Eisenhower vs. Warren

February 5, 2018
Simon (FDR and Chief Justice Hughes) uses twin biographies of Dwight D. Eisenhower and his Supreme Court chief justice Earl Warren to illuminate an often-overlooked period of legal history at the start of the civil rights movement. Simon’s major focus is the fallout between Eisenhower and Warren over the implementation of the court’s mandate to desegregate the country’s public school system following the unanimous ruling of Brown v. Board of Education. Despite his support for desegregating the armed forces and for civil rights in the context of federal employment, Eisenhower felt it best to integrate the schools at a pace acceptable to Southern senators and governors. Warren diametrically opposed this position; he held that the Constitution demanded that integration not be delayed. Simon is in top form, creating sympathetic portraits of both protagonists, capturing the historical context of Eisenhower’s presidency, thoroughly explaining the dynamics of the Warren Court, and, when necessary, looking past Eisenhower’s and Warren’s professed positions to expose their underlying motives and goals. This balanced account of the bitter relationship between Eisenhower and Warren presents a new lens through which to view the start of the civil rights movement.