Archibald Cox Solicitor General Designate

On the Harvard faculty he was the nation's foremost expert in labor law, and he became the top academic adviser to the handsome young senator from Massachusetts, John F. Kennedy.

Of all the nation's public officials, the Solicitor General is the only one required by statute to be "learned in the law." Although he serves in the Department of Justice, he also has permanent chambers in the Supreme Court. The fact that he keeps offices at these two distinct institutions underscores his special role.

A frequently overlooked institution of American politics, the Office of the Solicitor General is responsible for all litigation before the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of the executive branch. In carrying out this task, the solicitor general is also an advisor to the justices and a gatekeeper, controlling a large portion of litigation that reaches the Court's docket. Rebecca Salokar studies this office and shows that, with the increased politicization of the Justice Department, the work of the nation's lawyer is an integral component of executive policy-making. Paying particular attention to the selection of solicitors general and the political and legal environment in which they functioned, Salokar analyzes all Supreme Court cases in which the government was a participant from 1959 through 1986. Her interviews with several former solicitors general and members of their staffs provide contextual examples to support the statistical analyses. She demonstrates that this office can and does shape policy questions for the United States. While the relationship between the judicial and executive branches has been defined traditionally through the nomination of justices to the Court, Salokar reveals that another, more frequently used, link between the two branches exists in the Office of the Solicitor General. Author note: Rebecca Mae Salokar is Associate Professor of Political Science at Florida International University.

"In more than 3,000 recorded conversations, the Nixon tapes famously exposed a president's sinister views of governance that would eventually lead to his downfall. Despite Richard Nixon's best efforts, his vision of a government where he could use his power to punish his political enemies never came to fruition because there were those in his party who defied the president's directives. While many are familiar with the Republicans who turned against Nixon during the final stages of the Watergate saga, They Said No to Nixon uncovers for the first time those within the administration--including Nixon's own appointees--who opposed the White House early on, quietly blocking the president's attacks on the IRS, the Justice Department, and other sectors of the federal government. Culling from previously unpublished excerpts from the tapes and recently released material that expose the thirty-seventh president's uncensored views, Michael Koncewicz reveals how several Republican party members chose loyalty to their roles as civil servants over Nixon's attempts to expand the imperial presidency. Delving into the culture of criminality surrounding Watergate and why it did not succeed, They Said No to Nixon sheds light on the significant cultural and ideological shifts that occurred within the GOP during the pivotal 1970s. To this day, the Nixon tapes are a bracing reminder of the threat to constitutional order posed by a president who wields power without restraint"--Provided by publisher.

Meet Jerry Parr. In 1981, he was the agent standing next to Ronald Reagan when John Hinckley, Jr., stepped out of the crowd, intent on killing the president. In the Secret Service is an adrenaline-filled ride through the life of the agent who saved Ronald Reagan’s life. Jerry spent much of his life as a silent eyewitness to history, with a gun at his fingertips. What motivates a man who is ready at a moment’s notice to step into the path of a bullet? In In the Secret Service, you’ll also follow Jerry’s inner journey. That journey led him from the halls of the powerful to the streets of the poor in Washington, D.C., to the mountain passes of war-torn El Salvador to help orphans. You won’t want to miss this insider’s perspective on the Secret Service and a look into the heart of a man who was—and is—ready to sacrifice himself for another. At times heart-pounding, at times heartrending, this richly textured memoir of a Secret Service Agent will first move you to the edge of your seat, then to the depths of your soul.