Mccloskey, Robert G. (1916–1969)

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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)

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