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Twenty-Five Greatest Champions of America: Part Five

© Brian Tubbs

This series has examined those Americans who have most effectively articulated and championed the principles enshrined in their nation's heritage. Thus far, those profiled are:

Bob Hope(#25)
Robert E. Lee(#24)
Walt Disney(#23)
Billy Graham(#22)
Rosa Parks(#21)
Mark Twain(#20)
Dorothea Dix(#19)
John Quincy Adams(#18)
Eleanor Roosevelt(#17)
Helen Keller(#16)
William Jennings Bryan(#15)
George C. Marshall(#14)
Samuel Adams(#13)
Franklin D. Roosevelt(#12)
Ronald W. Reagan(#11)
Susan B. Anthony(#10)
John Adams(#9)
Benjamin Franklin(#8)

Now, our series continues...

Number Seven: John Marshall

For those that prize the activist judiciary the United States has today, their gratitude must begin with the most famous jurist ever to sit on the Supreme Court, former Chief Justice John Marshall.

The eldest of 15 children, John Marshall was born in a Virginia log cabin in 1755 and remained largely within his community (present-day Fauquier County in Northern Virginia) until the outbreak of the American Revolution. He served as an officer in the Continental Army from 1775 until 1779, and became a devoted admirer of General George Washington. This admiration would lead him eventually to write a noteworthy biography of the general and future President.

Marshall became a lawyer in 1780 and was first elected to public office two years later. He became a vocal advocate for the newly-drafted Constitution at the Virginia ratifying convention in 1788, and earned the gratitude of his hero, George Washington.

Marshall refused offers to join President Washington's administration, but did help Washington's successor, John Adams, negotiate peace with France. In 1799, Washington finally prevailed upon Marshall to enter national politics. Frustrated with the Democratic-Republican Party, Washington insisted that the Federalist Marshall stand for United States Congress. Marshall cruised to victory and became an active supporter of President Adams. He was soon tapped as Secretary of State near the end of Adams's presidency.

Following Adams's defeat, a bitter Federalist Congress expanded the executive and judicial branches of government and Adams rushed to fill the new slots with "midnight" appointees. One of Adams's late appointments (though not a part of the "midnight" batch of appointees to newly created offices) was John Marshall, who would become the fourth Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.

Among Marshall's initial caseload was the famous case, Marbury v. Madison, a dispute that had ties to him. As Secretary of State for Adams, Marshall had been tasked with delivering the presidential commissions to Adams's approved appointments. He was unable to finish the job, before Adams left office and he (Marshall) became Chief Justice. The new Secretary of State, James Madison, was ordered by the new President, Thomas Jefferson, to cease delivery of the commissions. A lawsuit followed, and the case made its way to Marshall's Court.

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