The Lives of the Constitution: Ten Exceptional Minds that Shaped America’s Supreme Law

by Joseph Tartakovsky

In a fascinating blend of biography and history, Joseph Tartakovsky tells the epic and unexpected story of our Constitution through the eyes of ten extraordinary individuals-some renowned, like Alexander Hamilton and Woodrow Wilson, and some forgotten, like James Wilson and Ida B. Wells-Barnett.

Tartakovsky brings to life their struggles over our supreme law from its origins in revolutionary America to the era of Obama and Trump. Sweeping from settings as diverse as Gold Rush California to the halls of Congress, and crowded with a vivid Dickensian cast, Tartakovsky shows how America's unique constitutional culture grapples with questions like democracy, racial and sexual equality, free speech, economic liberty, and the role of government.

Joining the ranks of other great American storytellers, Tartakovsky chronicles how Daniel Webster sought to avert the Civil War; how Alexis de Tocqueville misunderstood America; how Robert Jackson balanced liberty and order in the battle against Nazism and Communism; and how Antonin Scalia died warning Americans about the ever-growing reach of the Supreme Court.

From the 1787 Philadelphia Convention to the clash over gay marriage, this is a grand tour through two centuries of constitutional history as never told before, and an education in the principles that sustain America in the most astonishing experiment in government ever undertaken.

Genres: History, Law, American History, Legal

320 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2018

Reviews

[E · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book could have been dry, stilted, boring. But it is none of these things. Instead the author paints rich portraits of the ten individuals whose lives constitute the title phrase. It is part biography, part musing on these characters' impact on our understanding of the constitution. Founding Fathers Alexander Hamilton and the vastly underrated James Wilson are here, as are nineteenth-century favorites Daniel Webster and the overlooked Stephen Field (champion of the free market). Woodrow Wilson makes an appearance. Tartakovsky does not quote Wilson's more incendiary comments concerning the constitution, instead claiming that Wilson's bark was worse than his bite. The twentieth century concludes with Robert Jackson and Antonin Scalia, both men of great honor. The author's discussion of Scalia is mixed, and he appears to totally misunderstand the argument against the redefinition of marriage to include homosexual unions, both otherwise I was glad to see Scalia included.

Tartakovsky writes like a man beyond his years (b. 1981). It will be interesting to see where his career goes from here, as it's already been quite varied. Certainly a writer to keep an eye on.

[Dave Franklin · Rating 4 out of 5]

In “The Lives of the Constitution: Ten Exceptional Minds that Shaped America’s Supreme Law,” Joseph Tartakovsky, former deputy solicitor general of Nevada, selected ten people and with reference to their lives, actions and thoughts about our constitutional principles. Tartakovsky’s approach is part biography, part history, and part legal analysis. The author notes that America’s beginning lacks the supernatural mythology which buttresses the founding tales of other nations. He appositely remarks that the United States began as “a bunch of legal documents.”

Tatakovsky’s choice of lives is interesting. They are: Alexander Hamilton, James Wilson, Daniel Webster, Stephen Field, Alexis de Tocqueville and James Bryce (foreign observers), Woodrow Wilson, Ida B. Wells-Barnett, Robert Jackson, and Antonin Scalia. Hamilton is selected for his role in bringing life to the Constitution, and not James Madison, the more detached father of the Constitution. James Wilson- the mostly ignored framer- is today termed by the author,”the Philosopher of Philadelphia.” Webster brought erudition and compromise to his brushes with the document; Fields, his laissez faire outlook. Tocqueville, a French sociologist, and Bryce, a Scotch-Irish politician, offer an international perspective. Wells-Barnett brings a civil rights reformer's and a suffragette's view. The 20th century personages discussed by Tartakovsky encapsulate the salient aspects of their times, and they merit further notice.

The Progressive Woodrow Wilson, brings us to the age of the anti-constitutional, living Constitution. Tartakovsky shows how Wilson ushered in the rule of experts, birthing the administrative state, having declared the obsolescence of the American constitutional system. Wilson, the only president with a doctorate, applied his studies in political science to the problems of governing. “The Constitution was not made to fit us like a straitjacket,” Wilson declared. “There were blank pages in it…” In the end, Wilson's blank pages gave us segregation, war, censorship, and an elaborate conspiracy that hid his near complete mental incapacity from the nation.

As an exemplar of the New Deal and the Second World War Tartakovsky examines Robert Jackson. Jackson is the only person to be solicitor general, attorney general, and Supreme Court justice—and he also served as a Nuremberg prosecutor. In those roles, he was tied up in legally defending FDR and the New Deal despite not having been a Braintruster. His legacy is mixed, but his prudence steered FDR away from his more radical impulses, and prodded the court to adopt more moderate views.

Tartakovsky’s final constitutional life sketch is of Antonin Scalia, the Court’s greatest proponent of originalism and textualism—the idea that constitutional and statutory provisions ought to be interpreted with respect for the meaning they conveyed when they were enacted. It’s an idea that is eschewed by many law schools, but it is an important one. In “Reading Law,” Scalia calls for judicial restraint and circumspection. As Scalia posits, “ the living Constitution would better be called the Dead Democracy.” Scalia believed deliberative bodies representing the people should decide political questions, as opposed a Solomonic body of jurists.

Tartakovsky is often more sanguine than I am regarding the future of our republic. While he sees the resiliency in our Constitution, he seems to forget an admonition the framers recognized: "A government powerful enough to give one what one wants, can also take away all that one has." Overall, this is a smart, balanced, and well-written book that is both enjoyable and instructive.

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book scores high across the board: thorough research, lively writing, and probing commitment to the subject. One thing that I loved about this book was the genre--Tartakovsky's willingness to tackle and to develop the underappreciated genre of constitutional biography. Too often biographies focus narrowly on the life of the subject at the expense of neglecting intellectual history. Here, however, Tartakovsky threads the needle skillfully, examining the lives of his nine (or so) subjects--but in order to tell a bigger story about the development of constitutional thought. In my view, the author's embrace of a fun and unusual genre made the book a great read.

The writing, too, is wonderful. Given the author's interest in taking on a new genre, it did not surprise me that Tartakovsky developed his own style. The writing is lively enough to engage those with a background in constitutional law, while remaining clear and accessible enough to those with no footing in the field. Tartakovsky avoids academic tones in favor of clear prose but is not timid in experimenting with creative styling.

This was one of my favorite reads on constitutional thought. It is part history, part law, part biography, and part commentary. But they hang together well, in light of the author's ability to be both historian and story-teller. I would highly recommend this book to lawyers and non-lawyers, including those looking for a creative approach to American intellectual history.

[Jacob Lines · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this book, Joseph Tartakovsky tells the stories of ten people that shaped the American Constitution. But it is more than just the Framers. He has a few of those – Hamilton and James Wilson. He also includes the great Daniel Webster, the senator, lawyer, and orator who partially dominated the generation after the Framers. There are Supreme Court justices – Stephen Field, Robert Jackson, and the inimitable Antonin Scalia – and one president – Woodrow Wilson. But he includes more than just these “official” political and constitutional actors. He also features Alexis de Tocqueville and James Bryce, foreign visitors who wrote insightful works about America and its political institutions, and Ida B. Wells, the famous journalist and activist for women’s and African-American’s rights. He includes them for good reason, too. As Tartakovsky explains, the Constitution is shaped by more than just court opinions and the Framers’ debates. What keeps the Constitution alive is the constitutional culture that we have developed over the lifetime of our nation. Without that constitutional culture, the Constitution would be a dead letter on parchment. And our constitutional culture is not dependent only on officials, but on the opinions and actions of everyone in America. Because of that, it is great to read about all of these people that have influenced our constitutional culture in some major way.

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I recommend this to anyone who believes in the value of the Constitution and the freedoms it provides. Learn about the many people throughout our great history who have fought, one way or another, to make it what it is today. From the Founding Fathers to the Civil War, the Civil Rights Movement and women's suffrage to the late Jus. Antonin Scalia the author shows how they were instrumental in changing and updating the original document to meet the development and growth of the American people. Tartakovsky has given me a renewed understanding of and respect for a piece of parchment that has been so vital to our continued success as a nation.

[Gay]

Started but not finished.

[Mark Alexander · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent lives

Several of those written about were new to me and a welcome addition to my historical understanding. Well worth a read.