Conflicting Loyalties Law and Politics in the Attorney General's Office, 1789–1990 Nancy V. Baker 252 pages, 6 x 9 Cloth ISBN 978-0-7006-0530-9, $25.00 The U.S. Attorney General is forever caught between competing demands: on one side, his political duties as cabinet appointee and adviser to the president; on the other, his quasi-judicial responsibilities as chief law officer of the nation. In theory the two sets of responsibilities coexist peacefully. In reality they often clash. In Conflicting Loyalties, political scientist Nancy Baker provides the first comprehensive analysis of the history and structure of the office of the U.S. Attorney General, an office that legal scholars have described as "schizophrenic." Her study documents how they have differed in their responses, seeing themselves either as advocates of the president or as neutral expounders of the law. Combining historical analysis with legal and political theory, Baker shows how this implicit conflict has evolved from the earliest days of the Republic, when the attorney general was primarily an adviser, to the present day, when he administers the huge bureaucracy of the Department of Justice. Using both archival materials and personal interviews, Baker analyzes how the seventy-five men who have held the post of attorney general have managed the conflict of loyalties. In particular, she focuses on Robert Kennedy, Edwin Meese, Elliot Richardson, Griffin Bell, Robert Jackson, Edward Levi, A. Mitchell Palmer, and Roger Taney. She also examines how the office has been affected by scandals in various administrations, including the Red scare of 1919-20, Teapot Dome, Watergate, and Iran-Contra. The book concludes with an exploration of arguments for reforming the office. "An exceptional work. . . . Baker has made the first comprehensive analysis of the Attorney General's office."--Louis Fisher, author of Constitutional Conflicts between Congress and the President "Baker writes well, organizes coherently, and thinks clearly. . . . Her linkages between time periods, events, institutions, and alternatives create a viable whole rather than the usual case-study mish-mash. . . . She comes closer to the present than all but a few historians are courageous enough to risk."--Harold M. Hyman, author of Equal Justice under Law: Constitutional History, 1835–1875 NANCY V. BAKER is professor of government at New Mexico State University.   Home | About the Press | Recent Awards | Contact Us | Order New Books: | By Author | By Subject | By Title | By Series Books in Print: | By Author | By Subject | By Title | By Series ©2007 University Press of Kansas 2502 Westbrooke Circle, Lawrence, KS 66045-4444 Phone (785) 864-4155; Fax (785) 864-4586