Other Sources I Am Using For My Paper Part X

The article “The Constitution, the Supreme Court, and the New Deal” by Laura Kalman is a secondary source I am using for my paper. The article appeared in the October 2005 issue of The American Historical Review. 

Laura Kalman

The article goes into how FDR’s Judicial Procedures Reform Bill of 1937 failed and FDR’s efforts to uphold his New Deal legislation. The article is useful since it offers a broad overview of FDR’s bill and the reasons it failed.

The Manchurian Candidate

The 1962 film The Manchurian Candidate is one of my favorite movies of all time. The film successfully delves into the atmosphere of paranoia and uncertainty that gripped America during the Red Scare and successfully drew parallels to real people such as Senator Joseph McCarthy. Besides being expertly directed, written, and acted (with Angela Lansbury’s performance as Shaw’s power-hungry and ruthless mother being the standout) the film was successfully able to emulate the feelings of suspicion and terror evoked by the period in American history known as the Red Scare.

Shaw and his mother.

One of the real life connections that can be made from the film is the resemblance of Shaw’s father-in-law Senator John Iselin and the real-life Senator Joseph McCarthy. One of the many parallels that can be drawn between the two characters is their anti-communist demagoguery. In one instance the character of Iselin presents a list of supposed communist agents within the government that is obviously faked, an action that McCarthy also committed during the 1950’s.

Senator Joseph McCarthy

One of the best subversions that The Manchurian Candidate is that the communist agents aren’t liberals, but right-wing ideologues that seek to sow dissent and unease into the hearts and minds of American citizens.

Senator Iselin and Mrs. Iselin

For me the ending is what really makes The Manchurian Candidate one of my favorite movies. After having his entire life controlled y external forces Shaw finally decides to end the whole conspiracy. He shoots and kills his mother, stepfather, and himself. The entire sequence in which the assassinations take place is expertly directed. The footage of jubilation and joy on the convention floor and the chaos that follows make the scene seem unsettling real. This scene was so unsettling that Frank Sinatra, who financed the movie for the most part, withdrew the film from the public after the Kennedy Assassination.

President Kennedy moments before his assassination.

Shaw killing his mother and stepfather.

Other Sources I Am Using For My Paper Part IX

The article “The Role of Religion in the Defeat of the 1937 Court-Packing Plan” by William G. Ross will be used as a secondary source for my paper on the Judicial Procedures Reform Bill of 1937. The article was featured in the 2007/2008 Journal of Law and Religion. 

The article goes into how religious groups were vital in the defeat of FDR’s Judicial Procedures Reform Bill of 1937. The primary religious groups opposed to the “court packing” were Jews and Catholics, who previously experienced discrimination in America. Jews and Catholics were worried that if the Supreme Court could be changed in order to meet the political needs of a President, it could also be manipulated to restrict the religious liberties of an unpopular religious group. 

The Jews in particular had great reason to fear this due to the events taking place in Nazi Germany at the time. This article will be very useful for paper since it lists one group that was vital in the defeat of the Bill. 

Other Sources I Am Using For My Paper Part VIII

Another source I am using for my paper is by Michael Nelson and entitled “The President and the Court: Reinterpreting the Court-packing Episode of 1937.” The article appeared in the summer 1988 Political Science Quarterly. The article delves into many of the political mistakes that Presidents make during the second term. 

 These mistakes include: FDR’s Judicial Procedures Reform Bill of 1937, Johnson’s ramping up of U.S. involvement in Vietnam, and Nixon’s Watergate cover-up. The author focuses most of the article analyzing FDR’s Bill and the political consequences of its failure. 

Michael Nelson

This article will be useful for my paper since it offers a broad overview of the Judicial Procedures reform Bill of 1937 and the implications of its failure. 

Other Sources I Am Using For My Paper Part VII

Another source I am using for my paper is a journal article by William E. Leuchtenburg entitled “FDR's Court-Packing Plan: A Second Life, a Second Death.” 

 The article appeared in the June through September 1985 issue of the Duke Law Journal. The article goes into how FDR’s Judicial Procedures Reform Bill of 1937 failed to pass in Congress. 

In particular it goes into how FDR’s bill failed to gain the support of enough Senators and that this lack of support was the primary reason for why the Bill failed. This article will be useful for my paper in explaining how the Judicial Procedures Reform Bill of 1937 failed in the Senate. 

William Leuchtenburg