Supreme Ambition, Ruth Marcus
Supreme Ambition, Ruth Marcus
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Supreme Ambition
Brett Kavanaugh and the Conservative Takeover

Author: Ruth Marcus

Narrator: Alma Cuervo, Ruth Marcus

Unabridged: 16 hr 1 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 12/03/2019


Synopsis

The Washington Post journalist and legal expert Ruth Marcus goes behind the scenes to document the inside story of the Brett Kavanaugh confirmation battle and the Republican plot to take over the Supreme Court—thirty years in the making—in this “impressively reported, highly insightful, and rollicking good read” (The New York Times Book Review).

In the summer of 2018 the Kavanaugh drama unfolded so fast it seemed to come out of nowhere. With the power of the #MeToo movement behind her, a terrified but composed Christine Blasey Ford walked into a Senate hearing room to accuse Kavanaugh of sexual assault. This unleashed unprecedented fury from a Supreme Court nominee who accused Democrats of a “calculated and orchestrated political hit.” But behind this showdown was a much bigger one. The Washington Post journalist and legal expert Ruth Marcus documents the thirty-year mission by conservatives to win a majority on the Supreme Court and the lifelong ambition of Brett Kavanaugh to secure his place in that victory.

The reporting in Supreme Ambition is full of revealing and weighty headlines, as Marcus answers the most pressing questions surrounding this historical moment: How did Kavanaugh get the nomination? Was Blasey Ford’s testimony credible? What does his confirmation mean for the future of the court? Were the Democrats outgunned from the start? On the way, she uncovers secret White House meetings, intense lobbying efforts, private confrontations on Capitol Hill, and lives forever upended on both coasts.

This “extraordinarily detailed” (The Washington Post) page-turner traces how Brett Kavanaugh deftly maneuvered to become the nominee and how he quashed resistance from Republicans and from a president reluctant to reward a George W. Bush loyalist. It shows a Republican party that had concluded Kavanaugh was too big to fail, with senators and the FBI ignoring potentially devastating evidence against him. And it paints a picture of Democratic leaders unwilling to engage in the no-holds-barred partisan warfare that might have defeated the nominee.

In the tradition of The Brethren and The Power Broker, Supreme Ambition is the definitive account of a pivotal moment in modern history, one that will shape the judicial system of America for generations to come.

About Ruth Marcus

Ruth Marcus, a syndicated columnist for The Washington Post and deputy editor of the editorial page, has covered every major institution in Washington, including the Supreme Court, the White House, and Congress, and has written about judicial confirmation battles stretching back to Robert Bork in 1987. A graduate of Yale College and Harvard Law School, she was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in commentary in 2007.   


Reviews

Goodreads review by Jean

I recently read Molly Hemingway’s book “Justice on Trial: The Kavanaugh Confirmation and the Future of the Supreme Court” which provided the conservative viewpoint of the Confirmation Hearings. I was curious how Marcus would handle the Confirmation Hearings. The book is well written and meticulously......more

Goodreads review by Jeff

The current President calls Ruth Marcus’ book about the Kavanaugh debacle and the right wing crusade to takeover SCOTUS “a badly written & researched disaster....” So of course it’s brilliantly written & researched. Highly recommend.......more

Goodreads review by Jill

There were many issues in the 2016 Presidential election, but perhaps the most important was over control of the United States Supreme Court. Both sides had reason to count on the results of the election to determine who would be nominated to the high court after the death of Antonin Scalia a few mo......more

Goodreads review by Paul

This is the definitive book to read on the Kavanaugh hearing for the Supreme Court. It is highly critical, highly unbiased and comes down with a reasonable explanation of what happened during the hearing, what Republicans got by with in shutting down witnesses that supported Christine Blasey Ford's......more

Goodreads review by Judy

Since I already knew how depressing the ending was, I don't know why I tortured myself reading how Brett Kavanaugh, beer drinking virgin, worked so hard to join his lying and lecherous buddy Clarence Thomas on the Supreme Court, but I guess it's because I admire Ruth Marcus so much. Her recounting o......more