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The father of constitutional law, chief justice John Marshall played a pivotal role in the construction of democracy in the United States. Marshall was our nations fourth chief justice and is accredited with helping to establish the power of the United States Supreme Court and strongly enforcing constitutional law throughout the nation. Serving as a chief justice for 34 years, and presiding over 1000 cases, John Marshall was known for his intelligence, his courage in time of war, and his fairness in regard to Constitutional law. Marshall was born on September 24, 1755 as the eldest son of Thomas and Mary Randolph Marshall. John was to become the oldest son of 15 children. At the age of ten John’s father moved his family 30 miles to the town of Blue Ridge Mountains. Long before John had any real voice in the path of his future career, both John and his mother decided that he was to become a lawyer. It was because of this dream that the Marshall’s filled their house with many books. While most families at this time did not even own a single book, the Marshall household contained several, literature such as the bible, Shakespeare, and Pope. By the age of 12 Marshall was able to write word for word Pope’s moral essays