John Marshall: Definer of a Nation

"...if American law were to be represented by a single figure, sceptic and worshipper alike would agree that the figure could be one alone, and that one, John Marshall." - Oliver Wendell Homes

"Marshall's preeminence was due to the fact that he was John Marshall." - Charles Evans Hughes

"John Marshall was the fourth Chief Justice of the United States. Appointed by President [John] Adams during the waning days of his term in 1801. Marshall served as chief justice for thirty-five years. Hs tenure spanned the terms of five presidents...

...If George Washington founded the country, John Marshall defined it." - Jean Edward Smith

"A list of Marshall's great decisions reads like the ABC's of American constitutional law. Judicial review - the authority of the Supreme Court to declare acts of Congress and the executive unconstitutional - traces to his landmark opinion in Marbury v Madison. The implied power of the national government evolved from the decision in McCullough v Maryland. In the leading cases of Martin v. Hunter's Lessee and Cohen v. Virginia, the Marshall court established its jurisdiction over state courts when federal issue was at stake." - Jean Edward Smith

Had this book on my shelf for a long time and finally felt the time was right to dive in. Liking it very much and quite honestly embarrassed by my lack of knowledge about John Marshall. I'll let one of his biographers, Albert Beveridge have the final word for now:

"Such exalted encomium has been paid him, that... a kind of mythical being, endowed with virtues and wisdom not of this earth. He appears to us as a gigantic figure looming , indistinctly, out of the mists of the past,"