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Judging Thomas: The Life and Times of Clarence Thomas
Clarence Thomas, the youngest and most controversial member of the Supreme Court, could become the longest-serving justice in history, influencing American law for decades to come. Who is this enigmatic man?
And what does he believe in? Judging Thomas tells the remarkable story of Clarence Thomas's improbable journey from hardscrabble beginnings in the segregated South to the loftiest court in the land. Driven by his grandfather's relentless demand that he counter racial injustice with hard work and accomplishment, Thomas has waged an often lonely fifty-year campaign to forge his own American identity against others' expectations of who he should be. With objectivity and balance, author Ken Foskett chronicles Thomas's contempt for upper-crust blacks who snubbed his uneducated, working-class roots; his flirtation with the priesthood and later Black Power; the resentment that fueled his opposition to affirmative action; the conservative beliefs that ultimately led him to the Supreme Court steps; and the inner resilience that propelled him through the doors. Based on interviews with Thomas himself, fellow justices, family members, and hundreds of friends and associates, Judging Thomas skillfully unravels perhaps the most complex, controversial,and powerful public figure in America today. Foskett reveals that beneath the silent, often brooding exterior is a man of depth, empathy, and wit, but one still deeply scarred by his humiliating Supreme Court confirmation. Judging Thomas is a seminal biography of the youngest and most recognizable justice, and the man who may succeed William H. Rehnquist to become the nation's first black chief justice.
And what does he believe in? Judging Thomas tells the remarkable story of Clarence Thomas's improbable journey from hardscrabble beginnings in the segregated South to the loftiest court in the land. Driven by his grandfather's relentless demand that he counter racial injustice with hard work and accomplishment, Thomas has waged an often lonely fifty-year campaign to forge his own American identity against others' expectations of who he should be. With objectivity and balance, author Ken Foskett chronicles Thomas's contempt for upper-crust blacks who snubbed his uneducated, working-class roots; his flirtation with the priesthood and later Black Power; the resentment that fueled his opposition to affirmative action; the conservative beliefs that ultimately led him to the Supreme Court steps; and the inner resilience that propelled him through the doors. Based on interviews with Thomas himself, fellow justices, family members, and hundreds of friends and associates, Judging Thomas skillfully unravels perhaps the most complex, controversial,and powerful public figure in America today. Foskett reveals that beneath the silent, often brooding exterior is a man of depth, empathy, and wit, but one still deeply scarred by his humiliating Supreme Court confirmation. Judging Thomas is a seminal biography of the youngest and most recognizable justice, and the man who may succeed William H. Rehnquist to become the nation's first black chief justice.
352 pages, Hardcover
First published August 1, 2004
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
July 6, 2014
We can learn much from good biographies, not just about the subject of the biography, but about the times in which he/she lived and, more broadly, about human nature itself. Ken Foskett’s biography of Justice Thomas maybe such a book. Foskett shows objectivity and balance with no political bias. The book is well researched based on the usual searches of archives, etc. but also on interviews with family members, friends, associates and Thomas himself. Foskett reveals that beneath the silent, often brooding exterior is a man of depth, empathy, and wit. Thomas rose from poverty in the segregated south, he had experienced discrimination first hand and a man who started school to be a priest but ended up graduating from law school instead is a fascinated story.
I keep asking myself, how did Thomas obviously talented, who benefited throughout his academic and professional life from affirmative action, become the courts most ardent advocate of absolute color blindness in the law? Most people who have experienced in life what Thomas has have become liberals. Why did Thomas become an extreme conservative? I have read the biographies of O’Connor, Ginsburg and Sotomayor who also fought discrimination and benefitted from affirmative action. They appear grateful for affirmative action and look at it positively. Ginsburg like Thomas had great difficulties obtain a job after law school due to discrimination, Thomas because he was black and Ginsburg because she was a Jewish woman. Both overcame the obstacles and advanced their career in spite of this discrimination. How can he have become the current court’s staunchest adherent to the so-called original intent of the constitutional framers, when so many of these framers would have seen him as less than a man? Foskett concludes that Thomas’s life and philosophy are a sequence of extreme reaction to terrible shaming events in his past. His pattern has been to join groups then break with them over an act of racial shaming. He apparently has not been able to overcome a lingering reaction to his confirmation hearing.
After reading this book I came away with a better understanding of the man but with a lot of questions about his judicial and political philosophy. The book is well worth reading. I read this as an eBook on my Kindle app for my iPad.
I keep asking myself, how did Thomas obviously talented, who benefited throughout his academic and professional life from affirmative action, become the courts most ardent advocate of absolute color blindness in the law? Most people who have experienced in life what Thomas has have become liberals. Why did Thomas become an extreme conservative? I have read the biographies of O’Connor, Ginsburg and Sotomayor who also fought discrimination and benefitted from affirmative action. They appear grateful for affirmative action and look at it positively. Ginsburg like Thomas had great difficulties obtain a job after law school due to discrimination, Thomas because he was black and Ginsburg because she was a Jewish woman. Both overcame the obstacles and advanced their career in spite of this discrimination. How can he have become the current court’s staunchest adherent to the so-called original intent of the constitutional framers, when so many of these framers would have seen him as less than a man? Foskett concludes that Thomas’s life and philosophy are a sequence of extreme reaction to terrible shaming events in his past. His pattern has been to join groups then break with them over an act of racial shaming. He apparently has not been able to overcome a lingering reaction to his confirmation hearing.
After reading this book I came away with a better understanding of the man but with a lot of questions about his judicial and political philosophy. The book is well worth reading. I read this as an eBook on my Kindle app for my iPad.
October 21, 2023
3-1/2.
November 24, 2019
A really great book. I feel though it gave a fair analysis of his life, struggles, and had lots of insights into his development and earlier years. It also offered an opportunity to learn more about the civil rights movement on college campuses on a human level (specifically when Clarence was at Yale interacting with other students) and the sorts of racism people dealt with. 100% would recommend
July 12, 2020
I enjoyed every page of Clarence Thomas’ biography. What a story and journey. Sadly, but thankfully He was Raised by his grandfather. His grandfather’s insistence on getting an education and the Catholic Church played such a pivotal role in his journey. Mentoring children became a passion. I look forward to many more years of his decisions and jurisprudence on the U.S. Supreme Court.
June 22, 2021
This book is like an eye opening for me. The author is indeed very objective. The life story of Judge Thomas is not only inspiring, but much of an ordeal. The reflection on the depraved nature of humanity in the “noble” American society is well highlighted…
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February 5, 2009Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter Foskett cracked Justice Thomas's media-wary shell by approaching him after a Good Friday service. He deserves points for bravery, but most critics agree that this partially authorized biography leaves much to be desired (Thomas did not grant him access to his private papers). It makes sense that the conservative New York Sun would be the lone rave review, since Foskett is highly sympathetic towards Thomas throughout, even defending him against Hill's charges (she declined to be interviewed for the book). Others excoriate Foskett for not thoroughly examining the strange pattern of anger and ideological shifts that define Thomas's life; more than one critic called Foskett's research shoddy. A highlight? Two sitting members of the Supreme Court went on the record (with complimentary remarks) about Thomas.
This is an excerpt from a review published in Bookmarks magazine.
August 12, 2008
I admit it: I have a man-crush on Clarence Thomas. I think he's one of America's most compelling self-made man stories.
And he's also the only justice among the Supremes who's willing to say the emperor has no clothes on (meaning, our Contitutional law since 1937 is just flat out wrong, off base, ludicrous, stupid, counterintuitive, and totally subverting the Constitution that the Founders gave us).
Needless to say, I'm on a small bandwagon!
Oh yeah-- the book: it's an interesting telling of his life up to confirmation, and slightly past it. I'll have to get his autobiography, which will cover the same ground of course, but in the first person, and I'm sure have better insights...
And he's also the only justice among the Supremes who's willing to say the emperor has no clothes on (meaning, our Contitutional law since 1937 is just flat out wrong, off base, ludicrous, stupid, counterintuitive, and totally subverting the Constitution that the Founders gave us).
Needless to say, I'm on a small bandwagon!
Oh yeah-- the book: it's an interesting telling of his life up to confirmation, and slightly past it. I'll have to get his autobiography, which will cover the same ground of course, but in the first person, and I'm sure have better insights...
September 14, 2008
This book will make you think differently about Clarence. The way that he is today goes back to his law school days when he was told that the only reason he got their was because he was Black.
Did you know that clarence was a black Panther in the late 60's and early 70's??
It is a good read into the life he has lead.
Did you know that clarence was a black Panther in the late 60's and early 70's??
It is a good read into the life he has lead.
January 18, 2013
Great biography of Judge Clarence Thomas. Great read! What makes it incredible is his beginnings in the deep South, the strikes against him, to what he is now. A very controversial person and position.
March 6, 2009
I read this book initially because I heard that it was a straightforward book without any political bias. It was very readable, and very eye opening. I came away very impressed with Clarence Thomas.
July 29, 2013
One of many books on the topic. A fairly pedestrian and outdated treatment.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews