About the Program
Jeff Shesol recalls Franklin Roosevelt's confrontation with the U.S. Supreme Court who objected to vital elements of his New Deal legislation. In 1937 the President announced a plan to expand the court to ensure that liberal justices would outnumber conservatives. Mr. Shesol reports that President Roosevelt's plan failed but helped push through New Deal legislation while it created a fissure in the Democratic party that the author maintains led to future Republican ascendance. The U.S. Senate voted against President Roosevelt's proposal on July 22, 1937. Jeff Shesol discusses his book with Jeffrey Toobin, staff writer at The New Yorker and senior legal analyst at CNN at the New York Historical Society in New York City.