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Thursday, March 17, 2022
George Washington and Bushrod Washington
My biography of Bushrod Washington is now out. While I have posted about the project over the past few years, I want to do a few more to discuss some of the book's broader themes.
One is the importance of temperament. The first half of the book focuses on Justice Washington's relationship with his uncle George Washington. Needless to say, George was an important mentor for Bushrod and exerted a strong influence on Bushrod's views. For example, Bushrod's support for ratifying the Constitution and embrace of Federalism as a governing philosophy are largely attributable to George. Justice Washington's Supreme Court opinions also reflect a more expansive view of the President's powers over military and foreign affairs (or federal power more generally on those issues) that probably reflect his apprenticeship under his uncle.
But the most important mark that George left on Bushrod was a sober sense of judgment. The sensibility of both men was described in remarkably similar terms. They were slow to reach a conclusion, but almost always made the wise choice. George Washington's careful approach was a crucial stabilizing force in the Revolutionary War and during his presidency. The same was true for Bushrod Washington on the Supreme Court. This contribution is harder to see because we know less about the internal dynamics of the Marshall Court than about the war or the Washington Administration, but I hope that the book makes a convincing case on that score.
How important is judgment in judging? The words are closely related, of course. But people tend to focus more on intellect or prose style in assessing what makes a great judge. Those are not unimportant. but how do they stack up compared to judgment? And what makes someone wise anyway? My book poses these questions.
Posted by Gerard Magliocca on March 17, 2022 at 09:11 AM | Permalink
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