very little attention from the media. I can't understand why. (Frankly, I expected it to get a front page review in the Sunday New York Times Book Review. Instead it has been totally ignored by the Times.)Warren is certainly one of the key American figures of the 20th century and this well written biography vividly portrays the man who changed the course of American history. It deserves to be read. Crey manages to portray Warren as a real person caught up in the forces of history: World War II and the relocation of Japanese Americans in California, the legacy of slavery and the quest for equality by African American citizens, the assasination of JFK. We not only learn "the facts" as they involved Warren but we genuinely get to meet and admire this exceptional but modest man whose principles and values guided his actions. This is biography and history comparable to Doris Kearns-Goodwin and David McCullough. I highly recommend "Chief Justice."