Conflicting Loyalties: Law and Politics in the Attorney General's Office, 1789-1990 - Hardcover

Nancy V. Baker

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0700605304 ISBN 13: 9780700605309

Publisher: University Press of Kansas, 1992

Synopsis

The US Attorney General is forever caught between competing demands: on one side, his political duties as cabinet appointee and adviser to the president; on the other, his quasi-judicial responsibilities as chief law officer of the nation. In theory, the two sets of responsibilities coexist peacefully. In reality they often clash. In ""Conflicting Loyalties"", political scientist Nancy Baker provides a comprehensive analysis of the history and structure of the office of the US Attorney General, an office that legal scholars have described as ""schizophrenic"". Her study documents how attorneys general have differed in their responses, seeing themselves either as advocates of the president or as neutral expounders of the law. Combining historical analysis with legal and political history, Baker shows how this implicit conflict has evolved from the earliest days of the Republic, when the attorney general was primarily an adviser, to the present day, when he administers the huge bureaucracy of the Department of Justice. Using both archival materials and personal interviews, Baker analyzes how the 75 men who have held the post of attorney general have managed the conflict of loyalties. In particular she focuses on Robert Kennedy, Edwin Messe, Elliot Richardson, Griffin Bell, Robert Jackson, Edward Levi, A. Mitchell Palmer, and Roger Taney. She also examines how the office has been affected by scandals in various administrations, including the Red Scare of 1919-20, Teapot Dome, Watergate, and Iran-Contra. The book concludes with an exploration of arguments for reforming the office.

About this title

Product Description:

Conflicting Loyalties Baker analyzes the history and structure of the office of the US Attorney General, an office that legal scholars have described as "schizophrenic". Her study documents how attorneys general have differed in their responses, seeing themselves as advocates of the president or expounders of the law.

Review:

"Nancy V. Baker offers much insight into why the office of U.S. Attorney General has so often been embroiled in controversy in American political history. she traces the problems of the office to the conflicting expectations for an officer who must be loyal both to the law and to the president. . . . A well-written and worthwhile study of an important and often misunderstood office."--American Historical Review

"A careful, much needed overview of the attorney general's office and the difficulties its occupants face in trying to satisfy multiple constituencies."--American Political Science Review

"A suggestive and worthwhile contribution to the growing body of work on the attorney general and the Justice Department. The chapter on the origins and development of the attorney general's office and the case studies on the most recent incumbents are especially insightful and well written."--Journal of American History

"Baker skillfully describes and analyzes the office and traces its history."--Choice

"Baker concentrates on the critical juncture confronting all holders of the office: the conflict inherent between serving as the chief law officer committed to the rule of law and functioning as a political agent through duties as a cabinet officer and presidential adviser."--History: Reviews of New Books

"An exceptional work. . . . Baker has made the first comprehensive analysis of the Attorney General's office."--Louis Fisher, author of Constitutional Conflicts between Congress and the President

"Baker writes well, organizes coherently, and thinks clearly. . . . Her linkages between time periods, events, institutions, and alternatives create a viable whole rather than the usual case-study mish-mash. . . . She comes closer to the present than all but a few historians are courageous enough to risk."--Harold M. Hyman, author of Equal Justice under Law: Constitutional History, 1835-1875

About this edition

• Publisher: University Press of Kansas
• Publication date: 1992
• ISBN 10: 0700605304
• ISBN 13: 9780700605309
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 264