SUPREME COURT

The reductio ad absurdum of the literary raid on Washington (advanced by Advise and Consent) with the Bogartian hero none other than a Supreme Court Justice. Although full of wise saws and some rather pedestrian modern instances, no mere learned judge is Francis Copley Dalton, Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. As a friend of the President, John Alden Hughes, and grateful for the help given by his Massachusetts cohort in former years, Francis finds himself promising to help the in his plan again to enlarge the Supreme Court. When a vacancy in the Court occurs, difficulties become acute. Talks and deals among the Senators; briefings and directions by the President; a tragic death -- that of Majority Leader Chet McAdams -- which throws the ranks into confusion; and finally Francis' own personal publicity problems involving a relationship with actress Beatrice Hart, are dimly seen through the smoke of battle, but the President's plan is scuttled. At last Francis buckles down to his Court work and sees the light on Court-packing. The President is likeable and hearty; there is a goodly smattering of political caricatures and a lustrous overlay of sentiment; the time is a few years hence and the politics are dead center. Some readers may enjoy peeking into Court chambers; Supreme Court Justices may have a chuckle or two, but for those who like their Justices on a pedestal this effort is somewhat embarrassing and very slick... By the author of A Race of Rebels and CIA: The Inside Story.