Book Description

Complete reprint of the sole edition. Includes the Adverse Report, and Hearings, Part 1 to 6. This set of hearing transcripts and the texts of supporting documents chronicles the history of Franklin D. Roosevelt's court-packing plan and its defeat in the United States Senate. Angered by the Court's hostility to legislation relating to the New Deal, Roosevelt proposed a bill to expand the membership of the court on February 5, 1937. Presented as a way to increase efficiency, it was intended to create seats for justices who would support the New Deal. The resulting struggle was a critical episode in Roosevelt's presidency and one of the nastiest clashes between the executive and judiciary in American history. Roosevelt's plan failed, but the debate had a profound effect on the Court's attitude toward the New Deal, which lead many to believe that the president was ultimately successful.