The Political Supreme Court

“Given the recent actions of the Supreme Court and the possibility that issues like court packing gain more steam in the near future of American politics, this forthcoming history of the Court is especially timely. . . . [A] promising read.”—LitHub’s Most Anticipated Books of 2026

“Shelden paints a startling yet convincing picture that until the turn of the twentieth century, Supreme Court justices were not only major political players, but that involvement in politics and lower-level courts was both expected and required. . . . The Political Supreme Court is an essential addition to any political or historical collection.”—Booklist, STARRED review

“[Shelden] argues that partisan politics were inherent to the court in its 19th-century iteration, and shows that the insistence that it should be apolitical is a much more recent phenomenon.”—Bloomberg

“In this sweeping history, Rachel A. Shelden, one of America’s leading voices on the history of the Court, brings readers inside the social and political world of its justices, recovering their essential role in the era’s turbulent politics.”—Legal History Blog

“The Political Supreme Court is an essential read for anyone living in America who wants to understand the past, and for anyone interested in the political imagination of our future. . . . [H]istorically rich and insightful.”—Common Good

“A deeply researched and highly enjoyable study of how politics kept the early Supreme Court accountable—and the most important historical assessment of the nineteenth-century Court in a very long time.”—Stephen Vladeck, New York Times bestselling author of The Shadow Docket: How the Supreme Court Uses Stealth Rulings to Amass Power and Undermine the Republic

“A stunning, original, and important description of the extensive political involvement of Supreme Court justices during the nineteenth century. Shelden is a gifted storyteller. This book will be an essential resource for all looking at this period of Supreme Court history.”—Erwin Chemerinsky, coauthor of Campus Speech and Academic Freedom: A Guide for Difficult Times

“Rachel Shelden compellingly describes the lively political world that nineteenth-century justices inhabited, one that contrasts sharply with the purported neutrality and isolation that our Supreme Court falsely claims to possess.”—Jack N. Rakove, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Original Meanings: Politics and Ideas in the Making of the Constitution

“This is the single best book I have read on the history of the US Supreme Court. A remarkable achievement.”—Gautham Rao, author of White Power: Policing American Slavery

“Blending commanding research with brisk, accessible writing, Shelden skillfully evokes the political world of the nineteenth-century Supreme Court and explodes the myth that the Court somehow stood above the partisan fray. By illuminating the lives and careers of its justices, both famous and lesser-known, her refreshing narrative demonstrates not only how politics intruded into the Court’s work but also how the Court shaped the nation’s political order.”—Joseph P. Reidy, author of Illusions of Emancipation: The Pursuit of Freedom and Equality in the Twilight of Slavery