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informed, and the matter was never discussed with him in the sense that it was discussed openly, frankly, or asking his advice. He would be asked a question now and then of information or fact - “When did the Court do this? What was one of the early decisions going back to John Marshall?” He knew from that that the Attorney General was thinking about certain things having to do with the Court's constitution and powers. After all, it was John Marshall who established the powers of the Court. They could have been established differently by a different mind and a different state of affairs perhaps.
So Stephens was aware that the Attorney General was thinking about this. As he said, other people were also thinking about the question of the Court. When I say all this, I do not mean that the Attorney General was moving towards a plan, but he was certainly working on a variety of projects which might lead to a plan. He was exploring, in his own mind, three or four different plans.
According to Harold Stephens the Attorney General did not actually take anybody into his confidence. Even the younger men in the Department, who might be regarded as leg men, with no responsibilities except to help the Attorney General with whatever he was thinking about,
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