Character, the constitution, and the ideological embodiment of “civil rights” in the 1967 nomination of Thurgood Marshall to the Supreme Court

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Abstract
The U.S. Constitution is, among various confluent motives, a characterological document that motivates the image‐based politics characteristic of contemporary confirmation controversies. This essay suggests that this motive results in the embodiment of ideology in the characters who dominate American public life. An illustrative example is the 1967 confirmation debate regarding the nomination of Thurgood Marshall to the Supreme Court. In this debate, Marshall embodied opposing conceptions of “civil rights” for both opponents and supporters of his nomination. Ultimately, I maintain that such ideological embodiment may democratize and problematize ideological debate by allowing for more polysemous readings of public discourse.