He reviled the rich for their cupidity and they found his
rhetoric repulsive. Plebians believed him their champion and
patricians knew he was their bete noire, remarks Halford Ryan in
his eloquent foreword to this definitive survey of Clarence
DarroW's development as orator and unique American myth. As a
writer, lecturer, debater, and trial lawyer Darrow spoke for the
have-nots and cultivated an image of mythic proportions as the
underdog's advocate. Many of the more than 2,000 trials in which he
was active reflected the major social and philosophical issues of
the last quarter of the nineteenth and first third of the twentieth
centuries in America. Read today, DarroW's speeches still ring true
both as political statements and as models of persuasive pleading
and pathos--reason enough to study the work of this uncommon
advocate who stood perpetually opposed to the great and powerful of
the earth. Richard J. Jensen has written a clearsighted volume that
documents how Darrow created and then enlarged his personal myth
through speeches, writings, and actions. Each chapter focuses on
particular segments of that creation. Half of the book consists of
authoritative texts of several of DarroW's most influential and
rhetorically brilliant speeches, and a speech chronology simplifies
the work of researchers.
The study opens with a brief biography, an overview of DarroW's
rhetoric, along with the forces that affected it, and some initial
comments on the elements that make up the myth. The next chapter,
Schoolmaster of the Courtroom, chronicles the origins of DarroW's
image as a defender of the downtrodden and his early trials in
defense of labor unions and their leaders. What is considered to be
one of the most famous speeches in American legal history, that
given by Darrow at the conclusion of the 1924 Leopold and Loeb
trial, is the focus of Chapter Three. Chapter Four centers on the
Scopes Trial, perhaps the most famous trial in recent American
history, during which the dramatic confrontation with William
Jennings Bryan occurred. The penultimate chapter explains the
arguments Darrow used to defend the poor, radicals, Blacks, and
other less fortunate members of society. Finally, DarroW's rhetoric
as a writer and as an active speaker and debater on the lecture
circuit is examined. Part II contains the authoritative texts of
seven speeches including those given during the Leopold and Loeb
Trial and the Scopes Trial, among others. The Chronology of
Speeches, Bibliography, and Index close the volume. The speeches
along with Jensen's intelligent, readable analysis and criticism
will be an important resource for those teaching and studying Legal
Rhetoric and the History of Public Address.
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