Joshua Spivak

October 24, 2005 | National Law Journal

In When Trumpets Call: Theodore Roosevelt After the White House, Patricia O'Toole presents a well-written, though familiar, portrait of the Rough Rider's search for relevance during the last 10 years of his life.

By Joshua Spivak

9 minute read

March 14, 2005 | New Jersey Law Journal

Fighting over judicial nominees is popularly traced to the Senate's rejection of U.S. Supreme Court candidate Robert Bork in 1987 and divisive social issues such as abortion that have marked political campaigns since then, but that does not do justice to the long and contentious history surrounding the Senate's nomination procedure.

By Joshua Spivak

5 minute read

February 23, 2005 | Law.com

Once thought of as second only to George Washington in greatness, Thomas Jefferson's star power has dimmed of late. Books have questioned his ideology and his relationship with slave Sally Hemings. But few authors have trashed him as vigorously as Joseph Wheelan does in "Jefferson's Vendetta: The Pursuit of Aaron Burr and the Judiciary." Our reviewer says the book's anti-Jefferson bias, out of proportion to the evidence cited, could almost be renamed "The Vendetta Against Jefferson."

By Joshua Spivak

9 minute read

March 07, 2005 | Law.com

The nomination of federal judges has become one of the most controversial of all presidential acts, sure to raise congressional tempers and provide red meat to partisan ideologues, says commentator Joshua Spivak. These fights can be traced to the Senate's rejection of U.S. Supreme Court candidate Robert Bork in 1987, and to divisive social issues that have since marked political campaigns. Though there is truth to this explanation, it does not do justice to the history surrounding the nomination procedure.

By Joshua Spivak

5 minute read