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Clarence Darrow: American Iconoclast
Clarence Darrow is best remembered for his individual cases, whether defending the thrill killers Leopold and Loeb or John Scopes’s right to teach evolution in the classroom. In the first full-length biography of Darrow in decades, the historian Andrew E. Kersten narrates the complete life of America’s most legendary lawyer and the struggle that defined it, the fight for the American traditions of individualism, freedom, and liberty in the face of the country’s inexorable march toward modernity. Prior biographers have all sought to shoehorn Darrow, born in 1857, into a single political party or cause. But his politics do not define his career or enduring importance. Going well beyond the familiar story of the socially conscious lawyer and drawing upon new archival records, Kersten shows Darrow as early modernity’s greatest iconoclast. What defined Darrow was his response to the rising interference by corporations and government in ordinary working Americans’ he zealously dedicated himself to smashing the structures and systems of social control everywhere he went. During a period of enormous transformations encompassing the Gilded Age and the Progressive Era, Darrow fought fiercely to preserve individual choice as an ever more corporate America sought to restrict it.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published April 15, 2011
About the author
Andrew E. Kersten
10 books3 followersAndrew E. Kersten is a professor of history in the Department of Democracy and Justice Studies at the University of Wisconsin–Green Bay.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
August 1, 2011
Clarence Darrow isn’t a person who leaves people feeling apathetic. Some people, even today, still hate the lawyer’s guts over seven decades after Darrow’s death. Others admire how Darrow often defended the disenfranchised, the insane, and the underrepresented.
Yes, many times Darrow represented unions against hostile corporations bent on destroying them. His work helped end the 14-hour workday and start equitable pay. He defended John T. Scopes, a Tennessee educator who could’ve been lynched for teaching evolution. He also defended two rich boys, Loeb and Leopold, who murdered a young teenager out of madness.
But that’s not all Darrow did. He started out as a free love promoter, then married, and then cheated on his wife. He had communist and socialist leanings. He defended anarchists, murderers, and corrupt politicians. If he was short on money, Darrow would often work for the railroads and corporations he said he hated. He ran for political office, though he didn’t trust politics. He had a temper, but he also was an eloquent speaker. He helped start the ACLU.
Confused as to what to think about Darrow? So am I. That’s why I’ve also always found him fascinated.
Author Andrew E. Kersten calls Darrow an “iconoclast,” one who attacks cherished social beliefs. Well, that may be the only consistent thing about Darrow. Kersten states that Darrow, “was dedicated to smashing the structures and systems of social control that impinged on the liberties and freedoms of average people.”
But then why would Darrow defend corrupt politicians? Or rich, insane boys? Or railroads and corporations?
I’ve always thought of Darrow as a man of supreme cognitive dissonance. His ideals wanted to protect the unprotected, but his financial instability made him often chose the other side. He wanted to be distinctly American by standing for ideas most Americans found repugnant – free love, anarchy – in an effort to protect individual freedom. He sought political and personal power by standing up for the powerless.
Kersten doesn’t really bring too much new to my understanding of Darrow, but the author does organize it well. If it’s a bit dry, at least it’s thorough. If you find Darrow fascinating, this is a good start.
Finally, as a side note, it frustrates many people that American law doesn’t exist to bring the guilty to justice. We want blood! American law exists to protect people if there is even a shred of a chance they are innocent. Darrow and a host of other lawyers – Cochrane and Baez pop to mind immediately – use the “Swiss cheese” defense to poke holes into what seems logical and true. This is so that the power of law is not abused. This is so the innocent do not go punished. This also means that sometimes the guilty go free, and the innocent are the American people who suffer under future crimes.
Again, this is something I have no easy answer for. I would suspect that Darrow and his dichotomies would also have floundered for an answer. Or maybe Darrow didn’t care about right and wrong. Or his definition of right and wrong is different from legal and illegal. Or maybe Darrow’s powers of defense and of speech had a vacillating moral compass. I don’t know. Kersten doesn’t seem to be able to answer that either; though he tries, the powerful and fascinating Darrow is too inconsistent to pigeonhole.
Yes, many times Darrow represented unions against hostile corporations bent on destroying them. His work helped end the 14-hour workday and start equitable pay. He defended John T. Scopes, a Tennessee educator who could’ve been lynched for teaching evolution. He also defended two rich boys, Loeb and Leopold, who murdered a young teenager out of madness.
But that’s not all Darrow did. He started out as a free love promoter, then married, and then cheated on his wife. He had communist and socialist leanings. He defended anarchists, murderers, and corrupt politicians. If he was short on money, Darrow would often work for the railroads and corporations he said he hated. He ran for political office, though he didn’t trust politics. He had a temper, but he also was an eloquent speaker. He helped start the ACLU.
Confused as to what to think about Darrow? So am I. That’s why I’ve also always found him fascinated.
Author Andrew E. Kersten calls Darrow an “iconoclast,” one who attacks cherished social beliefs. Well, that may be the only consistent thing about Darrow. Kersten states that Darrow, “was dedicated to smashing the structures and systems of social control that impinged on the liberties and freedoms of average people.”
But then why would Darrow defend corrupt politicians? Or rich, insane boys? Or railroads and corporations?
I’ve always thought of Darrow as a man of supreme cognitive dissonance. His ideals wanted to protect the unprotected, but his financial instability made him often chose the other side. He wanted to be distinctly American by standing for ideas most Americans found repugnant – free love, anarchy – in an effort to protect individual freedom. He sought political and personal power by standing up for the powerless.
Kersten doesn’t really bring too much new to my understanding of Darrow, but the author does organize it well. If it’s a bit dry, at least it’s thorough. If you find Darrow fascinating, this is a good start.
Finally, as a side note, it frustrates many people that American law doesn’t exist to bring the guilty to justice. We want blood! American law exists to protect people if there is even a shred of a chance they are innocent. Darrow and a host of other lawyers – Cochrane and Baez pop to mind immediately – use the “Swiss cheese” defense to poke holes into what seems logical and true. This is so that the power of law is not abused. This is so the innocent do not go punished. This also means that sometimes the guilty go free, and the innocent are the American people who suffer under future crimes.
Again, this is something I have no easy answer for. I would suspect that Darrow and his dichotomies would also have floundered for an answer. Or maybe Darrow didn’t care about right and wrong. Or his definition of right and wrong is different from legal and illegal. Or maybe Darrow’s powers of defense and of speech had a vacillating moral compass. I don’t know. Kersten doesn’t seem to be able to answer that either; though he tries, the powerful and fascinating Darrow is too inconsistent to pigeonhole.
November 22, 2011
Clarence Darrow has got to be the most well-known attorney in U.S. history. I can certainly remember reading about the Scopes Monkey Trial as a kid in school. This book does a good job of looking at Darrow's life and legacy in its entirety. I appreciated that it didn't shy or explain away the negatives of his life, such as his trials for jury bribery, or his vocal support of World War I and consequent abandonment of erstwhile friends.
May 3, 2012
The only rough spot I see in this book is that the author's narration of Darrow as a lawyer lacks depth. I wish the author put more effort in describing how Darrow would prepare for his cases, how he would argue in court or how he would cross-examine witnesses. While I understand that the author is not a lawyer, he could have collaborated with a lawyer in writing this biography so he can provide a richer,fuller account of Darrow the lawyer.Nevertheless, I still recommend this book to anyone interested in America's most famous lawyer/political activist.
November 26, 2015
Superficial and poorly written (the author has the really annoying habit of appending date of birth and date death every time mentions anyone associated with story). Darrow is one of most interesting figures of his time and I wish I had a better biography than this.
January 18, 2016
It is largely about Darrow's political activism. How he fought for the rights of freedom, liberty and individualism.
February 2, 2026
As stated, I became interested in Clarence Darrow when he appeared in the historical mystery, The Angel of Darkness, by Caleb Carr. At the time, I wondered what type of man would defend such a horrible murderess as Libby Hatch.
I found out who.
Not surprisingly, this biography inspired me to read more biographies. It was sharp, well-written, and painted Darrow, in all his faults and glories, as unquestionably human.
At times, I found myself screaming at the book, more so at Darrow, for his switching of alliances and sides. But he held the same core beliefs and fought for them for sixty of his eighty years of life.
He was all for labor rights and unions, he strongly opposed the death penalty, he championed academic freedom and civil liberties, fought against racial injustice, and always defended the little guy.
Darrow was against government overreach as well as governmental injustice. He hated Herbert Hoover for doing nothing, and despised Franklin Delano Roosevelt for doing too much.
He’d lost and gained fortunes all his life, always finding himself back in the courtroom, where he felt most comfortable.
I highly recommend this book to those who love biographies, and also those who appreciate controversial figures, either in history or in fiction.
I found out who.
Not surprisingly, this biography inspired me to read more biographies. It was sharp, well-written, and painted Darrow, in all his faults and glories, as unquestionably human.
At times, I found myself screaming at the book, more so at Darrow, for his switching of alliances and sides. But he held the same core beliefs and fought for them for sixty of his eighty years of life.
He was all for labor rights and unions, he strongly opposed the death penalty, he championed academic freedom and civil liberties, fought against racial injustice, and always defended the little guy.
Darrow was against government overreach as well as governmental injustice. He hated Herbert Hoover for doing nothing, and despised Franklin Delano Roosevelt for doing too much.
He’d lost and gained fortunes all his life, always finding himself back in the courtroom, where he felt most comfortable.
I highly recommend this book to those who love biographies, and also those who appreciate controversial figures, either in history or in fiction.
June 18, 2017
Fairly standard bio of Darrow, the shifts in his legal thinking, and his big and small cases. Very few pages devoted to Scopes
June 13, 2022
More concise than other Darrow biographies I've read and more critical of the man. It felt like his presentation was likely closer to the historical Darrow and not quite as biased in his favor.
July 26, 2011
The book provides a narrative of the relationship between Darrow's political activities and his legal career. Darrow starts out as a small town lawyer, makes his way to Chicago, gets involved in city politics, and develops sentiments of protecting the "downtrodden". His involvement in politics provides ample opportunity to find issue with corruption and industrial plundering rampant in Chicago and elsewhere in early 1900 America. Darrow shows strong sympathies to the Socialist Movement that was gaining momentmum in the early 1900s. He wins a few cases, loses a few and eventually turns away from championing the downtrodden because it does't pay.
He loses a lot of money in a couple of stock market crashes which in part forces him to continue practicing law until 70's. He also likes to live the high life. He take some high profile cases, notably the Loeb and Leopold murder case because he needs the money. During the last 20 years of his career Darrow takes on cases that champion individual rights, which as described in the book, makes Darrow appear to be potentially more sympathetic to Ron Paul than Eugene Debs.
The book narrative is not straightforward as it often moves from place to place and time to time without a connecting narrative. This can be jolting at best and pointless at worst. The book provides little first person or contemporary narrative to enhance the author's story. As such, the books lacks personality and is not, in my opinion, a compelling read.
May 31, 2011
Kersten explores Darrow’s contradictory impulses while doing justice to the “Attorney for the Damned.” A man who could be completely self-serving and choose his cases out of self-interest is convincingly juxtaposed with the lawyer who fought for the poor and powerless against the social, religious, and economic forces that would enforce conformity over thought, empower the corporation before the individual, and privilege received opinion and superstition over scientific progress and rationality. The reader comes away with a far greater understanding of the person, with his great-heartedness and complexity, pessimism and desire for justice, and of his times, perhaps wishing that another such might rise up to champion Darrow’s causes in a time when partisans from opposing political perspectives seem united only in institutionalizing the “mind-forged manacles” that Darrow sought to smash. Well-worth a read by anyone who would understand our legal system, the Gilded Age through the Depression, or an attorney whose causes seem as important today as ever.
July 13, 2017
quite a book and a lot of surprises. I only knew Darrow as the defender in the Scope's trial. Turns out, he was a flip-flopper in his early years, even stooping so low as to bribe jurors. But he remained a champion of the little guy, a defender of freedoms and rights. I'm really glad I saw this on the library shelf.
June 21, 2011
An interesting new take on Darrow's life, with more of an emphasis than usual on his politics. It's just one of two new books about Darrow. The other is "Clarence Darrow: Attorney for the Damned" by John Farrell, which I hope to read soon.
October 26, 2011
OK but a lot of unnecessary detail
August 8, 2012
Looking at Darrow’s political views, how they changed over time and the way they impacted the cases he selected.
April 4, 2016
Darrow is a figure of whom I know little. Kersten gave me a lot of information, with a focus on the Great Defender's cases. Good writing and thus good reading!
March 5, 2012
This was a nuanced approach to Clarence, and quite interesting.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews