Book Review: "Clarence Thomas, A Biography"

Writing a biography of a living person is always a challenge, especially when the person involved is noted for the extreme guarding of his privacy and decides not to cooperate.

That's exactly the challenge Andrew Payton Thomas undertook in the first full length biography of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, published originally on the tenth anniversary of his confirmation hearings in the US Senate.

Thomas ( no relation) traces back the history of Clarence Thomas' family to slavery days, and where Justice Thomas fits in to the story. He documented his days in Pin Point, Georgia and the foundation in basic principles Thomas received from his grandfather who raised him, a man who proudly owned his own business (where Clarence was expected to work after school and in summer) and whom had as a favorite saying, "Old Man can't is dead, and I helped bury him."

In writing about Thomas' days in a Catholic seminary, his time at law school and his days as a young lawyer in Missouri, the author gives us a remarkable portrait of not only how his experiences affected Thomas' personality but how it affected his intellectual development. You can see where Thomas' originalist views of the Founders and the Constitution came from, and there are some decent examinations of some of Thomas' opinions on key cases as well as an interesting look at how the High Court functions day to day.

The book also gives a good and balanced portrait of exactly what happened during Thomas' confirmation hearings, a look at the real Anita Hill and at the Democrat strategy to turn Clarence Thomas into another Robert Bork. Had it succeeded, America would have been denied a unique and powerful voice on the Supreme Court.

Recommended.

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