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Name: Five Chiefs: Stevens, John Paul: 9780316199797: Amazon.com: Books
Price: 18.51 USD
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Rating: 4.2 (154 reviews)

John Paul Stevens

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Five Chiefs Paperback – October 1, 2012

by John Paul Stevens (Author)

4.2 154 ratings

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When he resigned last June, Justice Stevens was the third longest serving Justice in American history (1975-2010) -- only Justice William O. Douglas, whom Stevens succeeded, and Stephen Field have served on the Court for a longer time.

In Five Chiefs, Justice Stevens captures the inner workings of the Supreme Court via his personal experiences with the five Chief Justices -- Fred Vinson, Earl Warren, Warren Burger, William Rehnquist, and John Roberts -- that he interacted with. He reminisces of being a law clerk during Vinson's tenure; a practicing lawyer for Warren; a circuit judge and junior justice for Burger; a contemporary colleague of Rehnquist; and a colleague of current Chief Justice John Roberts. Along the way, he will discuss his views of some the most significant cases that have been decided by the Court from Vinson, who became Chief Justice in 1946 when Truman was President, to Roberts, who became Chief Justice in 2005.

Packed with interesting anecdotes and stories about the Court, Five Chiefs is an unprecedented and historically significant look at the highest court in the United States.

Print length

305 pages
Language

English
Publication date

October 1, 2012
Dimensions

5.5 x 0.77 x 8.25 inches
ISBN-10

0316199796
ISBN-13

978-0316199797
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Five Chiefs is a 248-page bow-tie; like its dignified author, and his famous sartorial flourish, an unpretentious but important addition to American history...At its core, the book is not just another memoir from yet another judge. It marks instead the end of an era on the Supreme Court and in the broader swath of American law and politics...Stevens' focused eye gives way to a hundred or so smaller points, some densely legal, some historical, some even funny...Five Chiefs is the right book at the right time. It's a brief and largely defanged reminder of some of what we have lost in public life with the demise of the "moderate Republican" on Capitol Hill and the "practical conservative" on the federal bench...A fine new book."―Andrew Cohen, The Atlantic

"An informative and very appealing new memoir of life on the Supreme Court...Justice Stevens not only shows extraordinary respect for the Court as an institution, but does the same for his former colleagues-even ones with whom he often disagreed...[It's] classic Justice Stevens: understated and generous to those he differs with, but absolutely clear on where he believes justice lies."―Adam Cohen, Time

"A gentle memoir by a decent and accomplished public servant. Stevens opts not for jabs or evening scores but rather for reminiscences...Laced with observations on the court's architecture, traditions and even its seating arrangements, it is the collected ruminations of a man who has served his country in war and peace, across the decades... His memoir is as gracious as its author and a reminder that Stevens is more than a longtime member of the nation's highest court. He is a national treasure."―Jim Newton, Los Angeles Times

About the Author

Justice John Paul Stevens served on U.S. Supreme Court from 1975 until his retirement in 2010. He is the third-longest serving Justice in American history. Born in Chicago, Illinois in 1920, Stevens served in the United States Navy during World War II and graduated from Northwestern University School of Law. He was appointed to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in 1970 by President Richard Nixon and to the Supreme Court in 1975 by Gerald Ford. He was the author of two other books, Five Chiefs and The Making of a Justice. Justice Stevens passed away in 2019.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Back Bay Books; Reprint edition (October 1, 2012)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 305 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0316199796
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0316199797
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 9.7 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.77 x 8.25 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #752,804 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #504 in Lawyer & Judge Biographies
- #3,909 in Political Leader Biographies
- #22,608 in Memoirs (Books)

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4.2 154 ratings

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Norma D. Wright

Five Chiefs = 5 stars

Reviewed in the United States on January 27, 2012

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Justice Stevens' writing is so immediate and authentic that it seemed as though I could hear his voice as I read his words. It was like having the wonderful opportunity to sit next to the Justice at dinner. I also felt he presented a very balanced view of each of the other justices. In every case, he enumerated the strengths of each justice before pointing out areas where he disagreed the other justice's opinion.

One person found this helpful

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Baseball Fan

Chief Justice of the United States---First Among Equals

Reviewed in the United States on September 14, 2020

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John Paul Stevens was an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court who retired in 2010. His combined legal/judicial career spanned more than one half century in varied positions (law clerk, practicing lawyer, circuit judge and junior justice, associate justice, observer of the Court post retirement). It is from these varied perspectives that Stevens provides the reader with an intimate view of the working of the Supreme Court during the eras of five different Chief Justices: Fred Vinson, Earl Warren, Warren Burger, William Rehnquist, and John Roberts Jr. For each of the aforementioned Chief Justices, Stevens provides insight into their jurisprudence by discussing some of the cases with which they are most closely identified (including their opinions and the impact thereof). Stevens comments on aspects such as the manner in which the Chief Justices chaired oral hearings and judicial conferences; and he describes the operational procedures of the Supreme Court (i.e., which cases to hear, oral arguments, rendering an opinion), and compares the Chief Justice’s responsibilities to those of the Associate Justices. Stevens also provides insight into the confirmation process for Supreme Court Justices based on his own experience preparing for confirmation as Associate Justice.

On the nonjudicial side, Stevens discusses the layout and history of the building that currently houses the U.S. Supreme Court, as well as some of the nonjudicial duties. Specifically, Stevens state: “The chief, rather than the junior justice, was responsible for one significant nonjudicial aspect of our conferences. As a regular part of the proceedings, we would have a midmorning coffee break that lasted for at least fifteen or twenty minutes. It was the chief’s responsibility not only to be sure that coffee and tea were promptly served but also to select the menu, and assortment of pastries and fruits. More important, he personally dunned each of his colleagues for the ten-dollar contribution he collected every few weeks to finance our extravagant tastes. We often took those breaks after voting on one of the argued cases, and an informal understanding that usually---but not always---prevailed during those breaks was that we would suspend discussion of legal issues.”

As a preface to sharing the above-mentioned personal experiences with Chief Justices Fred Vinson, Earl Warren, Warren Burger, William Rehnquist, and John Roberts Jr, Stevens summarizes the jurisprudence of the nation’s first 12 Chief Justices (from John Jay to Harlan F. Stone), highlighting the cases with which each Chief Justice is most closely associated. Furthermore, in order to define a ‘benchmark’ for evaluating the overall effectiveness of all future Chief Justices, Stevens singles out 5 of the aforementioned 12 Chief Justices for special commendation stating: “As a postscript to my brief comments about the first twelve leaders of the Supreme Court, I should add my opinion that five chiefs stand out as national leaders entitled to our highest respect: John Jay, John Marshall, William Howard Taft, Charles Evans Hughes, and Harlan F. Stone. I shall not try to answer the question whether all, or any, of the five chiefs I have known (Fred Vinson, Earl Warren, Warren Burger, William Rehnquist, John Roberts Jr.) merit similar respect, but I hope the ensuing recollections may help others do so.”

As a reference for the reader, a complete statement of the Constitution of the United States is included as an Appendix.

I recommend this interesting and informative book.

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Amazon Customer

Great book

Reviewed in the United States on June 30, 2013

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I am not a lawyer, I have not been to law school, I haven't even been to college. But I had no problem understanding this book (even if I did have to google some law concepts) and I certainly didn't have any problem enjoying it. Justice Stevens writes with accessibility, intelligence and an impressive amount of wit that had me laughing, reflecting and yearning for more after each page.

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Diana Ruddick

Who's His Audience?

Reviewed in the United States on July 20, 2012

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While this book was advertised by the author as a memoir -- and there were some personal anecdotes sprinkled throughout -- Stevens' writing style was more suited to a reader with a legal background, as he went into some detail in his analysis. It would have been helpful to have an index of the significant cases to which he referred, since he seemed to assume the reader was familiar with them. I found the most fascinating chapter to be the one on Chief Justice John Roberts: I came away with increased respect for his intelligence. Of course, the recent decisions I was most anxious to read about (the 2000 presidential election and Citizens United) were given only passing mention. Overall, I much preferred The Nine, by Jeffrey Toobin.

3 people found this helpful

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Catherine Garner

👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼

Reviewed in the United States on November 19, 2019

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got for class, good book!

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Ronald H. Clark

Justice Stevens Has His Say

Reviewed in the United States on October 3, 2011

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I think this interesting book by retired Justice John Paul Stevens will appeal to two groups. First, the general reader without much particular knowledge of the Court will find it a pleasant introduction to how the Court functions, the role of the Chief Justice, and some important decisions. Since Stevens served between 1975 and his retirement in 2010, almost the longest term of service in Court history, he has a remarkable perspective for painting a rich and full picture of the Court as an institution. The second group consists of folks like myself who are serious students of the Court and yearn for an insider's candid views of his former colleagues, how the Court operated, and how some important decisions were hammered out.

Stevens is full of some spicy opinions on various topics and not shy about articulating them. His initial chapter is a very quick run through the first 12 chief justices. This affords the reader with a context in which to put Stevens' views of his own period of service. But at 26 pages, it is pretty sketchy, but still helpful for the general reader. Next, he addresses the role of the Chief Justice, not just hearing arguments and writing opinions, but also the important administrative responsibilities he has, such as those involving the Judicial Conference and the temporary transfer of judges. Then he gets into the meat of the book--five chiefs with whom he interacted and/or served.

First up is Fred Vinson who was chief while Stevens was a clerk to Justice Rutledge in the 1947 term. Because his interaction was not great, his personal insights are limited, but he clearly was not impressed with Vinson as Chief. Next he discusses Earl Warren, but since he only interacted with Warren during one oral argument, his personal insights are limited. In both these opening chapters, Stevens discusses Court history, some decisions (Brown, Miranda, and Griswold v. Connecticut) and other insights to fill out the chapters. The longest chapter, and most intimate discussion, relates to Warren Burger, to whom Stevens (in a distinct minority) gives high marks both for some legal developments as well as administrative skills in running the Court. He also rates Rehnquist highly for his administratie skills and efficiency as Chief, as well as some of his decisions. Finally, he has some favorable things to say about Roberts, rating him as a chief superior to either Rehnquist or Burger.

An interesting concluding chapter is written from the standpoint of his long period as the senior associate justice, which imposed upon him some important administrative responsibilites. However, much is absent that one would expect to hear and want to hear. There is no discussion of Bush v. Gore, for example. Stevens makes it clear he is not a Justice Thomas fan, nor does he agree with Justice Scalia's interpretative philosophy, although he was a valuable colleague. His adverse reaction to Justice Douglas' opinion in Griswold is over the top. But for the most part, this 244 page book (with a number of helpful photographs) is pleasant to read, informative, but could have been much more.

29 people found this helpful

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Victor Farfan

US Supreme court memoir

Reviewed in the United States on January 21, 2013

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Great tale of the inner workings of the US supreme court highly recommended. Judge Stevens makes on objective review of the individuals who headed the higher bench with perspective. Really like the book

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david

Très bon témoignage d'un ancien juge fédéral US sur la Cour suprème

Reviewed in France on September 2, 2016

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Un ouvrage à recommander sans aucune hésitation pour aficionados ; Stevens livre ici son regard des coulisses de la manière subjective d'un acteur mais c'est ce qui intéresse précisément & c'est ce que l'on attendait.
Enfin, le projet rédactionnel des 5 chefs est un pur prétexte - qui déjà intrigue d'emblée puisque l'auteur n'eut pas une longévité telle sur le banc qu'il puisse en avoir connus autant. Dès lors Les passages sur E.V & E.W sont plutôt moins bons.
Stevens s'ouvre ici en homme élégant & aimable de ce à quoi il put assister sur la juridiction suprême à laquelle il fut attaché de 1975 à 2010 à travers 3 chefs de W.B à l'actuel en passant par W.R.
Cet petit opuscule le lit vite & très bien.

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