David O. Stewart

Constitutional lawyer

David O. Stewart is a Constitutional lawyer and the author of *The Summer of 1787*. The book was well reviewed in *The New York Times* and around the country, hit *The Washington Post* bestseller list for several weeks, won the Washington Writing Award for Best Book of 2007, and made several "best books" lists for 2007. In May 2009, Simon & Schuster released *Impeached: The Trial of President Andrew Johnson and the Fight for Lincoln's Legacy*. That 1868 trial was another moment when the nation's fate hung in the balance. The book explores long-ignored evidence of bribery and corrupt influences in the final Senate vote. As a trial lawyer for more that 25 years, many of which have been with Ropes & Gray in Washington, DC, Stewart has defended accused criminals, challenged government actions as unconstitutional, and argued many appeals (including two before the US Supreme Court). He developed a fascination with impeachment when he served as principal defense counsel during the Senate impeachment trial of Judge Walter L. Nixon Jr. of Mississippi. For almost 10 years, Stewart wrote a monthly column for *The American Bar Association Journal* on the Supreme Court (five of those columns appear in *The Supreme Court and Its Justices*, issued by ABA Press).