The Memoirs of Chief Justice Earl Warren

by Earl Warren

Earl Warren headed the Supreme Court during the turbulent years of the Civil Rights era, deciding on many landmark cases and contributing to the society in which we live today, including "Brown v. Board of Education", "Mapp v. Ohio", and "Miranda v. Arizona." A Republican who eschewed the party line to support many centrist and liberal decisions, Warren's views were often surprising and controversial, informed as they were by his personal sense of fairness rather than politics. In his Memoirs , Warren recounts his years as a district attorney and attorney general in San Francisco, and his three terms as California's governor. Writing of his years as a Justice of the Supreme Court, Warren reveals Eisenhower's anger at him for being soft on Communism during the McCarthy era, and a run-in with Attorney General John Mitchell and the Nixon Department of Justice, who attempted to discretely influence a Supreme Court decision.

Genres: Law, Biography

432 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1977

About the author

Earl Warren (1891 - 1974) was the 14th Chief Justice of the United States and the only person elected Governor of California three times. Before holding these positions, Warren served as a district attorney for Alameda County, California and Attorney General of California.

His tenure as California governor and Chief Justice was marked by extreme contrast. As governor of California, Warren was very popular across party lines, so much so that in the 1946 gubernatorial election he won the nominations of the Democratic, Progressive, and Republican parties. His tenure as Chief Justice was as divisive as his governorship was unifying. Liberals generally hailed the landmark rulings issued by the Warren Court which affected, among other things, the legal status of racial segregation, civil rights, separation of church and state, and police arrest procedure in the United States. Conservatives decried the Court's rulings, particularly in areas affecting criminal proceedings. In the years that followed, the Warren Court became recognized as a high point in the effort to effect social progress in the United States. Warren himself became widely regarded as one of the most influential Supreme Court justices in the history of the United States and perhaps the single most important jurist of the 20th century.

In addition to the constitutional offices he held, Warren was also the vice-presidential nominee of the Republican Party in 1948, and chaired the Warren Commission, which was formed to investigate the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

Reviews

[Grant · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book I severely wished hadn't come to an abrupt ending because of the Chief Justice's death but nonetheless a must read for anyone interested in his life and the impact of his time on the US Supreme Court. Not only does this book detail his evolution as a legal giant, but it shows the human side that I think many people lose when discussing the important cases of his time such as Brown v. Board of Education or Griswold v. Connecticut. You get to understand not just his time as Chief Justice of the United States but also his time as a county prosecutor all the way up to Governor of California. He goes through many of the issues of the time and details for the reader the many tasks that he led the charge for that we no longer even think about in our country. Even for the regular reader I would suggest this book to understand history just a little bit better.

[Pardis TD · Rating 1 out of 5]

Most people hate police abuses, however, judicial abuses are just as bad. Letting criminals walk is crime by association. This seems to have been the beginning of the end of the justice system and of honest judges being hired. As of now, no judges do their job, because there are no judges in the US, there are criminals sitting behind a bench and that by itself is shocking. If it's shocking to Americans, it's even more shocking to foreigners. Foreigners dampen the abuse on Americans, when they are not around, Americans become the victims. Africa is doing much better in terms of the justice system than is the US. If Assange's cases were all dismissed by the American courts, that says a lot, as that happened to him (a public case), it happens to every one of us too. But as of now, there are no judges in the USA and that's shocking as they need those criminals to appoint them (criminals too).

[Elle Richardson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this book in the current political climate awed me. Warren did not seem like an ideologically motivated man but a man shaped by his experiences in life. Something that stood out to me was his progression from academics into his career. He was not an excellent student in grade school nor in his undergraduate pursuits. However, I think a big mistake more commonly made in contemporary society is how much pressure we put on teens and young adults to be exceptional and fully formed to their potential. Overall I found the memoir to be an interesting read.

[Dan Cotter · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an interesting memoir, one which was not completed before Earl Warren’s death, but offers a first person perspective in the life of this Chief Justice. Worth a read and some good quotes and guidance from him.

[Barbara · Rating 5 out of 5]

a great read from a great man. if we had republicans like earl warren today we wouldn't have as many morons in maga land.

[Ross · Rating 3 out of 5]

Awesome. Republican Attorney General of California gets appointed to the Supreme Court and authors the unanimous opinion in Brown v. Board of Education which earns him the title of "sell out." Lots of interesting history and behind the scenes looks at the Supreme Court. Can get boring...

What i learned... is that LEO's used to be bad ass: one of Warren's deputies once shot a gun out of a man's hand averting a bloody mess in a gambling hall.

[Mike Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredibly interesting. Some of the things he writes about from the fifties and sixties sound like they were ripped from today's headlines. Nifty fella. Wish we had more like him today.

[Amz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good! Interesting to hear the background on unanimous Warren Court decisions.