This book charts that uneven trajectory, investigating great and infamous trials, chronicling historic individuals’ entanglements within the legal system, demonstrating how the high and mighty have sometimes gotten away (literally) with murder, illustrating the significance of individual lawyers to our nation, and revealing how single trials and hearings have changed the course of American history. C. Evan Stewart pulls no punches in his compelling accounts of the law during our country’s 200-plus years. For example, he examines an iconic decision by one of America’s greatest judges and provides new analysis and criticism. He also provides a comprehensive account (from a trial lawyer’s perspective) of all of the many errors that contributed to the debacle of the O.J. Simpson criminal trial. Stewart also (for the first time) provides a legal analysis of the 1969 Chappaquiddick tragedy. And finally (but not least), after a lifetime of study, he resolves the (seemingly) greatest mystery of the twentieth century: who killed President Kennedy (and why). “Evan Stewart is a lawyer’s lawyer. He is also a humanist and a graceful writer. To learn why that is not a contradiction, read this book.”—Evan Thomas is the author of eleven books, including the New York Times best sellers John Paul Jones, Sea of Thunder, and First: Sandra Day O’Connor “Part professional autobiography, part legal history and anthology of the leading figures, events and cases of the past century of the American legal system, this book is a treasure trove. I would commend it to anyone with an interest in the law and the legal profession as well as those with an appreciation for sharp wit and good writing.”—Eduardo Peñalver, President, Seattle University “From the coming of the Civil War, to the great trials and tribulations of the era of the world wars, to the case of O.J. Simpson and beyond, veteran lawyer and historian C. Evan Stewart spins wonderful yarns about the law in these United States. Even more wonderful, the stories are all true. Bravo!”—Barry Strauss, Corliss Page Dean Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University, and Bryce and Edith M. Bowmar Professor in Humanistic Studies Emeritus, Cornell “I have read Evan Stewart before—as litigator, historian, and legal scholar. But in this latest magisterial eff ort, one encounters Stewart speaking in a different register, this time as raconteur, legal provocateur, contrarian, polemicist (in the best sense). In each chapter, I was challenged by fresh insights that made me question my previous intuitions about famous cases, personalities, and events. And his impish sense of humor shines through despite the seriousness of the task.”—Jens David Ohlin, Allan R. Tessler Dean & Professor of Law, Cornell Law School C. Evan Stewart recently retired as a senior partner in an international law firm headquartered in New York City. Mr. Stewart is a visiting professor at Cornell University and an adjunct professor at Fordham Law School. In addition, he is a contributing columnist for the New York Law Journal, New York Business Law Journal, and the Federal Bar Council Quarterly; he has published approximately 300 articles on a variety of legal subjects, and is frequently featured in the national media and regularly speaks across the country on securities, professional responsibility, and complex litigation issues. In 2016, he received the Sanford D. Levy Award from the New York State Bar Association for his contributions to the field of legal ethics. Mr. Stewart is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Economic Club of New York. He is also a Director and Treasurer of Humanities New York. Mr. Stewart has served as a Trustee of Cornell University, Westminster School, the American University of Bulgaria, the American Historical Association, the Young Women’s Christian Association of the USA, YMCA Camping Services, and the Federal Bar Council. Mr. Stewart is also the author of Myron Taylor: The Man Nobody Knew (Twelve Tables Press 2023) and The Worst Supreme Court Decisions, Ever! (And Related Tales) (Twelve Tables Press 2024). Enter Jackie Kennedy. Manchester was pleased (he would suddenly be rich), and RFK certainly seemed okay where things stood; but one person was not: JFK’s widow. Mrs. Kennedy, who had been upset with Arthur Schlesinger when his Pulitzer Prize–winning book on JFK had been serialized, was even more upset now. From Evan Thomas, Manchester learned that Mrs. Kennedy was objecting to the serialization money not going to the JFK library; but what ultimately became clear to Manchester was that “she didn’t really want any book, that at most she would accept only a dull, obscure volume.” (“I thought,” she would tell Manchester in September, “that it would be bound in black and put away on dark library shelves.”) RFK, under immense pressure from his sister-in-law, now made that clear to Thomas, wiring him: “Under the present circumstances, with the situation as difficult