Earl Warren

How could the man who presided over so many controversial Supreme Court decisions and led such a notable political career seem to be, and be regarded as, a person of quite modest presence and abilities? White, a former law clerk to Warren, goes back to Warren's roots in Progressivism to demonstrate the underlying consistencies beneath the apparent paradoxes of the man's career.

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This is a major biography of one of America's most influential and respected Supreme Court justices by a leading law scholar. In the late 1970s, Earl Warren's papers were opened and G. Edward White, a former law clerk of Warren, was given complete access to research this book. The result is the first study of the Chief Justice to cover his entire political career and to examine aspects of Warren's character that have seemed paradoxical. White goes back to Warren's roots in California Progressivism to illuminate his mid-century liberalism and the controversial decisions over which he presided in the Supreme Court. Based on a wealth of newly available information and White's understanding of Warren's work and personality, this is a fascinating, original portrait of Chief Justice Earl Warren.