Mccloskey, Robert G. (1916–1969)
MCCLOSKEY, ROBERT G. (1916–1969)
Robert G. McCloskey earned his Ph.D. at Harvard University, and he taught American government at Harvard from 1948 to 1969. He was by training a political scientist and by scholarly instinct a historian concerned with contemporary events; the modern Supreme Court created a challenge that filled the major portion of his intellectual life. The philosophy of judicial self-restraint in the light of the Court's limited competence and resources appealed to McCloskey at least in part because it struck a chord in his own character. He distrusted the flamboyant, preferring cautious interpretation. By nature judicious, he was suspicious of a Court that too precipitously proclaimed eternal verities. He wrote American Conservatism in the Age of Enterprise (1951), The American Supreme Court (1961), and The Modern Supreme Court (published post-humously in 1972), and he edited the papers of Justice james wilson.
Martin Shapiro
(1986)