Premium
Thomas Jefferson and John Marshall: What Kind of Constitution Shall We Have?
Author(s) -
UROFSKY MELVIN I.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
journal of supreme court history
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1540-5818
pISSN - 1059-4329
DOI - 10.1111/j.1540-5818.2006.00130.x
Subject(s) - hypocrisy , constitution , cousin , contest , law , economic justice , affection , philosophy , history , sociology , political science , epistemology
Although they were third cousins once removed—both descended from William Randolph of Turkey Island, one of the first settlers in Virginia—John Marshall and Thomas Jefferson had little familial affection for one another. During the disputed contest of 1800, the future Chief Justice felt “almost insuperable objection” to the man who eventually become the third President, declaring him “totally unfit for the chief magistracy of a nation which cannot indulge these prejudices without sustaining deep personal injury.” 1 For his part, Jefferson reciprocated, and his cousin became the embodiment of all he despised in the judiciary. He wrote of Marshall as a man of “lax lounging manners … and a profound hypocrisy.” 2