The Forgotten Memoir Of John Knox: A Year In The Life Of A Supreme Court Clerk In Fdr'S Washington

The Forgotten Memoir Of John Knox: A Year In The Life Of A Supreme Court Clerk In Fdr'S Washington

"My name will survive as long as man survives, because I am writing the greatest diary that has ever been written. I intend to surpass Pepys as a diarist."When John Frush Knox (1907-1997) wrote these words, he was in the middle of law school, and his attempt at surpassing Pepys-part scrapbook, part social commentary, and part recollection-had already reached 750 pages. His efforts as a chronicler might have landed in a family attic had he not secured an eminent position after graduation as law clerk to Justice James C. McReynolds-arguably one of the most disagreeable justices to sit on the Supreme Court-during the tumultuous year when President Franklin D. Roosevelt tried to "pack" the Court with justices who would approve his New Deal agenda. Knox's memoir instead emerges as a record of one of the most fascinating periods in American history.The Forgotten Memoir of John Knox-edited by Dennis J. Hutchinson and David J. Garrow-offers a candid, at times na