Wild Bill: The Legend and Life of William O. Douglas.

by Bruce Allen Murphy

Wild Bill: The Legend and Life of William O. Douglas is the detailed biography of U.S. Supreme Court Justice William 0. Douglas. The early chapters contrast Douglas' struggle with poverty and strife for education with his rapid rise to power as an ivy league law professor. With questionable self-esteem, Douglas is rarely satisfied with the pace of his career advancement. Failed political jaunts and missed presidential opportunities make his U.S. Supreme Court appointment seem anticlimactic.

On the personal side, Douglas' love of the outdoors dwarfs his self-perceived shortcomings. His penchant for liquor, young blonde women other than his wife of the moment, and a propensity to embellish the truth always seem to propel him into personal turmoil.

Financially, multiple alimony orders and predisposition to live beyond his means fuel one fiscal crisis after another.

At the Supreme Court, Douglas is portrayed as mostly at war with the conservative factions. Initially prone to side with business and law enforcement interests, his legal philosophy evolves to that of the great New Deal liberal. Although not particularly skilled at consensus building, he spends his years there scraping and scrapping to make his view of the legal world carry the day. The question of whether he succeeds in this goal is left, up to the reader. Ungraceful in his exit from the court by not knowing when to quit, Douglas has left a long legal debate behind.

For the lawyer in us, this 716-page book provides a chronological analysis of his significant opinions. For the technocrats among us, there is nearly 200 pages of citations and source material for further study. The publisher is Random House and book is available in all major retailers and online sites. The list price is $35.

Steven P. Cullen runs a private practice, Steven P. Cullen, P.A., in Jupiter.