The Lives of the Constitution: Ten Exceptional Minds That Shaped America's Supreme Law

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia observed that every banana republic has a bill of rights in its constitution. It takes people to give those charters life, as constitutions are mere words without men and women to honor, observe, and apply them. Tartakovsky (James Wilson Fellow in Constitutional Law, Claremont Inst. for the Study of Statesmanship and Political Philosophy) looks at the U.S. Constitution through the lives of nine men and one woman. He creates five pairs of individuals from different periods, each consisting of a well-known and lesser-known figure. The Framers include Alexander Hamilton and James Wilson; for the 19th century, the foreign duo Alexis de Tocqueville and James Bryce sit alongside the domestic Daniel Webster and Stephen Field; while the 20th century pairs "dreamers" Woodrow Wilson and Ida B. Wells with "restorers" Robert H. Jackson and Antonin Scalia. Tartakovsky's choices are intriguing. Avoiding legal jargon and sketching vivid, memorable portraits of his subjects, the author offers a scholarly yet accessible book to general audiences.