When John Marshall became Chief Justice in 1801, the Supreme Court was little more than a formality. It met in cramped quarters beneath the Capitol, ignored by presidents and forgotten by the public. Over the next thirty four years, Marshall would transform that overlooked institution into a powerful branch of government.

Marshall had already lived many lives. He was a soldier in the Revolution, a lawyer in Virginia, a diplomat who refused to bow to French demands, and Secretary of State under John Adams. Yet it was on the bench that he left his deepest mark. Through landmark cases like Marbury v. Madison, McCulloch v. Maryland, and Gibbons v. Ogden, he gave the Constitution force and created the foundations of American law.