Supreme Power: Franklin Roosevelt vs. the Supreme Court

Beginning in 1935, the Supreme Court's conservative majority left much of FDR's agenda in ruins. The pillars of the New Deal fell in short succession. It was not just the New Deal but democracy itself that stood on trial. In February 1937, Roosevelt struck back with an audacious plan to expand the Court to fifteen justices--and to "pack" the new seats with liberals who shared his belief in a "living" Constitution.