Five Chiefs

John Paul Stevens served as a Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit from 1970-1975. President Ford nominated him as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, and he took his seat December 19, 1975. Justice Stevens retired from the Supreme Court on June 29, 2010.

Five Chiefs is a 248-page bow-tie; like its dignified author, and his famous sartorial flourish, an unpretentious but important addition to American history... At its core, the book is not just another memoir from yet another judge. It marks instead the end of an era on the Supreme Court and in the broader swath of American law and politics... Stevens' focused eye gives way to a hundred or so smaller points, some densely legal, some historical, some even funny... Five Chiefs is the right book at the right time. It's a brief and largely defanged reminder of some of what we have lost in public life with the demise of the 'moderate Republican' on Capitol Hill and the 'practical conservative' on the federal bench... A fine new book. - Andrew Cohen - The AtlanticAn informative and very appealing new memoir of life on the Supreme Court... Justice Stevens not only shows extraordinary respect for the Court as an institution, but does the same for his former colleagues-even ones with whom he often disagreed...[It's] classic Justice Stevens: understated and generous to those he differs with, but absolutely clear on where he believes justice lies. - Adam Cohen - TimeA gentle memoir by a decent and accomplished public servant. Stevens opts not for jabs or evening scores but rather for reminiscences... Laced with observations on the court's architecture, traditions and even its seating arrangements, it is the collected ruminations of a man who has served his country in war and peace, across the decades... His memoir is as gracious as its author and a reminder that Stevens is more than a longtime member of the nation's highest court. He is a national treasure. - Jim Newton - Los Angeles Times