The frontier soldier -- A revolutionary capital -- Debating the Constitution -- Slaves and hypocrites -- Innocence lost -- Citizen Genet -- Entangling alliances -- Jay's treaty -- Talleyrand -- Not a sixpence -- Love and war -- Tossed into the Seine -- The XYZ papers -- The Jonathan Robbins affair -- Privateers and pirates -- The new order of things -- Showdown -- A strategic retreat -- Prizes of war -- High crimes -- Treason -- Estrangement -- The meaning of sovereignty -- Washington burning -- Friends and enemies -- The supreme law -- The pirate lottery -- The great steamboat case -- Public and private -- Right remains with the strongest -- An extravagant pretense -- In the conqueror's court -- A union prolonged by miracles

A portrait of the influential chief justice, statesman, and diplomat illuminates his pivotal role in the establishment of the Constitution and Supreme Court and recounts his work as an advisor to multiple presidents