Battleground New Jersey: Vanderbilt, Hague, and Their Fight for Justice

Rivergate Regionals

by Nelson Johnson

New Jersey’s legal system was plagued with injustices from the time the system was established through the mid-twentieth century. In Battleground New Jersey , historian and author of Boardwalk Empire , Nelson Johnson chronicles reforms to the system through the dramatic stories of Arthur T. Vanderbilt—the first chief justice of the state’s modern-era Supreme Court—and Frank Hague—legendary mayor of Jersey City. Two of the most powerful politicians in twentieth-century America, Vanderbilt and Hague clashed on matters of public policy and over the need to reform New Jersey’s antiquated and corrupt court system. Their battles made headlines and eventually led to legal reform, transforming New Jersey’s court system into one of the most highly regarded in America.

Vanderbilt’s power came through mastering the law, serving as dean of New York University Law School, preaching court reform as president of the American Bar Association, and organizing suburban voters before other politicians recognized their importance. Hague, a remarkably successful sixth-grade dropout, amassed his power by exploiting people’s foibles, crushing his rivals, accumulating a fortune through extortion, subverting the law, and taking care of business in his own backyard. They were different ethnically, culturally, and temperamentally, but they shared the goals of power.

 

Relying upon previously unexamined personal files of Vanderbilt, Johnson’s engaging chronicle reveals the hatred the lawyer had for the mayor and the lengths Vanderbilt went to in an effort to destroy Hague. Battleground New Jersey illustrates the difficulty in adapting government to a changing world, and the vital role of independent courts in American society. 

288 pages, Hardcover

First published December 5, 2014

About the author

Nelson Johnson practiced law for thirty years and was a New Jersey Superior Court trial judge for thirteen years. In addition to his award-winning Boardwalk Empire, Johnson is also the author of award-winning The Northside: African Americans and the Creation of Atlantic City (November 2010) and Battleground New Jersey: Vanderbilt, Hague, and Their Fight for Justice (December 2014). Johnson’s courtroom experience makes him uniquely qualified to tell this story, set in the last days of the “wild west” in Los Angeles. Darrow’s Nightmare: Los Angeles 1911-1913 is Johnson’s fourth book.

Reviews

[Steven · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nelson Johnson frames the reform of New Jersey's legal system as a clash between two outsized personalities: Arthur Vanderbilt, oft-frustrated reformer, and Hudson County political boss Frank Hague, who had learned to use the Byzantine complexity of the system to his advantage and (correctly) viewed any proposals to change it as a threat to his power. As an Atlantic County judge, Johnson is the perfect (perhaps only) writer to take on this complicated subject, and his research turns up a genuine scoop in the way Vanderbilt shaped and even rewrote Dayton McKean's 1940 condemnation of Hague, The Boss: The Hague Machine in Action. Where Johnson's previous books, Boardwalk Empire and The Northside, bogged down in arcane details, Battleground New Jersey showcases a much improved prose style and sense of pacing. Future writers on this subject will have to take this book into account.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a bit hit or miss for me. There were many times I was engrossed in what I was reading and several times I found my mind wondering and had to refocus. All in all, I definitely learned information I wasn't aware of about Jersey City, Newark, and New Jersey politics. I'm glad I read this book.

[Peter Talbot · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant history: best introduction to the phenomenon of Frank Hagues, and this explains much of why Hudson and Essex counties fought, and why West Hudson is such a step-child to Jersey City. A must read for any NJ history buff.

[Terry · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great history as well as an engaging story of the emergence of a quality justice system in NJ from an awful mess.

[Dina · Rating 3 out of 5]

New Jersey history