One of the most important figures in the early days of our government was John Marshall, who served for thirty-four years as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court longer than any other man in the history of the country. Historians have claimed that Marshall's decisions in the early, formative years of our government were as important in determining the course of the United States as the Constitution itself.
It is often said that ours is a government of laws, not men. In the establishment of the power of law in this country, Marshall was a towering figure, as Fred J. Cook makes clear in the informative and exciting book.
One of Marshall's great decisions established the right of the Supreme Court to declare acts of Congress unconstitutional. This decision has made it forever impossible or to establish a tyranny. Other decisions which Marshall handed down established the rights of corporations and provided for free and unrestrained commerce between the states. In the famous Aaron Burr trial, Marshall ruled that no man could be declared a traitor simply because government said he was: his guilt must be proved beyond a doubt.
The man who pronounced these historic principles was a jovial, likeable man who had almost no formal legal training. Nevertheless, he quickly built a reputation while still a young man as one of the foremost lawyers of the nation.
The life of John Marshall was closely intertwined with the great events of the formative years of this country. He was born in Colonial times in the raw, rural section of Virginia, and grew up as a strong, vigorous frontiersman. As a leader of the Culpepper Minutemen, he fought through same of the bloodiest battles of the Revolutionary War and earned the lifelong friendship of George Washington. He battled against strong opposition in his native state to gain ratification for the U.S. Constitution. He served as a special envoy to France during the administration of John Adams.
Anyone who would understand the early history of the United States must understand the accomplishments of John Marshall. In this highly readable and vigorous book, Fred Cook describes the exciting career of John Marshall and places him in the panorama of the times in which he lived.
—from the book
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