FORTAS: The Rise and Ruin of a Supreme Court Justice

by Bruce Allen Murphy ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 29, 1988

The ancient Greeks knew what they were doing when they invented tragedy. As Murphy (Pol. Sci./Penn State Univ.; The Brandeis-Frankfurter Connection, 1982) tells the story, hubris and fate conspired to bring about the downfall of Abe Fortas 2500 years after the Greeks recognized the tragic flaw. For more than 700 pages, via painstaking research and detail, Murphy traces the career of Fortas from his youth as a poor Jewish boy from Memphis to his appointment to and eventual resignation from the Supreme Court. The tragedy is that Fortas was a brilliant lawyer whose intelligence and drive led to both his rise and his fall. His scholastic record got him to Yale Law School and to his association with Professor William O. Douglas, later of the Supreme Court. Fortas became an assistant to Interior Secretary Harold Ickes, and a prominent member of New Deal Washington. It was during this era that he met L.B.J., then a young Congressman from Texas. His association with Johnson became the central force in his career; as President, Johnson virtually forced Fortas to accept an appointment to the Supreme Court. In 1968, when Johnson tried to elevate him to Chief Justice, Fortas' downfall began. He became a lightning rod for conservative criticism of the Warren Court. This, combined with Fortas' continued close association with Johnson in apparent violation of the separation of powers, caused a groundswell of opposition that resulted in the withdrawal of the nomination. The final blow--the public disclosure of Fortas' questionable relationship with businessman Louis Wolfson--resulted in his resignation from the Court. Fortas' hubris was evidenced by his belief that he could finesse improprieties through legalistic maneuvering, by answering questions as narrowly as possible, and by disclosing less than the full truth. In the end, he was caught by the forces of history. In this excellent study of the workings of Washington, both in front of and behind the scenes, Murphy reminds us that certain truths about public men are not limited to a particular time or place.

Pub Date: July 29, 1988

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Morrow

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1988

Categories: NONFICTION