The Constitution and the New Deal

by G. Edward White

In a powerful new narrative, G. Edward White challenges the reigning understanding of twentieth-century Supreme Court decisions, particularly in the New Deal period. He does this by rejecting such misleading characterizations as "liberal," "conservative," and "reactionary," and by reexamining several key topics in constitutional law.

Through a close reading of sources and analysis of the minds and sensibilities of a wide array of justices, including Holmes, Brandeis, Sutherland, Butler, Van Devanter, and McReynolds, White rediscovers the world of early-twentieth-century constitutional law and jurisprudence. He provides a counter-story to that of the triumphalist New Dealers. The deep conflicts over constitutional ideas that took place in the first half of the twentieth century are sensitively recovered, and the morality play of good liberals vs. mossbacks is replaced. This is the only thoroughly researched and fully realized history of the constitutional thought and practice of all the Supreme Court justices during the turbulent period that made America modern.

400 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

G. Edward White is the David and Mary Harrison Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of Virginia. He was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1983.

Reviews

[B · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is not really about the Constitution and the New Deal but about the stories we tell ourselves about their interaction. White makes a compelling case that nothing in particular happened in 1937 and it is only a kind of hardened wishcasting that makes it seem so. I wonder how he finds the time to read all of these treatises and journal articles. He must read every textbook ever published.

Loses some points for sometimes feeling like it is being written in a way that is too remote to the reader. Also because, despite a lot of roadmapping, doesn't cohere. But a lot of great essays.