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Matters of Principle
Mark Gitenstein
其他書名
An Insider's Account of America's Rejection of Robert Bork's Nomination to the Supreme Court
出版
Simon and Schuster
, 2019-01-29
主題
Political Science / General
Political Science / Political Process / Political Parties
Political Science / Political Ideologies / Democracy
ISBN
1982130431
9781982130435
URL
http://books.google.com.hk/books?id=GdaEDwAAQBAJ&hl=&source=gbs_api
EBook
SAMPLE
註釋
In his bestseller
The Tempting of America
, Robert Bork portrayed himself as someone whose views are in the American mainstream, and has said that the failure of the Senate to approve him was an aberration. On the contrary,
Matters of Principle
shows that with the rejection of Bork, Americans emphatically reaffirmed one of the enduring virtues of our national character—a fervent belief in individual rights.
In the end, Americans rejected the cramped vision of Robert Bork and the Right.
Matters of Principle
is a lively, provocative, and thoughtful first-hand account of this tumultuous battle for control of the Supreme Court, a battle that continues to make news but whose strategy was shaped largely behind closed doors.
For Joseph Biden, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, it would prove to be a watershed moment. Biden wanted to be President and was in the middle of a campaign for the Democratic nomination when the process began. Robert Bork’s ambition was to serve on the Supreme Court. Both saw their dreams die amid constant pressures from political action groups, other senators, editorial boards, and the President. The goal for Biden was to make the American public interested in a battle over judicial philosophy without being perceived as a political opportunist. Bork’s aim was to become the standard-bearer of the Reagan Revolution, to project himself as a moderate, while his judicial decisions and his writings showed otherwise.
The inner proceedings provide a fascinating look at the players in this event, from the editorial boards of
The New York Times
and
The Washington Post
to the Senate chambers of Biden, Thurmond, Kennedy, et al., to the White House, where President Reagan erred enormously, first by choosing Bork, then by adopting faulty strategy to help him, and finally by apparently abandoning Bork and leaving him without strong support.
Perhaps most important,
Matters of Principle
is a story about the clash of judicial ideas and ideals. Mark Gitenstein traces the evolution of Bork’s legal philosophy from his days at Yale through his time in the Nixon Administration, finally offering a portrait of a man far from the mainstream of American beliefs.