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The Oath: The Obama White House and The Supreme Court Audiobook
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Publisher Description
From the prizewinning author of The Nine, a gripping insider's account of the momentous ideological war between the John Roberts Supreme Court and the Obama administration. From the moment John Roberts, the chief justice of the United States, blundered through the Oath of Office at Barack Obama's inauguration, the relationship between the Supreme Court and the White House has been confrontational. Both men are young, brilliant, charismatic, charming, determined to change the course of the nation—and completely at odds on almost every major constitutional issue. One is radical; one essentially conservative. The surprise is that Obama is the conservative—a believer in incremental change, compromise, and pragmatism over ideology. Roberts—and his allies on the Court—seek to overturn decades of precedent: in short, to undo the ultimate victory FDR achieved in the New Deal. This ideological war will crescendo during the 2011-2012 term, in which several landmark cases are on the Court's docket—most crucially, a challenge to Obama's controversial health-care legislation. With four new justices joining the Court in just five years, including Obama's appointees Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan, this is a dramatically—and historically—different Supreme Court, playing for the highest of stakes. No one is better positioned to chronicle this dramatic tale than Jeffrey Toobin, whose prize-winning bestseller The Nine laid bare the inner workings and conflicts of the Court in meticulous and entertaining detail. As the nation prepares to vote for President in 2012, the future of the Supreme Court will also be on the ballot.
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"A valuable lesson in how the Supreme Court works in recent years, or how it doesn't from a certain perspective. Activist judges? For sure. The analysis of how the Affordable Care Act passed judicial scrutiny by the highest court in the land is, at first read, kind of confusing, but it's a penalty when it's not a tax because a penalty is more effective (according to the IRS) but really, it's a tax, so Congress is within its rights to pass it."
— Frank (5 out of 5 stars)
Awards
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A New York Times bestseller
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A 2012 Kansas City Star Top 100 Book for Nonfiction
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A 2012 Washington Post Notable Book for Nonfiction
The Oath Listener Reviews
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" Riveting. Accessible. Insightful. Articulate. Fairly meticulous. Depressing. "
— Kathleen, 1/31/2014 -
" Closer to 3 1/2 stars. An interesting look at the inner workings of the Supreme Court. I found the focus on the rise of originalism as a dominant judicial philosophy particularly interesting (and also enjoyed a few of the more gossipy bits about the justice's personalities and personal lives, of course). I did find the book occasionally repetitive, however--it is obvious that some of these chapters were written as articles first--and felt Toobin could have checked his own political biases at the door a little better. Overall, though, an interesting, engaging read. "
— Angela, 1/21/2014 -
" Another fantastic Toobin book. Deceptively straightforward. He is like the graceful outfielder who makes it look easy... "
— Greg, 12/23/2013 -
" I enjoyed this, though I didn't think it was as insightful (or as thorough) as The Nine. "
— Patrick, 12/20/2013 -
" Not quite as good as The Nine, but another interesting look at the inside workings of the Supreme Court and the newer justices. It was exciting to learn exactly how awesome Ruth Bader Ginsburg is. And there's a little bit of Obama, which mostly makes him seem less awesome than I thought he was. "
— Stacey, 11/29/2013 -
" Have to read Toobin cause he is a New Yorker, and he certainly isn't lacking in knowledge of the court. I was expecting it to be a little be more about WH/SCOTUS interactions and less mini bios of each justice. While I found those interesting and at times endearing, it wasn't why I grabbed the book. "
— Lindsay, 9/19/2013 -
" I like personal anecdotes about the Chief Justices. They should have in US Weekly " Justices...they're just like us! They put syrup on their pancakes! They buy toilet paper!" "
— Jenni, 8/1/2013 -
" Comprehensive yet breezy and beautifully written. Not so much about the differences between the White House and the Supreme Court as it was an enlightening read on the changes and history of the court itself. "
— Stephan, 6/21/2013 -
" Great Book -- Toobin is fantastic at clarifying difficult topics. I enjoyed this as much as I did "The Nine" and found it quite the education. "
— Holly, 4/5/2013 -
" Good description of the movement to the right by the Roberts courts, including full details on Citizens United and the decision on the health care law. "
— Dan, 2/23/2013
About Jeffrey Toobin
Jeffrey Toobin is chief legal analyst at CNN and a staff writer at the New Yorker. He is a magna cum laude graduate of Harvard Law School and the author of several New York Times bestselling books, including The Run of His Life, which was the basis for American Crime Story: The People v. O.J. Simpson, the acclaimed FX Networks limited series. A Vast Conspiracy, his book about the Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky scandal, will be the basis of the 2021 installment of American Crime Story.
About Robertson Dean
Robertson Dean has played leading roles on and off Broadway and at dozens of regional theaters throughout the country. He has a BA from Tufts University and an MFA from Yale. His audiobook narration has garnered ten AudioFile Earphones Awards. He now lives in Los Angeles, where he works in film and television in addition to narrating.