Revenge for the Sixties: Sam Alito and the Triumph of the Conservative Legal Movement

by Peter S. Canellos

The first-ever biography of the most pivotal Justice on the Supreme Court whose decisions, like the overturning of Roe, will drive the reshaping of America, by prize-winning journalist Peter Canellos.

When the Supreme Court handed down its decision in Dobbs v. Jackson, the landmark case overturning Roe v. Wade, it marked a turning point in the lives of millions of Americans. It was also the culmination of a decades-long movement whose grievances were embodied by the man who wrote the court’s Samuel Anthony Alito Jr.

Steely in his demeanor, with an impassive appearance that defies changing fashions, Alito could be the family lawyer in a 1960s television drama. But when he talks there is an emotional undercurrent, a fast-flowing stream beneath a placid surface. This is a man driven to push boundaries and mold ideas. His aim is to right the wrongs of the past six decades, as he saw them. He was the prized son of an Italian-born father and a mother whose parents emigrated from Italy shortly before her birth, worked their way into the middle class despite anti-Catholic prejudice and humiliating setbacks like evictions, and exacting big achievement demands of their children. But his family’s values came under attack during the sixties and later when Alito was at Princeton as the Vietnam war raged, women demanded equality, and their brand of patriotism was devalued.

The Federalist Society provided a safe space for Alito and those like him, and he moved fast up the judicial ladder to eventually land on the Supreme Court. There he has been aggressive in pushing the law in new, conservative directions—from pushing for expanding rights for the religious conservatives, overturning affirmative action, extending the right to bear arms to thwart gun controls, and reducing the power of the Environmental Protection Agency. And finally—most crucial to his legacy—he was the author of Dobbs v. Jackson, bringing the conservative legal movement full circle in overruling Roe v. Wade. His ethnic and religious background, his intellectual confidence, and his unyielding determination are all illustrative of a group of men and women who, beset by grievance, embarked on a decades-long mission to change the rules that govern society.

Genres: Biography, History, Politics, Nonfiction, Law

Audible Audio

Published April 7, 2026

Reviews

[Ellie Singer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting and well-written!

[Dr. Alan Albarran · Rating 4 out of 5]

Revenge for the Sixties is a very timely biography of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, coupled with the rise of the Federalist Society and the conservative movement that has transpired over the past fifty years. There is a lot to unpack in this new book, and will keep the reader engaged.

The biography portion of the book begins with Alito's grandparents, proud Italian immigrants who made it to America and worked hard to get established in their new country. The family was devout Catholic, and the hard work ethic and religious values made a lasting impression on Sam's mother and father as well as Alito and his siblings. The family was middle class, but not wealthy, and worked hard in their vocations.

Alito was a good student and eventually made his way to Princeton to study law. It was at Princeton where Alito was introduced to the growing Federalist Society, at that time a small but growing organization exasperated with the liberal court interpretations of the 1960s and all the turmoil involving the Vietnam War, women's and civil rights, the sexual revolution, and the battles that would only get larger over abortion. Alito's roots which already were conservative in nature began to evolve onto a stauncher level.

The book really picks up as Alito joins the Court and joins his conservative partners Antonio Scalia and Clarence Thomas. The bitter Supreme Court nominations of Robert Bork and Clarence Thomas are highlighted, and their influence on Alito and his own nomination. In the 2000s the Court would undergo a dramatic shift. When Judge Ginsburg lost a long batter with cancer, Republican Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell refused to bring Obama's nomination of Merrick Garland to the floor, outraging liberals.

Follow that a few months later by the upset election of Donald Trump in 2016 over Hillary Clinton. Trump's dramatic victory would forever change the Court as he was able to secure (with McConnel's help) three new appointments to the Supreme Court--all conservatives, all Catholics, and all members of the Federalist Society. The end result a 6-3 majority for conservatives and the "revenge" part of the book title.

The last part of the book is capped by the Dobbs decision that reversed decades of implied stere decisis with Roe versus Wade, sending decisions about abortions to the state and removing any constitutionally implied right to abortion at the national level. Alito authored this landmark decision, with repercussions still being felt.

Overall, I like the book. and give it 4/5 stars. The author's bias (in my opinion) shines through at the end in that he disagrees with a lot of Alito's decisions and the conservative majority.

I want to thank Simon and Schuster, the author, and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this new work which is highly recommended.

[Bargain Sleuth Reviews · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the digital copy of this book; I am leaving this review voluntarily.

The past few years have really radicalized me in many ways including my reading choices. Revenge for the Sixties is a very strong match for my taste in books. It’s not just a biography of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito; it is also an analysis of how one ideological grievance was turned into a coordinated decades-long legal strategy. The focus on the conservative moment’s perception of a societal decline fueled a political movement that rewrote the rules for the United States. Revenge for the Sixties is a deep dive into institutional influence.

This biography fits my pattern of seeking informative and challenging non-fiction that explores how specific individuals act as catalysts for broad societal shifts. Alito was just a cog in the wheel, but American law and racial and gender-based rights have been under attack since the darn laws that granted equality and body autonomy were passed. Those angry white male Boomers and their spawn have been trying to drag America back to some very dark times.

This book is a biography, but in no way is it objective, and that’s just fine with me. The author’s opinions become clear as you travel through the book, and it’s very apparent that he disagrees with most of Alito’s decisions on cases.

[David Becker · Rating 5 out of 5]

In case the reader doesn’t know, earlier this year, there were two very significant books about 76 year old Samuel Anthony Alito Jr., who became an associate justice of the United States Supreme Court in 2006. One was written by a mainstream journalist and the other was written by a Trump-aligned conservative journalist. Both writers have won awards and are respected, especially by those in their “tribes,” so to speak. I got both books (through digital license) and read them. If I can, I generally like to follow the process of getting all or both sides of issues or persons. I’ve seen no indication that either author has engaged with each other or their books, since publication.

The first book is Revenge for the Sixties: Sam Alito and the Triumph of the Conservative Legal Movement (Simon & Schuster, April 7, 2026, 384 pages) by Peter S. Canellos. Besides Revenge for the Sixties, he is the author of The Great Dissenter: The Story of John Marshall Harlan, America’s Judicial Hero, and the editor of the bestselling Last Lion: The Fall and Rise of Ted Kennedy. He has been POLITICO’s executive editor, leading the newsroom during the 2016 presidential coverage; and the editorial page editor of The Boston Globe. He has also been a Pulitzer Prize finalist, a recipient of the American Society of Newspaper Editors award in 2011 for excellence in editorial writing along with the 2022 George Polk Award, Robin Toner Award, and News Leaders Association Batten Medal for his writing about the Supreme Court.

The second book is Alito: The Justice Who Reshaped the Supreme Court and Restored the Constitution (Basic Liberty, April 21, 2026, 326 pages) by Mollie Hemingway. She is editor in chief of The Federalist (an online news and commentary site), a senior journalism fellow at Hillsdale College, and a Fox News contributor. The bestselling author of Rigged and coauthor of Justice on Trial, Hemingway’s work has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, USA Today, and more. She lives in the Washington, DC, area.

Listed as an instant New York Times best seller, Hemingway’s book seems to have sold far more than Canellos’s has. Hemingway’s book benefited from being favorably mentioned by Donald J. Trump on his Truth Social media platform.

I gave five stars to both books. They overlap in terms of content. Both highlight Alito as a a committed Italian heritage Roman Catholic. Both look at Alito’s pivotal role in authoring the Dobbs (2022) opinion that overturned Roe v. Wade (1973). Dobbs allowed states to ban abortion but neither Canellos nor Hemingway grapple with the fact the Dobbs barely made a dent into abortions not happening. Statistics indicate that there are more abortions now. Both describe Alito’s wife as gregarious. Neither book mentioned the NCAA v. Murphy decision which amounted to loosening restrictions on gambling (Alito authored that decision – it didn’t legalize gambling per se but struck down some existing bans which Alito said Congress could rewrite but opted not to, which resulted in gambling EXPLODING in America – this is discussed in the book EVERYBODY LOSES by Danny Funt, reviewed here a few weeks ago).

But if I had to choose, I’d say that Canellos’s book is overall better. Canellos does a lot more research into Alito’s life prior to the Supreme Court and puts Alito’s life into some historical context, discussing how, while Alito was always conservative, nevertheless had noteworthy bipartisan support. The book is well documented with many exclusive interviews. The influence of the conservative attorney group The Federalist Society is set forth and analyzed.

The book was quite objective through most of it but the tone changed somewhat in the last chapter, where Canellos raised more questions about Alito and where Canellos criticized Trump. Canellos suggested that Alito may have changed to be more partisan. It was okay and even appropriate for Canellos to raise the issues but it was a bit of a jolt to me in comparison to the rest of the book.

This was still a superlative five star book, though. I’d recommend that anyone consider obtaining it if they want to learn about Alito.

[Richard Thompson · Rating 3 out of 5]

The interesting and sad thing about Sam Alito is the transformation that he has undergone since joining the Supreme Court. He was always a bright hardworking guy, modest in his demeanor, maybe a little bit shy. He was conservative, but not doctrinaire, and as a judge always open to the arguments of both sides of a case. Now he has become a harsh, mean-spirited ideologue, with his point of view on every case pretty much assured before it is argued. It's the opposite of the trajectory followed by Harry Blackmun and David Souter, who grew in wisdom and moderation as they had more time on the Court. Mr. Justice Alito's opinions ignore the settled law and ignore the principle of originalism which he espoused when he was nominated to the Court. He has an idea that constitutional principles must be based on ideas and values that were deeply embedded in the country's culture at the time that the relevant clause was added to the Constitution, but it seems that those ideas and values are not based on an actual study of history so much as they are based on what he thinks those ideas and values ought to have been. His opinions are the opposite of the concepts of limited government and judicial restraint on which the Federalist Society and the conservative legal movement originated. And his sneering angry demeanor is the opposite of what has traditionally been expected of a Supreme Court Justice. This is not good for anyone, whether on the left or the right.

What happened? This book tries to give an answer, but it's all speculation. Was it his experience at Princeton where he was an outsider - a poor kid from a conservative family who had much more to lose than the rich kids who staged student strikes and took over buildings in the 1960s? Was it too much time spent in Federalist Society echo chambers? Was it an overreaction to the difficulties surrounding his nomination? Was it the dislike he and his wife have for Washington society? Or is it a man who is drunk with the power of sitting on the highest court where what the court says is the law, so he is free to take whatever position he wants? It's probably some of each, but whatever the reason, there's no question that the guy has become toxic. He's damaging the Court's reputation and damaging our democracy. If we have to have a conservative court, give me John Roberts times nine, but no Sam Alitos, please.

[Russell Atkinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sam Alito is Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court Samuel Alito. The author does a good job of describing Alito's family and upbringing is reasonably short, efficient ways without this turning into a real biography. This book focuses heavily on how Alito came to wend his way onto the Supreme Court and how he has chosen to wield his power there to complete the rightward tilt of that body. Alito is no doubt a man of high intellect and steely determination. He was almost a cipher throughout his days as a law student, attorney and Circuit Court judge, although those close to him, or who studied him as The Federalist Society did, knew of his strong conservative views. Now the world knows him as an arch conservative who flips his judicial philosophy repeatedly to favor the Republican party. The quotations from his various judicial opinions bring this out in stark relief.

The title refers mostly to Alito's time at Princeton for his undergraduate days. I had forgotten about that turbulent time. As I was on the west coast at the hotbed of dissent and anti-war picketing (Berkeley) at that time, I didn't pay much attention to the fact that the same thing was happening at Princeton, the Berkeley of the East. Alito was very must offended by the disruption to his academic career the protests caused and the anti-government views of the protesters. He joined ROTC, one of the targets of the protests. According to the book, this whole experience colored his judicial and even life view. He's punishing everyone now for the effrontery of the demonstrators et al. As an attorney and someone who turned down the Ivy League to stay at Berkeley, I may have a particular interest in this book that others might not share, but I found it very worthwhile.

[E · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mostly fair (I guess?) look at Samuel Alito's life. I appreciated the strong focus on his early life and not just his legal career. Canellos writes of the justice's childhood in the Italian community of south New Jersey and how strongly that milieu shaped his worldview.

Later at Princeton University and then Yale Law School, the shy and extremely intelligent student ran into the mess that was the late '60s and early '70s. It seems the campus atmosphere at those two places really turned Alito off to the leftist mindset. And who could blame him?

Alito fell into a supreme court nomination when Bush's first pick was roundly rejected by the commentariat (though, looking back, I don't think she was as bad as we thought at the time). He was endorsed by every single one of his 40+ clerks as an impartial and studious judge.

At this point Canellos' tone changes significantly. He claims that Alito has morphed into an extremist while on the high court. He finds a few former colleagues or acquaintances who say the same thing. He even claims that Justice O'Connor, whose seat Alito filled, would agree. It's not clear what evidence Canellos has for this supposed shift, however. It seems to be based mostly in cases with which the author disagrees.

I'm sure Alito has matured/changed at least somewhat. I'd blame it on living in the cesspool that is the greater DC area (and Canellos does hint at that), but is anyone really surprised by Alito's views on the court these last twenty years? I have a hard time believing so.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

In which we learn that a concerted effort has been made to select deep-dyed conservatives for the Supreme Court and that these efforts were more sophisticated than simply having the Federalists Society produce a list of true believers in conservative precepts and values. Conservatives, disappointed by the way in which some conservative picks had drifted towards more liberal viewpoints in decisions, analyzed the reasons and recognized that a conservative justice living in the DC area would be living in a mostly liberal community and this would create a tendency for the justice to adapt socially. Solution? Matchmaking. Conservative justices and families are matched with other conservative-thinking couples, in Alito's case, and taken on retreats with rich conservative supporters in the cases of Scalia, Thomas, and Alito. In other words, it isn't simply an effort to influence the justices by offering them perks; the goal is to keep them firmly ensconced in a like-thinking community to prevent them socializing and being influenced by the liberal elites that populate Washington. That was the most interesting revelation in this book that tells the tale of how conservatives finally managed to hold enough conservative votes, led by Alito, to overturn Roe v. Wade and to make steps towards countering other liberal trends at the Court.

[Pamela Saar · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first half of this book was very well written and enjoyable. Being a grand-daughter of an Italian immigrant, I could relate to many of the stories and the pride I had being from such a family who worked hard and were not entitled.
I was disappointed as the book continued - almost as if there were two separate authors. It became less of a biography and more of a critique of the conservative movement. Blaming the “Trump era” for the inability of liberals and conservatives to coexist is irresponsible. The increase in tension and violence can be squarely placed on social media and media in general.
The ending was clearly opinionated and not biographical. That was disappointing. Because this author does not share the beliefs of Alito, he deems them to be wrong.

[Dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

A quick study of the life and career of USSC Justice Sam Alito, in which Canellos makes the argument that Alito is no originalist--he has become deeply and extremely conservative because of his experiences as a Princeton student (observing the countercultural tumult of the late 1960s/early 1970s) as well as the culture in Washington, D.C. that challenged Alito's embedded notions of how people should behave.

[George Crofts · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book because it provided an overview of recent major Supreme Court cases. I was particularly interested in the history of the Federalist Society.

It began with Ronald Reagan became president in 1980. Regan wanted a more conservative judiciary. He relied his attorney General Edwin Meese to implement it.

Sam Alito’s biography is interesting also.

[Shannon Heaton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I expected to 'hate-read' this but I wound up not, although I never really lost sight of 'this is who the subject has become'. There was indeed a large backlash to the 60s and we're still feeling that backlash's effects.

[Bob Manning · Rating 3 out of 5]

Most of the events in this book were covered in the daily political news but there were enough new items to make the book interesting.

[John Daniell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Adequate and accessible biography of Samuel Alito but not a ton of depth. Nothing groundbreaking but goes a bit into his psyche and what makes him tick.

[Andy Tuite · Rating 4 out of 5]

A picture of Alito as a complicated and seemingly compromised thinker. Unfortunate that he’s on a position to use his thinking to impact society so.