What was John Marshall's constitutional vision?

0:05Marshall's of Virginia, he signs up to fight early on in the war is 20 years old when he does, and he says later that it was in the army that he learned to think of America as his country because he's fighting in a Virginia unit, but he's fighting alongside men and units from Pennsylvania, from Delaware, from New Jersey, from North Carolina. He sees this as a united struggle as a national struggle and he also sees George Washington an action as commander-in-chief, and this was the great bonding experience of his life. Washington becomes his second father. Now, we think of Washington's father of his country, but for Marshall, it's very personal. He sees him in the fighting. He's there, he leads, he leads from the front. His soldiers see him.

0:59He's able to inspire them and keep them to their duty, and this is an experience the Marshall never forgets. John Marshall was the fourth Chief Justice. He gets a job in 1801. The first was John Jay who has it for five years. Then when he leaves to be governor of New York, John Rutledge gets a recess appointment as Chief Justice and he serves for one term, then the Senate will not confirm the appointment, so that's the briefest term we've ever had for Chief Justice. Then Oliver Ellsworth is the third man, and he goes for another five years. But during this time, the court has few cases of importance and the Justices really don't like the job. One problem is they have to ride circuit in those days, and initially, there were only three circuits. The United States is physically a very large country,

1:56not very populous but it's very spread out. So if you're on the Northern circuit, that's all of New England in all of New York, and you have to remember the roads then are really lousy, so going through a lot of little cities and it takes a long time, and it's very weary. John Jay leaves the job of chief justice to run for governor of New York. Could you imagine if someone approached Chief Justice Roberts and said, oh, look, you can be governor of Indiana, and he said, oh, fine, I'll leave being Chief Justice and I'll do that. No, it's inconceivable now. It was very conceivable then. John Jay did it. Let me tell you the story of how he got the job since that's a lot of fun. John Adams has lost the election of 1800. It's the first contested partisan election,

2:49and he's lost it to his frenemy Thomas Jefferson. He is a lame duck and he gets a letter from Chief Justice Oliver Ellsworth that, look, I've got to quit. I've got health problems. I'm worn out. I can't do this anymore, so President Adams nominates the first Chief Justice John Jay, and the Senate confirms him. Then he gets a letter from Jay saying, been there and I've done. They're not going to do this again. I dislike this job, it lacks energy, weight, and dignity. Those were his words. Adams is talking with his Secretary of State, young Virginian and ex-Congressman, John Marshall, and he says, who shall I point now? The clock is ticking.

3:34Jefferson is going to become president in a matter of weeks. Marshall says, I don't know, sir, and Adams looks at them and says, I believe I'll appoint you, so the Senate confirms the nomination, and that's how John Marshall gets the job, which she will hold for 34 years still the record for a Chief Justice. Marshall is able to run his court because he's a very personable man. One person says I love his laugh.

4:04It just seems like he was a delightful man to know, to be with. He likes discussing matters with his fellow justices over dinner, and they also acknowledged his own brilliance, so it's not just that he's a nice guy. He's an extremely smart guy. One example of his way of living. The court had a custom when he joined it that when the justices were having dinner, they could only have wine if it were raining, and this I imagine wants to cheer them up. So Marshall would always ask one of his colleagues, Associate Justice story when he comes on the court, he would say, brother story, look out the window and tell us what the weather is. Story might say, well, the sun is setting, the sky is perfectly clear, and Marshall would say, our jurisdiction is so vast that by the law of chances must be raining somewhere.

5:01The wine was always served to the Marshall Court. The wine merchants of Washington called their best stuff the Supreme Court when Marshall was chief justice because he was their best customer. He has a serious vision of what the court should do and how the Constitution should be interpreted. The emotional foundation of it was his experience during the revolution, his personal experience of American unity, and his experience that you needed a capable national government to keep this revolution going.