The Oath: The Obama White House and The Supreme Court
by Jeffrey Toobin
View on GoodreadsTwo Harvard Law Review alumni, and two opposite ideas of what the Court is for. In Toobin's account, Obama defends precedent and stability while John Roberts and the conservative majority push for fast, transformative change, and the White House underestimates how much the Court can shape its agenda.
Core ideas
- The garbled oath: Roberts, thrown when Obama jumped ahead at the 2009 inauguration, stumbled over the oath, and it had to be given again.
- Citizens United: Roberts first drafted a narrow opinion, then ordered reargument and gave Kennedy the broad 5-4 ruling, an account critics at SCOTUSblog and National Review dispute.
- The taxing power: Roberts upheld the health care mandate in 2012 while narrowing the Commerce Clause, which the book reads as possibly serving long-term conservative aims.
Published2012
Pages352
ISBN9780385527200
ReadJun 2026
